Bonanza King Mine - DonsMiningOffice.com

You can spend a month near Lovelock Nevada, prospecting new mines every day, and will still not cover 20% of the mines in that territory. This has been a rich gold and silver bearing area, for both large placers and hardrock operations.

Some of the mines are on private property but most of them are on Federal land. There are large hydrothermal deposits, and some of the mines are chasing hard rock vein systems going deep underground.

There is an abundance of different types of deposits. Most are for gold and silver, others for copper, barite, lead, lime, iron, mercury, silica, sulfur, hematite, magnetite, tungsten, and the list goes on.

This is about one of those mines that is gold and silver, with a history that goes back to 1868. It was chasing a gold and silver bearing vein of banded quartz ranging from 3-8 feet wide. It was an initial open cut and, in some places, going down 175 feet. Three major levels were later developed in the mine.

This is about 7:00 AM on the way in to the mine. It is some beautiful, rugged country.

I saw two small herds of antelope on the way there. Getting pictures is hard to do! — This is about 7:00 AM on the way in to the mine. It is some beautiful, rugged country.

A 325 foot shaft was the entry point into the mine, with levels developed at 150, 175, 225, and 300 feet. The ore was initially processed through a 15-stamp mill.

Here’s Jon at the open cut of the mine. The vein here has been taken out and the gold/silver extracted.

Here is part of the stamp mill site. The large dump is behind it and to the right as well. — Here’s Jon at the open cut of the mine. The vein here has been taken out and the gold/silver extracted.

There are several important studies made by mining engineers over time, and the latest by H. J. Bergmann in 1965. He summarized most of the early reports and he provides a good analysis of the potential of the mine. He reports the mine was closed in 1910.

Frederic Quinto, the owner of this 20-acre private property, wants to re-open this mine for the price of gold and silver now makes this mine a highly potential, valuable asset. A tremendous amount of exploration is needed to determine its potential.

Here is that 350-foot shaft going down. Do not lean over to far! How about a drone checking this out? Is that possible?

This is looking down a stope from one of the lower levels. They chased the ore all the way to the surface. That is sunlight you see down there. It is coming through the open cut. — Here is that 350-foot shaft going down. Do not lean over to far! How about a drone checking this out? Is that possible?

Fred has given permission to write all about this mine development so there is no concern about privacy issues with this blog about the mine and people involved.

This could develop into a major mining operation, requiring considerable capital to get it up and running. The owner’s plan is to find an organization who has the finances to bring this mine into production.

I have provided a basic history so that you understand what this blog is all about!

My involvement came as a phone call from the owner who had read one of my latest reports in the ICMJ magazine about ore deposits. There is a very large dump of ore outside the mine shaft, which has been assayed several times over the past 80 years. My job was to take more samples of the dump area to help determine if the dump should be re-processed, extracting the gold and silver, which would help financially to get some of the early mine exploration done.

Here is a better view of some of that open cut.

A view from the top of the dump, showing a few of the buckets being used for sampling. — Here is a better view of some of that open cut.

Jon Bursey, working with the owner, has been the Bonanza King coordinator and the man in charge for this operation. I have been working with Jon, who is truly an amazing individual with an open mind in this development process.

I met with Jon in Lovelock on October 1^st, the first of two trips there. This is likely the first of several reports as this project progresses. Lots of decisions have yet to be made for this is the very early stages of this mine development and determination.

The 1965 mine report by H. J. Bergmann is available on line. Key in “h j Bergmann bonanza king mine” and the link will come up from UNR in Reno. It will load the report for you.

Thanks.
Don