Drumlummon Mine - Montana
View the NI43-101 technical report on the Drumlummon Mine dated September 25, 2009.
View the NI43-101 technical report on the Drumlummon Mine dated November, 2008.
View the Montana Department of Environmental Quality - Drumlummon Mine Dewatering Approval and Stipulations.
View Video of Charly Vein Underground with Montana Governor.
Location & Background
The Drumlummon Mine is located near Marysville, Montana, about 25 miles west of the Montana state capital, Helena (the "Drumlummon"). The Philipsburg Mill, where Drumlummon feedstock is currently being processed, is located in Philipsburg, Montana, about 114 road miles from the Drumlummon.
The Drumlummon originally operated between 1883 and 1910. It was financed by the Rothchilds of England and proved to be one of the largest producers of gold and silver in the western United States. The Drumlummon is reported to have produced $29,000,000 (US) of gold and silver at historical prices (US$20 per ounce Gold)
The Drumlummon was shut down in 1910 and flooded at the deeper levels when the operators lost a court case alleging they had mined onto the neighbors’ adjacent property. It was shown that the main Drumlummon vein had strayed over to the neighbors’ property for a distance of 160 feet and the Drumlummon operators had mined that section without an agreement with the adjacent neighbor.
The Drumlummon court case went on for 20 years, including 5 appeals to the Montana and US Supreme Courts by the Drumlummon operators which they ultimately lost. At the final appeal to the US Supreme Court in 1910 there were 12 lawyers present and the cumulative legal costs are reported to have been in excess of $400,000 (early century US dollars).
The neighboring company (St. Louis Company) then gained control of the Drumlummon but lacking mining expertise and wherewithal, never mined the deposit and leased it out to tributors. In a period between 1923 and 1929 it is reported that 90,995 tons were mined in this fashion. Another 68,662 tons is reported to have been mined between 1946 and 1951 before that operator’s mill burned down.
The Drumlummon is developed down to the 1,600 foot level with 2 shafts. Substantial areas of the mine have remained flooded since 1910 and effectively have been “out of bounds” since that time for exploration.
Ownership & Ground Positions
RX Exploration has consolidated the Drumlummon mine claims, the former neighbors claims (St. Louis Company) and additional claims along strike.
RX Exploration holds a 100% interest in the Drumlummon subject to a 2% Net Smelter Royalty. This interest includes 26 contiguous, surveyed patented mineral claims (approx. 290 acres) covering all of the former Drumlummon workings as well as the former neighbor’s property (St. Louis Company) that were subject to the early 1900’s lawsuit. An additional 68 unpatented contiguous claims have been staked by the company along strike covering approx. 1,390 acres.
General Geology & Mineralization
The NI43-101 technical report filed by RX Exploration provides greater information about the geology and mineralization at the Drumlummon. Excerpts from the Summary sections of the technical reports about these topics include:
“The Drumlummon mine is a “bonanza" style epithermal deposit which are characterized by very high grade gold and silver.”
"The deposit is related to Tertiary dacitic dikes and hosted by the Cretaceous Marysville stock and hornfelsed Precambrian sediments. The mineralization occurs as quartz fissure veins and silicified breccia in structures focused along the eastern margin of the stock. The primary ore minerals are native gold and silver sulfosalts."
Work Programs
In 2007 and 2008 RX Exploration rehabilitated the 400 foot level in preparation for underground diamond drilling which commenced in the spring of 2008 and continues today.
In November, 2008 the company released its first resource estimate from underground core drilling of the newly discovered Charly Vein, located east of the old workings. In accordance with National Instrument (NI) 43-101, Timothy J. Beesley, P.Eng. of T.J. Beesley Geological Services Inc. calculated initial inferred resources of 155,518 tons containing 70,707 oz. of gold and 1,915,560 oz. of silver as summarized in the table below. View the November, 2008 NI43-101 technical report.
|
400E |
Estimated |
Grade Au |
Ounces of |
Grade Ag |
Ounces of |
|
A |
67,284 |
0.39 |
26,192 |
12.2 |
820,166 |
|
B |
39,740 |
0.53 |
21,097 |
7.3 |
291,053 |
|
C |
48,494 |
0.48 |
23,414 |
16.6 |
804,341 |
|
Total |
155,518 |
|
70,703 |
|
1,915,560 |
Drilling continued during 2009 on the Charley Veins and in an area of the former workings known as D Block. Throughout 2009 the Company reported the results of underground drilling and confirmed significant gold and silver values remain in the hanging wall and footwall of the old workings with mineralized intersections of up to 32 feet, gold values of up to 5 ounces per ton ("opt") and silver values of up to 149 opt (Refer to News). An update to the above resource estimate has not yet been made.
In the 1980's prior operators reported the presence of 160,000 tons of mineralized material in the D-Block zone, below the 400 foot level, grading 0.4 opt gold and 4.0 opt silver. These figures are historical in nature, are not NI 43-101 compliant, and should not be relied upon by investors.
Mike Gunsinger, the Drumlummon Project Manager observed that “the original operators of the mine used mercury amalgamation to recover the gold, a practice commonly used at that time. As a result, it appears they intentionally left behind most of the gold which was associated with areas of higher grade silver as the silver would hamper the gold recovery.”
In December, 2009 the Company commenced dewatering the former underground workings down to the 600 foot level, having successfully obtained the necessary permitting from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality ("DEQ"). Montana DEQ - Drumlummon Mine Dewatering Approval and Stipulations.
2010 Work Programs
The Company’s goals for 2010 are to develop an underground decline to the 600 foot level in order to access the Charly Veins and the D Block zones; conduct test mining on the Charly Veins and D-Block zones; complete metallurgical testing; and continue to outline the resource through underground drilling and drifting.
In April, 2010 the Company announced reaching the Charley Vein at the 500 foot level with the underground decline. Channel sampling of the Charly Vein returned an average of 3.13 opt gold and 55.6 opt silver across the vein width of 7.4 feet. (Refer to News- April 12, 2010)
View Video of Charly Vein Underground with Montana Governor
In May, 2010 the Company announced leasing the Philipsburg Mill (the "Mill") for bulk metallurgical testing of mineralized material from the Drumlummon (the "Feedstock"). The Mill is a gravity/floation mill facility and has a capacity of 1,000 tons per day ("tpd"). The lease cost is US $30,000 per month plus US $30 per dry ton milled. Refer to the Philipsburg Mill.
Bulk metallurgical test-work commenced thereafter with recoveries exceeding 92% for gold and 87% for silver (Refer to News - June 21, 2010). In June, 2010 the Company produced 1,206 ounces of gold and 33,717 ounces of silver by milling an average of 175 tpd under the test milling program (Refer to News - July 15, 2010). In July, 2010 the Company produced 1,378 ounces of gold and 20,981 ounces of silver by milling an average of 182.5 tpd under the test milling program (Refer to News - August 16, 2010).
The next planned phase of the bulk metallurgical test-work program involves increasing daily Mill throughput while maintaining a satisfactory recovery level. A third shift was hired at the Mill during August, 2010 and the Company plans to operate the Mill on a 24 hours basis, 5 days per week, commencing at the end of August, 2010.
L. Joseph Bardswich, P.Eng. (Mining) (Ontario) is the qualified person responsible for preparing scientific and technical information that is posted on this website.