A History of Non-ferrous Metal Mining and Exploration in Maine

By Frederick M. Beck

F. M. Beck, Inc. Yarmouth, Maine

Note

• The following set of slides were used as part of an oral presentation given by Fred Beck in November, 2012, as part of a conference at the Black Bear Inn in Old Town Maine entitled Maine Metallic Minerals Conference and Fall Meeting of the Geological Society of Maine. The purpose of this talk was to indicate the high level of interest in Maine’s mineral heritage prior to enactment of the 1991 Mining Rules. They are posted here for general information only and are not to be used or published for other purposes without the written permission of the author. They are not guaranteed as accurate, but only represent the author’s knowledge at the time. All aerial and other photos are by the author.

Front page of weekly mining journal, usually about 15 to 20 pages long. Published in Bangor from 1880 until 1883.

Mines Blue Hill Harborside Leach Exploration Deposits Alder Pond Ledge Ridge Mt. Chase Bald Mountain Ore Mountain (KI) Warren Nickel

Blue Hill Mine

• 1878-1883: Underground Mine 2-3 million pounds Cu reportedly mined • 1918: 125 TPD flotation mill; 6 months production • 1967: Reserve estimate; 617,000 tons, 19.1% Zn, 0.85% Cu

• 1972-1977: Mined underground by Kerr American Production: 1.02 million tons; 6.9% Zn, 0.93% Cu.

• Type: Distal volcanogenic; stratabound • Remaining reserves: +1 million tons (down dip) • Satellite deposits: Yes

Blue Hill Mine site, 1972. Mill under construction in foreground.

Blue Hill Mine site, 1975; Picture taken from old Smelter site across Second Pond.

Ruins of old Copper Smelter on Second Pond, Blue Hill, Maine

Typical cross section looking east; dark red layers are massive sulfide

Harborside Mine

• Mined first in 1881, then in 1916, then - - • Mined by Open Pit by Callahan Mining Corporation, 1967-1972 • 1968-1972 production: 798,000 tons

4.91% Zinc 1.31% Copper 0.36% Lead 17.1 g/mt Silver

• Type: Volcanogenic; Proximal (Kuroko type) • Remaining Reserves: Small • Satellite Deposits: Yes

Harborside Mine; mill site from top of waste dump. 1971

Typical cross section at Harborside Mine; looking NE.

Harborside Mine site looking north toward Castine. About 1970.

Pit

Harborside Mine open pit, 1972. Bottom level at 360 feet below sea level.

View of Harborside Open Pit Mine about 1970. Bottom of pit is about 200 feet below seal level at this date

Harborside Open Pit beginning to fill with seawater, 1972

Goose Pond after open pit filled with seawater

Leach Mine

• Discovered 1969 : 1 mile S. of Harborside Mine • Geochemistry/Geophysics/Drilling • 1970 Production: Approx. 5000 tons

2.4% zinc 1.6% copper

• Type: Volcanogenic; Proximal (Kuroko type) • Remaining Reserves: Yes; 108,000 tons • Reason for closure: dangerous underground

conditions; inexperienced miners; high dilution;

View looking east into Harborside open pit mine, about 1970. Bottom of pit here is about 200 feet below sea level.

Shaft collar location of Leach Mine, Cape Rosier, Maine

Surface facility of ventilation and escape raise at Leach Mine, Cape Rosier, Maine

Hoist Signals for shaft operation at Leach Mine, Cape Rosier, Maine

Exploration

ASARCO Amselco Amoco Andes (Anaconda) Exploration Aquitaine Basic, Inc. Bear Creek Exploration Company BHP-Utah Black Hawk Mining Co. Boise Cascade Boliden Mining Company Boliden Canada, Ltd. Champion International Chevron Oil Company Callahan Mining Corporation De Beers, Inc. Dennison Mining Company Dolsan Falconbridge Freeport Exploration Guggenheim GCO Minerals Getty Oil Company Humble Oil Company Hannah Mining Company Houston Oil and Minerals International Paper Company Knox Mining Company

Knox Nickel Company Kidd Creek Mining Company Kerr McGee Corporation Kennecott Copper Company Kerr American Company Louisiana Land and Exploration Company New Jersey Zinc Company Newmont Mining Company Northgate Exploration Company Noranda Corporation Oquossic Minerals Company Penobscot Mining Company Phelps Dodge Corporation Phillips Petroleum Corporation Rio Algom Corporation Scintilore Mining Company Scott Paper Company Standard Metals Company Superior Oil Company Silver Stack Mining Company St. Joe Lead Company Spooner Mines Texaco Texas Gulf Sulfur Company U. S. Borax Company U. S. Smelting, Mining and Refining Company Utah International Vitro Chemical Corporation

Partial list of exploration companies active in Maine 1940-1990

Geologic Concept

Property Acquisition

Regional Exploration

Detailed Exploration

No Discovery Project Abandoned (more than 99% of all projects)

Discovery ! (Fewer than 1% Of all projects)

Funding Decision

Funding Decision

Funding Decision

Pre-Production: Detailed drilling Engineering Environmental baseline studies Permitting

Pre-Production Infrastructure Site Development Construction

Major Funding Decision

Production Reclamation

Geologist contemplating where to explore

Geologist collecting soil sample during winter months in northern Maine. With thick snow cover, ground is not frozen under the insulating snow blanket.

