Show RICH MINING REGION because of increased interest in metal mining at the present time requests for statistics and reports on mining regions are much more numerous than in normal times the geological survey announces that it has on lland hand a few copies of bulletin on the mining districts of the dillon quadrangle montana and adjacent areas the area described in this report was of great importance in the early development of montana for it was the discovery of gold in the streams of this region that led to the influx of population and the eventual settlement of the state the dillon quadrangle comprises about square miles the great butte copper mining district is immediately north of it and two of the butte smelters shelters sm elters are within it the first important discovery of precious metal in montana was made at bannack in 1862 and the placers of bannack are reported to have yielded in that year in gold A far greater strike was made the next year at alder gulch the discovery causing an extraordinary rush of gold seekers which led to the founding of a number alder gulch is of towns on alder creek the longest and richest gold bearing gulch ever found in montana and within the first twenty years its gravels yielded more than placer mining has been going on more or less continuously ever since the early days and in late year modern methods of attacking the gold bearing gravels have been introduced dredges now handle the gravels of alder crek and the gold output of this fleet of dredges is larger than the total from all the mines in the region the mineral resources of the dillon quadrangle and adjacent areas include gold silver copper and lead and smaller quantities of zinc iron manganese and tungsten the report discusses their distribution mode of currance occurrence oc geologic features and origin the metallic ore deposits of the region occur in about thirty more or less well defined districts which are described individually |