Stockton Area

[KDT1970]

Went out to the Stockton area this weekend and noticed all of the mines are accessible but they are slowly closing them, some are filled by bulldozers and some look to be blasted shut. The roads are being filled in to match the slope of the hills. But there are still some open. They seem to be starting with the ones closest to the road and most obvious. The trailer that is there is empty right now, and the gates that were there are not there. It looks like they are only going for the illusion of fencing it off.
Anyway we spent the day on 4 wheelers and covered a lot. There are still some that are very easily accessible and, I want to go exploring before it’s all gone.

[lobster68w]

Re: Stockton Area

Went out to the Stockton area this weekend and noticed all of the mines are accessible but they are slowly closing them, some are filled by bulldozers and some look to be blasted shut. The roads are being filled in to match the slope of the hills. But there are still some open. They seem to be starting with the ones closest to the road and most obvious. The trailer that is there is empty right now, and the gates that were there are not there. It looks like they are only going for the illusion of fencing it off.
Anyway we spent the day on 4 wheelers and covered a lot. There are still some that are very easily accessible and, I want to go exploring before it’s all gone.

Did you notice if they sealed the Honerine yet? I'd like to get back in there one last time.

[KDT1970]

The entrance I know of there is open, it looks like it was attempted to be closed but washed open again. It has a small opening of about 3 feet in diameter. I didn’t look and see if the 2 vertical shaft were filled yet.

[rhartill]

Stockton Area

Anyone notice whether this work seems to be at the hands of the DOGM, USFS, or Rio Tinto? DOGM continues to advertise for the Kessler Project--their name for Stockton area, but it's not supposed to have started yet.

USFS may have their own timetable, but they usually let the DOGM do their mine closure work. Rio Tinto is free to close their patented claims anytime they want to... I would be very interested in knowing the lat and longs of any adit currently being worked on/closed up. PM or email the coordinates
Thanks!

Russell Hartill
russhartill@lawyer.com

[Derek]

Russ this is BLM land so it shouldn't involve the USFS. I placing my bets on Rio Tinto.

[lobster68w]

Depending on the weather this weekend, I may make a trip up to Stockton to scope out the progress. I'll keep you posted....

[KDT1970]

I was going to go the weekend also but, I get kinda uneasy entering mines after a rainfall. So I may go in a few weeks there was one I noticed last time I was there that wanted to check out.

[acidman1968]

Re: Stockton Area

Anyone notice whether this work seems to be at the hands of the DOGM, USFS, or Rio Tinto? DOGM continues to advertise for the Kessler Project--their name for Stockton area, but it's not supposed to have started yet.

USFS may have their own timetable, but they usually let the DOGM do their mine closure work. Rio Tinto is free to close their patented claims anytime they want to... I would be very interested in knowing the lat and longs of any adit currently being worked on/closed up. PM or email the coordinates
Thanks!

Russell Hartill
russhartill@lawyer.com

First off, I'm not speaking for the company (Rio Tinto) with what I write - it's my own speculation...

As for the roads being backfilled to "match the slope of the hills" - I believe those areas are the ones where new roads had been cut to accommodate the drill rigs that Rio Tinto / Kennecott was using to gather core samples from that area. All of the other roads that I've driven in that area still appear to be accessible at this time (or at least the last time I was driving my Dakota around that area).

Also, I haven't heard or seen any of the sample results, or heard any rumors going around the company talking about opening up any operations in that area in the near future. I know that Kennecott/Rio Tinto is looking at options to keep their operations here in Utah going beyond the current mine-life forecast of 2030, so they're doing prospecting/drilling in areas to see what's down there...