Marysville is located northwest of Helena, Montana’s capital. After gold was discovered in the silver creek valley, Marysville; a gold rush town was established at the slope of Mount Belmont. Marysville enjoyed being the principal mining center of Montana in the late 1800s. In its heyday, the city had about 4000 inhabitants, and more than […]
Montana ghost town
Digging for Gold at the Libby Creek Recreational Prospecting Area
Libby Creek in Montana is one of the best places in Montana to prospect gold. It’s also one of the few publicly accessible sites where a casual prospector can spend the day panning in an area known to have gold. Historically, Libby Creek was not the richest gold mining sites in the state. There was […]
Gold Panning & Rockhounding in Yellowstone National Park
Let’s state this right upfront so nobody gets into trouble. Gold prospecting and rockhounding are completely off-limits within Yellowstone National Park. You cannot dig or collect anywhere within the park boundary, and you could get in serious trouble if you do. With that said, there are quite a few places just a short drive away […]
Platinum Mining in Western Montana – The Stillwater Mine
The Stillwater Platinum Mine is a mine specialized in the production of the group of minerals known as Platinum Group Metals (PGMs). The most well-known and valuable of these metals is the brilliant silvery metal known as platinum. The mine is located in the Beartooth Mountains, which is about 100 miles southwest of Billings, Montana. […]
Basin, Montana – Early Days in this Rich Gold Camp
Gold was first discovered at nearby Helena at a place called Last Chance Gulch. This proved to be one of Montana’s richest gold discoveries, and it didn’t take long for thousands of hopeful miners to flood Western Montana in search of yellow metal. The gold placers near Helena were rich, and expanded to the mountains […]
16 of the Richest Mining Towns & Gold Camps in Montana (Map)
The State of Montana has a rich mining history that dates back to 1850s. The state is also dotted with historical cities, towns and ghost towns that trace their origin to the early days of gold and silver mining in the state. The western part of Montana is particularly rich in gold, and there were […]
7 Rivers in Montana that are Full of Gold!
Most of the gold in Montana is found in the more mountainous western section of the state. There has been mining in Montana as early as the 1850s, with the peak of mining taking place during the 1860s. In the mid-20th century bucket dredges worked many creek and rivers in Montana, resulting in millions of […]
5 of Montana’s Best Preserved Gold Mining Ghost Towns
Gold was first discovered in Montana in the late 1850s. The news of this discovery brought in thousands of miners and in just a few years Montana was dotted with gold mining boomtowns. Over a few decades tons of gold, copper, zinc and silver among other precious minerals were extracted by the resident of these […]
This Montana Mining Town has Gold Buried Right under Main Street!
Helena is one of the Richest of the Montana Mining Towns Montana has a rich and diverse variety of different minerals that have been mined in the state. There is copper, platinum, sapphires, and a wide array of different metals and gems that are mined here, but it was the discovery of gold that first […]
The Wild History of Virginia City, Montana
Copper Mines of Butte, Montana: The Richest Hill on Earth
Legend says that new emigrants to this country were often told, “Don’t stop in America, go straight to Butte.” At its inception in the 1870s, Butte consisted of just a few mining camps. When copper and silver was discovered, the end of the decade saw Butte becoming a big, energetic city, with each new day […]
Montana Gold Mining History and Locations
Montana is one of the best states in the US to prospect for gold. It has a significant mining history that dates back to the days of Custer’s Last Stand, where a battle broke out over gold-bearing land that was considered sacred by the native Indians there. Although the battle was lost, the war was […]