Homestake Mine Tram Ruins and Lulu Pass
Ruins of the workings around the Homestake Mine hang on the side of Henderson Mountain in the New World Mining District outside Cooke Montana. From this view looking north from right to left over what was the upper terminal of the ore tram, Fisher Mountain, Lulu Pass, and Scotch Bonnet are visible, Geologically, the New World mining district is in the northwest trending, Cooke City structural zone that spans the Wyiming-Montana border.. About half of the area is underlain by PreCambrian schist, gneiss, and granite. The Beartooth Mountains and Wolf Peak are composed of these igneous and metamorphic rocks. To the southwest the PreCambrian rocks are overlain by Paleozoic sediments, including the Flathead quartzite, Gros Ventre shale and limestone, Gallatin limestone, Big Horn dolomite, Jefferson limestone, Three Fork shale, and Madison limestone. Eocene Absaroka Volcanics lie unconformably on Paleozoic rocks. The Fisher Mountain, The Homestake mine and other nearby mines are in the Tertiary stocks that have intruded into the overlying rocks. The intrusives are stocks of diorite, monzonite, syenite, and gabbro; and dikes and sills, of various compositions. Scotch Bonnet Mountain has mineralized zones on the edge of a diorite intrusive.
The Homestake Mine can be traced back to 1885 when Sam Mathers filed a claim on what became the mine. Two years later, Mathers shipped 30 tons of ore from the mine to a smelter in Salt Lake City. That must have been a difficult task with no railroads, and few poorly maintained roads. The Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge didn’t exist. There were only rough trails to Wyoming's Bighorn Basin which had few towns and no railroad yet. Roads through Yellowstone National Park were primative and the closest railroad near Livington Montana. Despite the difficultly transporting ore from the remote Montana mountains, he got the ore processed. The ore netted him $3,000 and encouraged him to continue work on the mine's three adits, numerous crosscuts and minor drifts. A shop and shed were constructed near the intermediate level adit. The gold and silver mine was one of 279 mining claims in the New World District and, along with the Alice E. and Daisy mines also on Henderson Mountain, was one of the most productive. A small tent camp, located below the mine may have been associated with the workings in the late 19th century. By 1894, mining at the Homestake had ceased in the wake of the Silver Purchase Act and the resulting national depression. By 1916, however, the Western Smelting and Power Company had purchased the claim, along with the Gold Dust claim, and planned extensive development of both mines. Located 700 feet below the Homestake, Gold Dust mining engineers and geologists expected to tap into the rich gold-copper veins exposed in the Homestake mine. In anticipation of the strike and the completion of the smelter in 1923, the company began construction of an aerial tram that connected the Homestake mine with the Gold Dust mine and the smelter, almost two miles away. At the time of connection with the aerial tram, the Homestake mine consisted of three adits and 700 feet of workings. Despite the predictions of the Western Smelting and Power Company planners, the ore body present in the Homestake mine was never struck by the Gold Dust miners. Both mines ceased operations by 1930. In 1948, the Parkmont Mining Company of Cooke City began a small open-cut mine on the Homestake claim and was recovering 70 tons of $11 ore daily by 1949. The open-cut was worked by a Koehring diesel shovel and a Sullivan wagon drill. By 1950, the underground workings were inaccessible
References:
deq.mt.gov/Land/abandonedmines/linkdocs/154tech
Livingston Enterprise 1916 (autumn) "Invests Hundreds of Thousands Will Reap Millions in Reward.”
Lovering, Thomas F., 1929, "The New World or Cooke City Mining District, Park County, Montana", U. S. Geological Survey, Bull. 811-A, pp. 1-87.
