Abandoned Mines

Historical photographs are in the public domain unless otherwise credited. Uncredited present-day photographs are by the author.

Hecla Mine
The history of mining in northern Idaho dates back to the late 1800s, when gold was first discovered in the Rocky Mountains by prospectors and fur trappers. However, there was no gold to be found in the Burke Creek Canyon; instead, large deposits of silver and lead were discovered.

This discovery in the Burke area led to a period of rapid growth and prosperity. The Star Mine began production in 1887.

Aerial view of the Hecla Star Mine in Burke, Idaho

Photo credit: @davidegg22 via YouTube

The storage bin of the Hecla Star Mine in Burke, Idaho

Photo credit: Sean Blair

Photo credit: Sean Blair

By 1903, Burke Canyon had several large and successful mining operations, including the Tiger, Poorman, Marsh, Star, Hecla, Hercules, and Sherman/Union mines. When fully developed, the Hecla Star Mine reportedly reached a depth of 9,000 feet with 60 miles of tunnels, making it one of the deepest mines in North America. The primary commodities were lead, silver, and zinc. From 1895 to 1958, over 13 million metric tons of ore were mined, from which 830,514 metric tons of lead, 562,433 metric tons of zinc, and over 40 million ounces of silver were recovered.

Mining was hard and dangerous work and was a real test of endurance. In the deepest levels, the temperature could reach a scorching 120 degrees. On May 2, 1972, ninety-one miners lost their lives due to an underground fire in the nearby Sunshine Mine. In the early days, miners worked by candlelight prior to the invention of head lamps.

The Hecla Mine in Burke eventually shut down on June 30, 1983, due to low metal prices. However, one of the miners who used to work there reported that some of the tunnels were backfilled with lead-bearing ore which could be excavated when the price of lead rose enough to make it profitable. This is because it is much easier to remove loose backfilled ore than to excavate ore through drilling and blasting new tunnels. The Hecla and neighboring mines in the area known as the “Silver Valley” became one of the world’s largest producers of silver, extracting more than 1 billion ozs. during their active years.

Photo credit: John Carmen Whatley

Photo credit: John Carmen Whatley

Photo credit: @davidegg22 via YouTube

Photo credit: @davidegg22 via YouTube

Photo credit: Michael Maze

Adelmann Mine
On August 23, 1907, the Idaho Daily Statesman published an article about Richard Adelmann's mining activities:

"A very interesting development has occurred on the Zephyr property, six miles out on the Idaho City road, which belongs to Richard Adelmann. The long tunnel driven to open the claim has reached the ledge, and the latter shows four feet of vein matter, much of which is ore of fair grade. Mr. Adelmann has been quietly developing the claim for a long time. Ore from near the surface carries high values in gold and silver, but it is of a smelting character and none has ever been milled…"

Photo credit: Michael Maze

Photo credit: Michael Maze

Richard Adelmann (with the wheelbarrow) was born in Germany in 1838 and immigrated with his parents to New York City in 1846 when he was eight years old. After the Civil War was over, in 1872 he traveled to the Idaho Territory with his aunt and uncle and settled in Boise. He was well respected in his community, and in 1902 he built the Adelmann Building in Boise, still in use today. In his later years, when he was in his sixties and still having the mind of an entrepreneur, Adelmann developed an interest in mining. He established several mining claims, collectively known as the Adelmann Group, just a few miles northeast of Boise.

Photo credit: Michael Maze

Photo credit: Michael Maze

Photo credit: Guy Starbuck

Cinnabar
This photo shows the cinnabar mining camp, as seen from the mill. In the late 1800s, miners searched the area about 15 miles east of the mining town of Yellow Pine in pursuit of gold and silver. One creek contained some gold and silver, but it had too much cinnabar. Most prospectors gave up and moved on, not realizing the value of the mercury found within cinnabar. The main cinnabar deposit was located in the early 1900s by a prospector named Pringle Smith, and mining activity began under his Hermes Mine Group.

Photo credit: Guy Starbuck

Climbing further up the side of the mountain, the storage bin where the ore was dumped and the mill are visible in the foreground.

