Click to read more...

Property Overview

The Lulabelle Mine site encompasses two distinct mining operations. The Lulabelle and the Lady Hennessey. The Lulabelle is the larger of the two operations and comprised of at least two major shafts along with a small mill and a mining camp. The Lady Hennessey by comparison is much smaller and was likely taken over by the Lulabelle Mining operation. From an overhead view and logical assumptions, it would appear that the Lady Hennessey shaft on the south end of the property, may in fact connect with the Lulabelle workings or possibly just follow the same vein trending.

The property is comprised of a series of shafts and cuts generally running SSW down the mountain. At the uppermost development point there is a large trench, assumption is this was cut to verify the location of the vein. Working down the mountain, there is a small concentrating mill and living quarters attached to a hoist house and a shaft that was covered. The headframe and portions of the building have begun to degrade and fall into the shaft. It would take minimal work to extract the wood and debris and clear the shaft for entry. The ore found at this shaft shows galena, iron and some arsenopyrite and gold. Ore from inside the building appeared to be quite high grade.

SSW of the headframe is another shaft that appears to be of some significance. It has ant-hilled in on itself but based on the dump would be expected to be large. The anthill collapse also indicates that the shaft is not significantly deep, but likely intercepts a drift or drifts not far below the surface.

There is a small workshop located just off the headframe building that has some extensive equipment and also appears to have had some horse-shoeing equipment. This would stand to reason that there may have been mules used at the mine or in the mine.

Finally, there is a large pile of what appears to be processed material below the second shaft. Some of this material may have been milled as it is very fine and has no large chunks or rocks.

Working farther south, across the forest road, is what is assumed to be the Lady Hennessey Mine. This shaft was flooded in 2017 when visited, but in 2020, the mine appeared clear. There is a grate and gated access at the Lady Hennessey, this is not present at any of the Lulabelle Mines. There is limited mineralization visible at the Lady Hennessey, there is some galena and copper visible on the dumps. An old mining truck is parked south of the shaft and appears to read Lulu or Lolo Mining on the doors.

The mine should be viewed for having significant gold and silver values. There may be zinc associated with some of this material. According to history of the area, the gold deposits form higher on the mountains and the silver increases as the mines continue down the mountain.

Samples were taken from the material at the main shaft as well as the collapsed shaft, the tailings dump and at the dump at the Lady Hennessey shaft. These samples as notated as Dump 1, Dump 2, Dump 3 and Lady Hennessey Dump. Assays returned values in gold and silver with zinc and very little copper.

Development process will require excavation of the main portal at the headframe building at the very least. This will require the operator to pull exploration permits for the development. If operated under a small miners exemption this will cost no more than $10,000.

Drilling and sampling will give a better idea of the depth and the size of the asset sub-surface. At current all that can be quantified is the material on the surface.

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/