Cross country trip...advice needed

[UGM Eric]

im guessing this is the most appropriate spot for this post.... im thhinking of traveling cross country over x-mas break from school, im coming from PA and headding to my uncles in Seattle Washington, but its for searching for mines not to go to my uncles haha. So i was wondering if anyone has any cool places to check out in Colorado, Montana and Washington, im mostly interested in active mines that i can contact to get a tour (im a mining engineering student at Penn State) and abandoned structure. any advice will help out greatly

[geodent]

There are two active underground gold mines in Washington State, The Buckhorn mine near Republic owned by Kinross Gold and the Lone Jack mine in the Mt Baker mining district near Bellingham, operated by Diversified Development Company. I am an owner of the Lone Jack mine but we close for the winter due to about 30 feet of snowfall. The Buckhorn is up and running and would make for a great visit. Let me know if this fits your travel plans and I can provide you with some names of people to contact for a tour,best regards, geodent

[Kiel]

That would be so cool. When did the mine open/

[geodent]

The mine is about 30 miles north of the town of Republic, Washington, it opened around 2007. It is an underground operation that is exploiting a relatively high grade gold deposit in a skarn. I would describe it as room and pillar with access by spiral ramps-their mining engineers may have a more specific name for the mining process.

It would be good if you could get some sort of official recommendation or referral from your mining engineer school or department. Mining companies are reluctant to give tours to just anyone in the public so a good introduction from a professor or mining professional will go a long way. The chief geologist at the Buckhorn is Peter Cooper and he is at 509-775-3157 ext 107, the chief processing and water quality guy is Bill Jones at ext 127, you can use my name-Lane Griffin as the person who referred you. They are very busy with reduced staff at the holidays so it may be tough to get a visit lined up but give it a shot.

There are operations that are active in and around the Silver Valley of Coeur d' Alene but I don't have any personal contacts there. You might contact the Northwest Mining Association for recommendations on contacts-you can google their website and make a call or two.