Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Abandoned-InactiveM ines of the Kootenai National Forest-AdministeredL and MBMG 395 Phyllis A. Hargrave Alan R. English Mike D. Kerschen Geno W. Liva Jeffrey D. Lonn JamesP . Madison JohnJ . Metesh Robert Wintergerst Preparedf or the U.S. Departmenot f Agriculture ForestS ervice-Region1 Abandoned-Inactive Mines of the Kootenai National Forest-Administered Land Open-File Report MBMG 395 December 1999 Phyllis A. Hargrave Alan R. English Mike D. Kerschen Geno W. Liva Jeffrey D. Lonn James P. Madison John J. Metesh Robert Wintergerst Prepared for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service-Region 1 by Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Contents Page List of Figures ............................................................... iv List of Tables ............................................................... vii Introduction ..................................................................1 1.1 Project Objectives ....................................................1 1.2 Abandoned and Inactive Mines Defined ...................................2 1.3 Health and Environmental Problems at Mines ..............................2 1.3.1 Acid-Mine Drainage ...........................................3 1.3.2 Solubility of Selected Metals ....................................3 1.3.3 The Use of pH and SC to Identify Problems ........................5 1.4 Methodology ........................................................5 1.4.1 Data Sources .................................................5 1.4.2 Pre-field Screening ............................................6 1.4.3 Field Screening ...............................................7 1.4.3.1 Collection of Geologic Samples ..........................8 1.4.4 Field Methods ................................................8 1.4.4.1 Selection of Sample Sites ...............................9 1.4.4.2 Collection of Water and Soil Samples ......................9 1.4.4.3 Marking and Labeling Sample Sites ......................10 1.4.4.4 Existing Data ........................................10 1.4.5 Analytical Methods ...........................................10 1.4.6 Standards ...................................................11 1.4.6.1 Water-Quality Standards ...............................11 1.4.6.2 Soil Standards .......................................13 1.4.7 Analytical Results ............................................14 1.5 Kootenai National Forest ..............................................14 1.5.1.1 Production ..........................................17 1.5.1.2 Milling .............................................17 1.6 Summary of the Kootenai National Forest Investigation .....................18 1.7 Mining Districts and Drainage Basins ....................................19 Clark Fork and Kootenai River Drainages ............................. ............19 2.1 Geology ...........................................................19 2.2 Economic Geology ...................................................21 2.3 Hydrology and Hydrogeology ..........................................21 2.4 Summaries of the Lower Clark Fork and Kootenai River Drainages ............22 2.5 Jack Waite Mine ....................................................24 2.6 Vermilion River Adit .................................................28 2.7 Ambassador Mine ...................................................33 ii 2.8 Heidelberg Mine or Price Claims .......................................38 2.9 Pilgrim Mine .......................................................42 2.10 Holliday (Homestead) Mine ..........................................47 2.11 Brown Hill or Broken Hill Mine .......................................52 2.12 Blue Creek or Scotchman Mine ........................................56 2.13 Rock Lake Adit ....................................................68 2.14 Nancy Jane and Twin Peaks Mines .....................................72 2.15 Independence Mine .................................................77 2.16 Snowfall Prospect and King Mine ......................................82 2.17 Viking Mine or Gold Hill Claims ......................................87 2.18 Bramlet Creek (and Branagan) Mine ....................................91 2.19 Gloria or Little Annie Mine ...........................................95 2.20 Vermiculite Mountain Mine ..........................................99 2.21 Copper Reward Mine ...............................................102 2.22 Snowshoe Mine ...................................................106 2.23 Cherry Creek or St. Paul Mill ........................................113 2.24 Victor-Empire Mine ................................................117 2.25 Silver Mountain Mine ..............................................120 2.26 Loyal, Shaughnessy Hill, and Lukens-Hazel Mines .......................123 2.27 Grouse Mountain and Iron Mask Mines ................................128 2.28 Giant Sunrise Mine and Sunrise Mill ..................................135 2.29 Goat Creek Adit ...................................................142 2.30 Snowstorm Mine ..................................................146 2.31 Summary of the Clark Fork, Fisher River, Yaak, and Kootenai River Drainages ............................................151 References .................................................................156 iii List of Figures Figure Page 1. The location of a mine is found as shown.......................................7 2. The Kootenai National Forest ...............................................15 3. Abandoned-inactive mines in the lower Clark Fork and Kootenai River drainages .....21 4. The Jack Waite mine lies predominantly on private land ..........................26 4a. The Montana Tunnel at the Jack Waite is open and had a small discharge of water .....27 4b. Waste material partially filled Dixie Creek ....................................27 5. The Vermilion River adit ..................................................30 5a. The open