There was never a business named the “Cinnabar Mining Company.” The cinnabar mine detailed here refers to a mine that was owned or leased by various mining companies over the years under different names.

Photo credit: Guy Starbuck

This is cinnabar. Ore containing cinnabar is crushed using ball bills, which are rotating cylinders containing steel balls. Baffles inside the cylinders agitated the steel balls are ore. This action pulverized the ore.

Crushed cinnabar ore is heated in an airtight furnace called a “retort” to around 900 degrees Fahrenheit, which causes the mercury to separate from the sulfur and evaporate. The mercury vapor is then collected, condensed, and sent off to gold-processing mills in flasks. The mills use mercury to bind to gold to create an amalgam. The amalgam is later heated to very high temperatures which vaporizes the mercury and leaves behind pure gold.

Photo credit: Guy Starbuck

Photo credit: Guy Starbuck

Photo credit: Guy Starbuck

Deadwood Mine
The Seventh Annual Report of the Mining Industry of Idaho for the Year 1905 reported this about the Deadwood Mine:

Aside from its gold mines, one of the most important ore developments of the year in Boise County was the disclosure of an extensive deposit of lead-silver mineral, carrying good gold and copper values in addition, at Deadwood Basin, where the Hall Brothers succeeded in running down the source of some rich float, the source of which had been a prospector’s problem for years.

Here are the drivers and their trucks that hauled the ore from the mine to Cascade, a tortuous 52-mile journey on a narrow mountain road.

The road was open only from July to October, so these guys had to haul twelve months’ worth of processed ore in just four months.

Photo credit: Guy Starbuck

Photo credit: Guy Starbuck

The Seventh Annual Report of the Mining Industry of Idaho for the Year 1929 provided this glowing report on the Deadwood Mine:

Throughout the year the Bunker Hill & Sullivan M. & C. Co., at the Hall Interstate and Lost Pilgrim mines, continued to be one of the most outstanding development and new construction enterprises in central Idaho. Construction on its new mill, which was started in 1927, was fully completed, and it was placed in operation early in 1929.… In addition to completing the mill, the company installed a large pipe line and a new hydroelectric power plant. Additional ore-bins were constructed at the mill; the 700-foot raise connecting the Independence tunnel and the Anderson tunnel was entirely rebuilt into a three-compartment operating raise; and the mine was placed in condition for uninterrupted production. More than 10,000 feet of entries have been driven on the Hall Interstate-Lost Pilgrim vein, and the ore reserves have been proved to a vertical depth of over 1000 feet . . . The road work, new plant installation, new construction, and mine developments conducted by this company were among the largest in south-central Idaho. . .

Photo credit: Guy Starbuck

Photo credit: Guy Starbuck

Photo credit: Guy Starbuck

In 1929, operating for only four months, the mill processed almost 3,000 tons of ore. This yielded 324,000 lbs. of zinc, 165,000 lbs. of lead, 13,000 lbs. of copper, and 18,000 ozs. of silver. Times were good. However, getting to and from the Deadwood Mine was a real challenge, as it was a rugged 52-mile journey on rough roads from Cascade, the nearest town of significance.

The company office included this large safe built into the wall, which was made of concrete. It served its purpose well because there are no records of theft from the mine office.

By 1944, the mine had ten levels of tunnels extending almost 2 miles. By this time, the Deadwood mining camp had expanded to include a cookhouse, a general store, a schoolhouse, and twenty-five houses. Eventually, the commercial-grade ore ran out, and the mining operations shut down in 1950. The property was abandoned, and much of the equipment and machinery was removed for use elsewhere.

Monarch Mine and Mill
The story of the Monarch Mine is a significant part of the history of the mining town of Atlanta and the Atlanta Lode (a “lode” is a vein of ore which has filled and solidified in a large crack of much harder rock, such as granite, millions of years ago). The major discovery came in 1864 when Jim Simmons found the massive Atlanta Lode, which contained both gold and silver. The Monarch Mine built on the side of a mountain (left) and the Monarch Mill where the ore was processed, built within the town of Atlanta (below) were both large operations.