Reed, 1950, Mines and Mineral Deposits (Except Fuels), Park County, Montana. U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular no. 7546. GPO, Washington.
pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1717/downloads/pdf/p1717M.pdf
Elliott, J.E., 1979, Geologic map of the southwest part of
the Cooke City quadrangle, Montana and Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-1084, scale 1:24,000
Homestake Mine Tram Ruins and Lulu Pass
Ruins of the workings around the Homestake Mine hang on the side of Henderson Mountain in the New World Mining District outside Cooke Montana. From this view looking north from right to left over what was the upper terminal of the ore tram, Fisher Mountain, Lulu Pass, and Scotch Bonnet are visible, Geologically, the New World mining district is in the northwest trending, Cooke City structural zone that spans the Wyiming-Montana border.. About half of the area is underlain by PreCambrian schist, gneiss, and granite. The Beartooth Mountains and Wolf Peak are composed of these igneous and metamorphic rocks. To the southwest the PreCambrian rocks are overlain by Paleozoic sediments, including the Flathead quartzite, Gros Ventre shale and limestone, Gallatin limestone, Big Horn dolomite, Jefferson limestone, Three Fork shale, and Madison limestone. Eocene Absaroka Volcanics lie unconformably on Paleozoic rocks. The Fisher Mountain, The Homestake mine and other nearby mines are in the Tertiary stocks that have intruded into the overlying rocks. The intrusives are stocks of diorite, monzonite, syenite, and gabbro; and dikes and sills, of various compositions. Scotch Bonnet Mountain has mineralized zones on the edge of a diorite intrusive.
The Homestake Mine can be traced back to 1885 when Sam Mathers filed a claim on what became the mine. Two years later, Mathers shipped 30 tons of ore from the mine to a smelter in Salt Lake City. That must have been a difficult task with no railroads, and few poorly maintained roads. The Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge didn’t exist. There were only rough trails to Wyoming's Bighorn Basin which had few towns and no railroad yet. Roads through Yellowstone National Park were primative and the closest railroad near Livington Montana. Despite the difficultly transporting ore from the remote Montana mountains, he got the ore processed. The ore netted him $3,000 and encouraged him to continue work on the mine's three adits, numerous crosscuts and minor drifts. A shop and shed were constructed near the intermediate level adit. The gold and silver mine was one of 279 mining claims in the New World District and, along with the Alice E. and Daisy mines also on Henderson Mountain, was one of the most productive. A small tent camp, located below the mine may have been associated with the workings in the late 19th century. By 1894, mining at the Homestake had ceased in the wake of the Silver Purchase Act and the resulting national depression. By 1916, however, the Western Smelting and Power Company had purchased the claim, along with the Gold Dust claim, and planned extensive development of both mines. Located 700 feet below the Homestake, Gold Dust mining engineers and geologists expected to tap into the rich gold-copper veins exposed in the Homestake mine. In anticipation of the strike and the completion of the smelter in 1923, the company began construction of an aerial tram that connected the Homestake mine with the Gold Dust mine and the smelter, almost two miles away. At the time of connection with the aerial tram, the Homestake mine consisted of three adits and 700 feet of workings. Despite the predictions of the Western Smelting and Power Company planners, the ore body present in the Homestake mine was never struck by the Gold Dust miners. Both mines ceased operations by 1930. In 1948, the Parkmont Mining Company of Cooke City began a small open-cut mine on the Homestake claim and was recovering 70 tons of $11 ore daily by 1949. The open-cut was worked by a Koehring diesel shovel and a Sullivan wagon drill. By 1950, the underground workings were inaccessible
References:
deq.mt.gov/Land/abandonedmines/linkdocs/154tech
Livingston Enterprise 1916 (autumn) "Invests Hundreds of Thousands Will Reap Millions in Reward.”
Lovering, Thomas F., 1929, "The New World or Cooke City Mining District, Park County, Montana", U. S. Geological Survey, Bull. 811-A, pp. 1-87.
Reed, 1950, Mines and Mineral Deposits (Except Fuels), Park County, Montana. U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular no. 7546. GPO, Washington.
pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1717/downloads/pdf/p1717M.pdf
Elliott, J.E., 1979, Geologic map of the southwest part of
the Cooke City quadrangle, Montana and Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-1084, scale 1:24,000