COWAN BAR PLACER GOLD
Location: Bannack Mining District, Dillon, Montana
The Cowan Bar Placer Gold Property presents an exceptional investment opportunity in one of Montana's most historically significant gold-producing areas. This advanced exploration and potential production property is located in the renowned Bannack Mining District, just downstream from Bannack, Montana's first gold mining boomtown from the 1860s. Spanning 89.25 acres across six private parcels, the claim covers over 1 mile of Grasshopper Creek, a historically rich placer gold-producing creek.
The Cowan Bar Placer is known for its untapped potential, offering investors a chance to capitalize on a district with a long history of gold production, including 500,000 ounces of gold from the Bannack district. Grasshopper Creek was the first major gold discovery site in Montana and has produced considerable amounts of pl...
The Cowan Bar Placer is known for its untapped potential, offering investors a chance to capitalize on a district with a long history of gold production, including 500,000 ounces of gold from the Bannack district. Grasshopper Creek was the first major gold discovery site in Montana and has produced considerable amounts of placer gold in its history.
The Cowan Bar property lies in the heart of this rich district, offering modern operators the potential to recover gold using contemporary, efficient methods.
Key Property Features:
Resource Estimates:
According to a 1987 geological report, the property is estimated to hold 63,900 ounces of placer gold, derived from 3.55 million cubic yards of gold-bearing gravel.
Additional cemented gravels not included in the resource calculation may provide further gold deposits. Test results from these gravels indicate gold content of 0.461 ounces per ton.
Overburden & Pay Gravels:
The overburden depth ranges from 2-6 feet, with more than 40 distinct pay gravel layers identified. These layers offer rich gold deposits and include a variety of materials, such as sand, sediment, river rock, and cemented gravels.
The cemented gravels at depth represent a significant opportunity for additional gold recovery, especially with modern mining methods.
Water Rights:
The property comes with comprehensive water rights for the full output of Grasshopper Creek, providing sufficient water to support operations ranging from 1,000 yards per day to larger 10,000-yard per day mining projects. These rights are a valuable asset that ensures consistent water supply for high-volume mining operations.
Scalable Operations:
The Cowan Bar Placer is suitable for a range of mining operations. A small-scale project (1,000 yards per day) could be managed with a small team of 3-4 workers, utilizing basic placer equipment and optimized recovery systems.
For larger operations, the property could support up to 10,000 yards per day, putting it on par with some of the largest placer mining operations in Alaska or the Yukon.
Revenue Potential:
A 1,000-yard per day operation could generate $50,000 to $150,000 per day in revenue, depending on gold recovery rates, market conditions, and equipment efficiency.
A 10,000-yard per day operation would significantly increase these numbers, offering even more revenue potential.
Mining Techniques and Technologies:
The historical methods of gold recovery on the property were not efficient, particularly when dealing with flour gold and fine gold particles. However, with the introduction of modern recovery technologies like centrifugal concentrators, the extraction of these smaller particles would no longer be a challenge.
Additionally, the use of commercial dredging could lower operating costs significantly, though this method would require higher initial capital investment.
Historical Significance and Geology:
Bannack Mining District:
The Bannack district is the birthplace of gold mining in Montana. Gold was first discovered here in 1862 along Grasshopper Creek, making it the first major gold discovery in the state.
In its first year of production, $600,000 worth of gold (approximately 30,000 ounces) was extracted from the creek.
By 1863, the town of Bannack had a population of over 3,000 people and became the first capital of Montana Territory. The area was known for its rich placer deposits (which accounted for 75% of the districts gold production) and its lode mines (which contributed the remaining 25%).
Geology of the Bannack District:
The geology in the area is dominated by the Beaverhead Formation, which consists of conglomerates, sandstones, and limestones formed during the Laramide orogeny. These deposits, formed during the Late Cretaceous to early Eocene, are key to understanding the rich gold-bearing layers at Cowan Bar.
Gold veins in the area formed along fractures and faults in the granodiorite intrusives and limestones. These veins are known to produce free-milling gold, making them highly desirable for placer mining operations.
Cowan Bars Geological Layers:
The Cowan Bar Placer property itself is characterized by multiple layers of placer deposits, including cemented gravels at depth, which are not yet fully explored. The current resource estimate does not take these deeper layers into account, which could significantly increase the amount of recoverable gold.
The gold deposits at Cowan Bar have been deposited through multiple periods of sedimentation, resulting in over 40 layers of pay gravel that could be mined individually or in sequence to maximize gold recovery.
Development Opportunities and Upside Potential:
Small-Scale Development:
A small, 1,000-yard per day operation could be initiated with a relatively low initial investment. A team of 3-4 people could run the operation with standard placer equipment and a centrifugal concentrator to optimize recovery of fine gold.
Large-Scale Commercial Mining:
A larger operation (up to 10,000 yards per day) would require more advanced equipment, infrastructure, and potentially commercial dredging techniques.
This scale of mining could substantially increase daily revenue, making it a highly profitable venture.
Additional Exploration Potential:
While the property already has extensive geological data, the deeper cemented gravels have not been fully explored. Modern drilling and testing could potentially expand the gold resource by up to 5-10 times the current estimate.
There is also the possibility of converting the property into a hardrock open-pit mine at depth, which would open up additional resource potential.
Next Steps:
Contact us today to schedule a site visit and discuss how you can secure this exceptional investment opportunity. We offer detailed geological reports, drill records, assays, and additional materials for serious investors interested in acquiring the Cowan Bar Placer Gold Property.
This property is offered for sale due to the dissolution of a partnership. Lease or joint venture options are not available.
Available Reports:
Geach, R.D., Mines and Mineral Deposits, Beaverhead County, Montana, Bulletin 85, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, 1972.
Miller, Gosta, Letter to Prescott Underwood, Private Correspondence, 1980.
Mulholland, P., Cowan Placer Property, Bannack Mining District, Private Report, Rough Stock Mining Services, 2020.
Pearson, R.C., Argenta to Bannack, Beaverhead County, Montana, Road Log and Field Trip Guide for American Institute of Professional Geologists, Summer 1988, Open-File Report 88-412, U.S. Geological Survey, 1988.
Skoog, E.W., Cowan Bar Placer Exploration Report, Private Report, 1991.
Winchell, A.N., Mining Districts of the Dillon Quadrangle, Montana, Bulletin 574, U.S. Geological Survey, 1914.
The Cowan Bar Placer is located 7.4 miles east and downstream from Bannack along Grasshopper Creek.
Access to the property begins 19.3 miles south of Dillon, Montana, on Interstate Highway 15. Then, continue 3 miles west on Highway 324 along the north shore of Clark Canyon Reservoir, followed by another 10.5 miles north on a BLM gravel road.
GPS Coordinates: Lat: 45.111112, Long: -112.867671 (Road access to Grasshopper Creek).
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