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Property Overview

The Bonanza Property was located in 1900 on deposits of gold and copper. The property was located by Mr. Roy McDonald and was worked at a profit until the mine was closed by the War Act in 1940. Mr. McDonald passed in 1945 and the interest in the property reverted to his son and daughter, Roy Jr. and Elaine Spry. The mine was not worked again until 1948 when the US Army cleared the area for development. The Bonanza property was sold by the McDonalds to the Bonanza Mining Company for $520,000. This valuations was determined by investigation of the property, historical production, geological conditions and independent sampling of the ore bodies.

The property is primarily based on copper ore with gold content and minor silver values. The assay values varied from 5% to 17% CU and .01 oz/T to 0.69 oz/T AU. These values were certified by Harry E. Jones, Mining Engineer in 1949.

The development was furthered by a DMEA loan of $416,425.00 in 1954. The work apparently completed in 1954-1955, with discussion of drift work on the 500’ level. The returns from this development were not recorded.

The McDonald family acting as Bonanza Mining Corporation held the property until 1978. It was sold to a private party for an undisclosed amount. The property was sold several other times in the 1980s and 1990s but never recorded any production. In early 2000, the property was considered abandoned. In 2018 the main portal was closed as a part of reclamation.

The main portal is all but invisible. The shaft that was on the property is also covered and difficult to discern. The concrete foundations have been left on the site, and can be matched to old photographs. There are remnants of a power station and the pipes that carried water to the site from Wenden.

The dumps on the site give the best view into the material. The material discarded is high quality chalcopyrite and chalcocite. Both of which contain visible values of copper and in some cases native gold. It can only be assumed that the mined material was a much higher grade if this material was discarded.

Surveyors took several samples from around the dumps on the site (as noted in samples section) which gave and average of 4.5% copper and 0.4 oz/T in gold.

The property can be worked year round and is in an economically depressed region where the integration of a skilled workforce will be highly beneficial.

It is the opinion of the surveyors that this site is not for small scale or single miner operations. The property will need significant investment to re-open the workings. It will also be beneficial to drill the site from the workings and from above to determine the value of blocked reserves.

As the site sits, it is difficult to define a value of the underground deposits, but logic dictates there is still a large amount of material to be developed.

Gold Rush Expeditions, Inc. does offer mining consultation services and assistance with permits for a small fee.

Training courses for underground work and exploration can be found here: https://stayoutstayalive.com/training/