and easily accessible Vermilion River adit .............................31 5b. Sample VVRS10M at the Vermilion River adit .................................31 6. The Ambassador mine on Granite Creek .......................... ............35 6a. Granite Creek flowed at a low rate when visited in late August ....................36 6b. Granite Creek (at low flow) has cut the waste dump at the Ambassador, .............36 7. The Heidelberg mine discharged water to Rock Creek ...........................40 7a. As viewed from above, the Heidelberg mine ...................................41 7b. The discharge from the Heidelberg ..........................................41 8. The Pilgrim mine adit and discharge ............................. ............44 8a. At the Pilgrim mine, the 20-gpm discharge was practically hidden ..................45 8b. A pool of water formed by the discharge at the Pilgrim mine ......................45 9. The Holliday mine had two adits ............................................49 9a. At the Holliday mine, none of the structures ...................................50 9b. The 8-gpm discharge from the lower adit at the Holliday .........................50 10. Broken Hill mine sample location ...........................................54 10a. Water flowed from the caved adit on patented land at the Broken Hill ... ............55 10b. The Broken Hill waste dump was steep and largely unvegetated ...................55 11. The Blue Creek mine also known as the Stackhouse or the North Star ...............58 11a. The waste dump at the Blue Creek mine .......................... ............59 11b. The adit at the Blue Creek was open and accessible .............................59 12. The Rock Lake adit .......................................................70 12a. The adit near Rock Lake was predominantly caved ..............................71 12b. The small rate flow at Rock Lake was measured ................................71 13. The Nancy Jane mine .....................................................74 14. The Twin Peaks mine .....................................................75 14a. The Nancy Jane mine had a small seep .......................................76 14b. The Twin Peaks mine showed no adverse effects ...............................76 15. The Independence mine ...................................................80 15a. Looking north at the adit discharge at the Independence ..........................81 15b. Looking down from the talus and upper caved adit at the Independence ..............81 16. The Snowfall mine .......................................................84 16a. The adit discharge at the Snowfall prospect ...................................85 16b. A site on the South Fork of Silver Butte Creek was chosen ........................85 iv 17. The Viking mine .........................................................89 17a. Recent habitation at the Viking has resulted in a modern A-frame ..................90 18. The Bramlet Creek mill ...................................................93 18a. Collapsed mill ruins lay beside Bramlet Creek .................................94 18b. Bramlet Creek ran clear and cold downstream from the Bramlet Creek mill. ..........94 19. The Gloria mine .........................................................97 19a. As viewed from the road to the Wayup mine, the Gloria’s waste dumps .............98 19b. One waste dump at the Gloria ...............................................98 20. Vermiculite Mountain mine ...............................................101 21. The Walker Tunnel at the Copper Reward ....................................104 21a. A seep emerged from the collapsed adit portal at the Copper Reward ...............105 21b. At the Copper Reward, lush green vegetation grew .............................105 22. The Snowshoe mine .....................................................109 22a. A panorama looking west shows the flat reclaimed area. The adits at the Snowshoe ...110 22b. At the Snowshoe, a seep emerged from the disturbed area .......................111 22c. Recently indurated mine waste downstream of the Snowshoe .....................111 23. The Cherry Creek mill ...................................................115 23a. Tailings sample CCHT10H from the Cherry Creek mill .........................116 23b. The foundation of the mill at the Cherry Creek ................................116 24. The Victor-Empire mine ..................................................119 25. Silver Mountain mine ....................................................122 26. Shaughnessy Creek adit, Loyal mine, and Lukens-Hazel ........................126 26a. The Loyal mine’s one collapsed ...........................................127 26b. A small pool of water formed at the caved portal of the Shaughnessy Creek adit. .....127 27. The mine map of the Iron Mask ............................................131 27a. The intermittent drainage that is a tributary to Carr Draw ........................132 27b. A 0.5-gpm seep was found on KNF-administered land ..........................132 28. The Grouse Mountain mine ...............................................133 28a. Photos of the Grouse Mountain mine ........................................134 29. The Giant Sunrise mine ..................................................137 29a. The open adit at the Giant Sunrise held standing water ..........................138 29b. The waste dump had been eroded by runoff, ..................................138 30. The Sunrise mill ........................................................139 30a. As seen from KNF-administered land, the tailings were fairly well vegetated ........140 30b. The water at the sample site on Copper Creek .................................140 31. The Goat Creek adit .....................................................144 31a. The caved Goat Creek adit is barely discernible .................... ...........145 31b. The sparsely vegetated waste dump was in direct contact with Goat Creek ..........145 32. The Snowstorm mine ....................................................148 32a. Looking downstream on Callahan Creek .....................................149 32b. The adit discharge from the open adit at the Snowstorm .........................149 v List of Tables Table Page 1. Screening criteria 6 2. Water-quality standards 12 3. Clark Fork Superfund background levels (mgikg) for soils. 