Shoshone's Lakeview District Area
In a 1970 internal report on the Lakeview Mining District by Sunshine Mining and Refining, Chief Geologist Don C. Long, writes: “This property’s geologic location, past production and numerous indications together with its inadequately tested mineralization clearly establishes its potential for renewed production.” The report included a detailed exploration plan that was never implemented. Shoshone Silver Mining intends to test Long’s theory. The company has built a land package in preparation for being the first company to explore the District as a whole.
Shoshone controls the bulk of the Lakeview District, with 1100 acres covering the Lakeview Mine and Mill, the Weber, Keep Cool, Conjecture, Talache, Auxer and the nearby Regal mines together with the land surrounding those mines. In 2006, the company began rejuvenation of the Lakeview Mill, which is on schedule for reopening in September, 2007. Exploration plans for Lakeview are being finalized and initial exploration is scheduled to begin in early fall, 2007. Shoshone expects to have plans in place by the beginning of the 2008 season to resume mining activities in the District.
Past Production from Shoshone's Lakeview District Properties
Over the years, Shoshone's Lakeview District properties have been held by a wide variety of mostly small mining companies, with ownership of each changing a number of times. As a result, production records from properties in the District are incomplete. Victoria Mitchell, a staff geologist with the Idaho Geological Survey, compiled production records from publicly available sources. The results of this compilation are given in the table below.
Geology of the Lakeview District
Less well-known than its sister, the Coeur d’Alene Mining District in Idaho’s Silver Valley, the Lakeview District is underlain by the Belt Supergroup, the same geologic formation that gives rise to the famous Sunshine, Bunker Hill, Lucky Friday and Star Mines. The principal ore minerals of the Lakeview District are galena and tetrahedrite, both associated with silver mineralization. Sphalerite and chalcopyrite are less abundant minerals except at the Keep Cool Mine, where sphalerite is the most abundant.
Mineralization in the Lakeview occurs in shear zones, very closely spaced semi-parallel faults. Historical assaying of drill cores focused on veins of the same type found in Silver Valley mines, which are typically found on the edges of the shears. No records exist indicating sampling of the shears themselves. Mining was ordinarily confined to hanging walls and foot walls with the shears left in place.
History of the Lakeview District
Historical mining in the Lakeview dates from the 1880s, typically conducted by now defunct smaller mining companies working small, isolated mines. While some companies engaged in exploration prior to, or in conjunction with, production, many simply mined. Because only limited exploration was conducted in the Lakeview, and the fact that many companies operating in the area folded during the 1970s when metal prices were depressed, historic exploration data is extremely limited.
Although most operators in the Lakeview held only single mines, Sunshine Mining and Refining developed an interest in the Lakeview area in the 1960s. In the wake of the devastating Sunshine Mine fire in 1972 and with historically low silver prices, Sunshine Mining abandoned the Lakeview District.
Irvin Scheller, Shoshone's founder and a former employee of Sunshine Mining believed there was great but unproven potential in the Lakeview District. Due to Mr. Scheller's efforts, Shoshone obtained its initial Lakeview holdings from Sunshine Mining.
Shoshone mined the Keep Cool and Weber in the early 1980s, driving 400 feet of workings in the Keep Cool and conducting surface operations at both mines. The company conducted extensive exploration in the district during this time. Following the collapse of silver prices Shoshone ceased production in the District.