| Mines in the Sheridan Area |
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Access to mines is by permission only - for your safety please respect No trespassing Laws
The gold that came out of the Ruby Valley did not just come from mines. Over the years erosional forces worked the mountains and deposited mineral wealth into the valley floors. Mining companies such as The Conrey Placer Mining Company (1897-1922) (with stock holders including Harvard University) dredged the valley floor to produce upwards of $120 million dollars of gold. Alder Gulch Remembered is a historical accounting of the mining and is available at Serendipity Gifts and Coffeehouse in Sheridan as well as other local bookstores.
Mines in the Sheridan Montana area include:
 Mine up Hinch Creek (Courtesy Glenn Lindsey)  Crushing Mill in the Gravellies near Summit, MT
 Buckeye Mine Headframe
Buckeye Mining History
The Sheridan mining district includes all mining properties on the west slope of the Tobacco Root range from Wisconsin Creek south to California and Bivins gulches inclusive (Tansley, et al., 1933). The mining properties and the Brandon Mill located in the Mill Creek drainage are considered part of the Sheridan mining district. Early development in the Sheridan region closely followed the discovery of gold in Alder Gulch in 1863. The following discussion is taken directly from the historical narrative summary of the Sheridan mining district and the Buckeye mine compiled by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MTDEQ, 2003). Alfred Cisler, one of the first settlers of the town of Brandon, discovered the Buckeye mine in the 1860s. The Brandon mill was the first mill to be erected in the Sheridan district. The mill was constructed in 1865, had 12 stamps of 500 pounds each and processed 12 tons of ore per day. Mill production in the early years was limited due to the use of water power to drive the stamps.
The Buckeye property is composed of five locations on the same vein and three of the group were patented: the Buckeye, the Buckeye #1, and the Buckeye #5. The claims were formally located in January of 1883 and were surveyed for patent in March of 1896. Henry Elling, Virginia City general store owner turned mining magnate, owned the property at the time of the survey which listed $3,930 in tunnels, shafts, and levels. Figure 2-1 shows the generalized land ownership and mining claims in the vicinity of the site.
The Buckeye claims showed surface mineralization their entire length of the 600 foot vein. When George Cope visited the site in the mid 1880s, he noted that the entire surface could be mined with a scraper and run through concentrating jigs. To dig anywhere on the claim was to find ore. He predicted the true value of the mine was as a large producer of low-class ore (Cope, 1888).
In 1896 the property, which was owned by Henry S. Gilbert et al., was one of the three best developed mines in the district, and was being developed by David Fifer of Butte, who took a lease and a bond on the mine. By 1898, Fifer had excavated the shaft to 70 feet where he struck a fine vein of galena and carbonate ore. The shaft, which was sunk entirely in ore, dropped to the 100 foot level before developing a system of levels and cross cuts. In May of 1898, Fifer began to run the concentrator in the Brandon entirely on Buckeye ore. In July he freighted 35 tons of galena to Twin Bridges to be shipped by rail to the smelter in East Helena (Western Mining World passim).
The mine continued to be developed by a series of lessees. In 1899, O.S. Brooks and John Merrill leased the mine and were reported to be taking out good ore. In March of 1900, Cavanaugh and McDonald leased the property and sent ore to the Twin Bridges Smelter. Later the same year Wiseman and Co. shipped ore from the mine to East Helena. Although the mine was listed as one of the district's most developed in 1902, the mine saw little further work until 1919 (Western Mining World passim).
Interest was renewed in the mine in 1916 when it was listed in the Mineral Record as a key producer in the district. However, production did not resume until 1919 when several lots were shipped from the mine. The next year it briefly resumed its role as one of the district's largest producers before shutting down in 1921. In 1924, development resumed under the recently organized Buckeye Corporation as several lots of sulfide ore were shipped from the mine. In 1925, the mine's lessees shipped lead-zinc ore to the Timber Butte plant in Butte. Although the mine was only active for 30 days, it was the district's leading producer and the lessees opened up a large body of ore. The 1926 season saw the mine still under lease and shipping ore to the Timber Butte Plant from January to March. Although the Buckeye Corporation ended its active role in the operation of the mine in 1927, new lessees shipped several cars of lead-zinc ore to Butte in 1928. By 1929, the mine had risen to become the chief producer in the district (Mineral Record, 1916 - 1929; Trauerman, 1950).
Interest was renewed in the mine in 1916 when it was listed in the Mineral Record as a key producer in the district. However, production did not resume until 1919 when several lots were shipped from the mine. The next year it briefly resumed its role as one of the district's largest producers before shutting down in 1921. In 1924, development resumed under the recently organized Buckeye Corporation as several lots of sulfide ore were shipped from the mine. In 1925, the mine's lessees shipped lead-zinc ore to the Timber Butte plant in Butte. Although the mine was only active for 30 days, it was the district's leading producer and the lessees opened up a large body of ore. The 1926 season saw the mine still under lease and shipping ore to the Timber Butte Plant from January to March. Although the Buckeye Corporation ended its active role in the operation of the mine in 1927, new lessees shipped several cars of lead-zinc ore to Butte in 1928. By 1929, the mine had risen to become the chief producer in the district (Mineral Record, 1916 - 1929; Trauerman, 1950).
In 1929, the Vigilante Mining Corporation (VMC) began serious development of the property. Organized in August of 1929 with Texas capital and with A.H. Dahle as President, the company was reported to be remodeling the mill at the Buckeye (probably the Brandon Mill). A 75-ton concentrating table and flotation plant was ordered from the Butte Machinery Co. and installed by September. By October, VMC was reported to be working the mine dump and by the end of the year had reduced 2,648 tons of material to 344 tons of lead concentrate. In addition, several cars of lead-zinc were shipped to Butte. In 1930, the mine was listed as one of the chief producers of lead in Montana. Operations, including both the Brandon Mill and the lead-zinc ore shipments to Butte, were suspended in June of 1930 (Mining Truth 1929; Mining Journal 1929; Mineral Record 1929; 1930).
Because the Stock Market crash of October 1929 and the following Great Depression reduced both mining speculation and the government's ability to report on mineral production, the mine disappeared from both the trade journal and government reports. In 1933, Wilfred Tansley described the mine's development as two adits which had been extended over 600 feet on the vein. He noted that a portion of the Buckeye ore body was stoped and the ore concentrated at the Buckeye Mill. He also reported that the collapse of mineral prices had brought an end to production (Tansley, et al., 1933). Yet with a huge body of low-grade ore, the mine continued to interest developers. From 1944 to 1948, the Buckeye Corporation leased the property to Victoria Mines, Inc. who operated the mine. The mine and mill were most recently operated by Steve Mortensen until 1983. The mine was worked with front-end loaders, loaded into trucks, crushed with a ball mill and the concentrate was shipped to East Helena for final treatment. pp 6. - 8 Olympus Technical Services, Inc. SITE CHARACTERIZATION REPORTFOR THE BUCKEYE MINE SITE Madison County, Montana December 2004 Montana Department of Environmental Quality Remediation Division Mine Waste Cleanup Bureau FOR A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE BUCKEYE MINE SITE IN SHERIDAN,MT (VERY LARGE PDF) Click here
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