13 4. Variouslevelsoftoxicityforlead ; 13 5. The estimated relative production from Lincoln and Sandersc ounties. 17 6. Summary of Kootenai National Forest investigation. 18 7. USGS stream-gagel ocations within the Kootenai National Forest. 22 8. Summary of sites in the lower Clark Fork drainage (Cabinet Ranger District) 23 9. JackWaiteminewater-qualityexceedences. 25 10. Soil sampling results at the Vermilion River adit 29 11. Vermilion River adit water-quality exceedences. 32 12. Soil sampling results at the Ambassadorm ine. 34 13. Ambassador mine water-quality exceedences. 37 14. Soil sampling results at the Heidelberg mine 39 15. Heidelberg mine water-quality exceedences. 39 16. Pilgrim mine water-quality exceedences. 46 17. Soil sampling results at the Holliday mine (mg/kg) 48 18. Holliday (Homestead)m ine water-quality exceedences. 51 19. Broken Hill mine water-quality exceedences. 53 20. Soil sampling results at the Blue Creek mine (mgikg) 57 21. BlueCreekminewater-qualityexceedences 60 22. Summary of sites in the upper Kootenai drainage. 61 23. RockLakeaditwater-qualityexceedences. 69 24. Nancy Jane and Twin Peaksm ine water-quality exceedences. 73 25. Acid rain leach results at the Independencem ine (~g/L) 78 26. Independencem ine water-quality exceedences. 79 27. Snowfall and King mine water-quality exceedences. 86 28. Vikingminewater-qualityexceedences. 88 29. Bramlet Creek mill water-quality exceedences. 92 30. Gloria mine water-quality exceedences. 96 31. Copper Reward (Walker Tunnel) mine water-quality exceedences. 106 32. Soil sampling results (mgikg) for the Snowshoem ine. 108 33. Snowshoe mine water-quality exceedences. 112 34. Soil sampling results at the Cherry Creek mill (mg/kg) '. ..114 35. Cherry Creek mill water-quality exceedences. 114 36. Soil sampling results-Victor Empire mine (mgikg) 118 37. Waste dump sampling results-Silver Mountain mine(mgikg). 121 38. Lukens-Hazel, Loyal and ShaughnessyC reek mine water-quality exceedences. 125 39. Soil-sampling results ai the Iron Mask mine and mill. 130 VI 40. Grouse Mountain and Iron Mask mine water-quality exceedences. 130 41. Giant Sunrise mine and Sunrise mill water-quality exceedences. 141 42. Goat Creek adit water-quality exceedences. 143 43. Snowstorm mine water-quality exceedences. 150 44. Surnmaryofwater-qualityexceedences 152 45. Summaryofwater-qualityexceedences 153 46. Sites in the upper Kootenai River drainage 154 . VII List of Appendixes Appendix Page I USFS - MBMG Field Form ...............................................174 II List of Sites in the Kootenai National Forest ..................................175 III Description of Mines and Mill Sites .........................................176 IV Soil and Water................ ..........................................215 viii Introduction To fulfill its obligations under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Northern Region of the U. S. Forest Service (USFS) desires to identify and characterize the abandoned and inactive mines with environmental, health, and/or safety problems that are on or affecting National Forest System lands. The Northern Region of the USFS administers National Forest System lands in Montana and parts of Idaho and North Dakota. Concurrently, the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology (MBMG) collects and distributes information about the geology, mineral resources, and ground water of Montana. Consequently, the USFS and the MBMG determined that an inventory and preliminary characterization of abandoned and inactive mines in Montana would be beneficial to both agencies and entered into a series of participating agreements to accomplish this work. The first forest inventoried was the Deerlodge National Forest. The results of this inventory are presented in five volumes with the MBMG open-file report (OFR) numbers following the title: Volume I- Basin Creek (OFR 321), Volume II-Cataract Creek (OFR 344), Volume III-Flint Creek and Rock Creek (OFR 345), Volume IV-Upper Clark Fork River (OFR 346), and Volume V-Jefferson River (OFR 347). The second forest inventoried was the Helena National Forest. The results of this inventory are presented in Volume I-Upper Missouri River (OFR 352), and Volume II- Blackfoot and Little Blackfoot Rivers (OFR 368). The third Forest inventoried was the Beaverhead National Forest with the results presented in 1998's MBMG OFR 379. The inventories of abandoned mines in the Kootenai, and the Lewis and Clark National Forests were begun in 1997 and completed in 1998. Sites on U.S. Bureau of Land Management-(BLM) administered land are described in MBMG OFR 365. 1.1 Project Objectives In 1992, the USFS and MBMG entered into the first of these agreements to identify and characterize abandoned and inactive mines on or affecting National Forest System lands in Montana. The objectives of this discovery process, as defined by the USFS, were to 1. Utilize a formal, systematic program to identify the "Universe" of sites with possible human health, environmental, and/or safety-related problems that are either on or affecting National Forest System lands. 2. Identify the human health and environmental risks at each site based on site characterization factors, including screening-level soil and water data that have been taken and analyzed in accordance with EPA quality-control procedures. 3. Based on site-characterization factors, including screening-level sample data where appropriate, identify those sites that are not affecting National Forest System lands, and can therefore be eliminated from further consideration. 4. Cooperate with other state and federal agencies, and integrate the Northern Region 1