The Ophir Placer
(Placer)
(20 acres)
Powell County, Montana
$17,750
SALE PENDING

•Commodities: Gold
• Claim designation: un-patented Placer
• Size: 20 acres
• Location: Powell County, Montana
​•Financing available
•Direct purchase discounts available

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The Ophir placer is a 20 acre mineral property in the historic Ophir mining district of central Montana.
Featuring over seven hundred feet of annual flowing creek, gold deposit potential in the bench gravel workings from the 1960's and a quiet secluded area.

Production history shows the Ophir property worked during the 1960's though the deposits were likely discovered much earlier.

Primary workings consists of multiple substantially sized gravel bends off trout creek.
Gold values can be located in the gravel deposits of the Creekside, bedrock outcroppings and upper bench workings on the 30' level of the hillside.
A large open cut mine over 15' in width and nearly 8' in depth is located on the bench gravels west of the creek bed, apparently worked by hand, the open cut mine is likely to have been developed under the previous ownership in the 1960's.
​ Water flows annually with moderate flow, suitable for high-banker or dredging operations, as well as casual gold panning. Depth of the creek is between 6"-1.5 feet , width of creek is between 4' and 17'.
Northern portion of the Ophir is heavily wooded with potential for undiscovered deposits.

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Ophir District history.
Records of the early placer production are not available.
In the districts north of Helena, as elsewhere in the region, gold-bearing gravel constituted the first mineral deposits to be discovered' and mined.

A gold nugget worth $3,280, reputed to be the largest one ever taken from a placer deposit in Montana, is said to have been found on the McKay claim, in Deadwood Gulch, a branch of Snowshoe Gulch, by a miner named Ed Kisson.

Deposits of placer gravel occur on the terraces and benches and along the present streams. Many of the deposits in both situations have been very productive. The terrace deposits, called "bars" by the miners, are generally not more than 2 or 3 feet thick. They were mined by sluicing. The deposits along the present streams are deeper and have been worked mainly by drifting. -J. T. PARDEE and F. C. SCHRADER 1933)
A large open staging area is present just off the forest service road. Suitable for multiple vehicles or campers, the site features a firepit area and easy creek access.
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The secluded location is accessible during the warmer months by any 2wd vehicle, with snowmobile access between December and May.
​ A camping and staging area is located near the creek and features partial tree and forest cover, ample area for a camper or multiple vehicles.

An excellent location for the begging enthusiast up to an established mining company.