Plots of metal values from geochemical survey; red marked are anomalous

Part of a combined geochemical and geophysical map

Typical setup for core drilling; In this case, an angle hole of about 45 degrees.

Mines Blue Hill Harborside Leach Exploration Deposits Alder Pond Ledge Ridge Mt. Chase Bald Mountain Ore Mountain (KI) Warren Nickel

Alder Pond Deposit

• 1985: Geochemical Discovery • Explored by: BHP Minerals Company • Owner: BRP, LLC • Reserves: Not available Estimated 3-5 million tons Reportedly high grade (+20% Zn+Pb+Cu) +Ag • Type: Volcanogenic; • Satellite deposits: Unknown

Ledge Ridge

• 1974: Geochemical Discovery by J. S. Cummings, Inc. funded by The Northeast Joint Venture . NJV Partners: Callahan Mining Corp., The New Jersey Zinc Co., Superior Oil Company.

• Explored by: NJV, Newmont Exploration, Boise Cascade/Teck JV, Aur Resources

• Owner: Wagner Forest Management • Reserves: 3-5 million ton range, modest Zn-Cu

grades • Type: Volcanogenic • Satellite Deposits: Yes

Mt. Chase Deposit

• 1979: Geochemical discovery by Getty Mining Company

• Explored by Getty and Chevron Resources Company • Present owner: Conservation Forestry, LLC • Reserves: 3.2 million tons grading: 11.25% Zn, 4.83% Pb, 1.45% Cu • Type: Volcanogenic; • Satellite deposits? None known

Bald Mountain • 1977: Geochemical Discovery; J. S. Cummings, Inc. Funded by

Superior Oil Company, Louisiana Land and Exploration Company • Current Owners: Irving Timberlands 87.5%; Prentiss and Carlisle

Company 12.5% • Explored by: Superior Mining, Freeport Exploration, Chevron

Resources, Boliden Resources, Black Hawk Mining Company • Reserves:

– Copper zone; 22 million tons at 1.6% Cu – Zinc zone; 13 million tons at 2.3% Zn – Gossan: 1.2 million tons at 4.46 g/t Au, 103 g/t Ag (.15oz Au/3.4 oz Ag)

• Note: Above reserves assume open pit mining; grades would be higher and tons fewer if copper and zinc were mined with underground methods.

• Type: Volcanogenic • Satellite Deposits: Yes, including important nearby CL deposit, also

discovered by J. S. Cummings, Inc.

Katahdin Iron Works • 1840-1890: Iron mine; oxidized portion (gossan)

• of very large sulfide deposit in gabbro. • 1927-1928: explored by General Chemical Company for sulfur • 1952: Allied Chemical purchased property from Piscataquis Iron

Works • 1954: explored by Allied Chemical Company for sulfur. • 1973: explored by Allied Chemical for nickel, cobalt and copper; 2

deep (2000’+) holes • 1973: Allied Chemical sells property to J. M. Huber Corp. • 1976-1989: leased to Superior Mining Company; called “Ore

Mountain” project. Looking for concentrations of Cu, Ni, Co. • 2009: J. M. Huber sells property to Conservation Forestry • Reserves: Raw estimates from several sources; 70-200 million tons grading approx 20% S, 36% Fe, +/- 0.3%

Ni+Co+Cu

Warren Nickel Deposit

• 1965: Discovered by Knox Mining Company (M. A. Hanna Co.) Geophysical methods (EM, Mag) • 1965-1975: Explored by Knox; determined to be uneconomic at existing nickel prices. • 1980-1982: Explored by Boliden Canada, Ltd. • 1989: Acquired by China First Corp. 32 more holes drilled • 1990: Acquired by Black Hawk Mining Co,

dba Knox Nickel Corp. • 1992: Reserves reported at: 3.4 million tons grading 1.27%Ni, 0.59% Cu, 0.11% Co. • 1992: Warren mining ordinance adopted • 1992: Black Hawk terminates efforts to put mine into

production

The End