Bunker Hill/ Victorine Mine

Lander County

AKA: Victorine

Note: I have photographs of the Victorine Mine area and can't find them anywhere. I'm hoping that they are hidden in some mis-labeled file somewhere and I'll come across them. If not, I'll go back and get more. I plan to be in the Smoky this spring.

Discoveries in the Bunker Hill area of Kingston Canyon were made in early 1863 prior to statehood. From reading another source, it appears that challenges over ownership of claims became an issue here early on. In 1864, the area split off from the Summit and Santa Fe mining districts and formed the Bunker Hill district. Future lawsuits would show that two men named Anderson and Goodfellow sold their claims, and then attempted to negate the sales of those claims while keeping the money from the sales. They did not succeed. Following the lawsuits in 1864, Herrin (the winner) and his company built the large mill that you can see at the mouth of Kingston Canyon. This caused increased exploration in the Bunker Hill area. However, it also caused Kingston to outpace Bunker Hill as the main camp in the area. The area around Bunker Hill soon became a place where miners traveled from Kingston to go to work. The Big Smoky Mill located at Kingston closed in 1869. The equipment was dismantled and shipped to White Pine to accommodate the mining boom in that area. The mines around Bunker Hill were still worked until the mid 1880's. According to Hall, the three prominent mines in the area were the Victorine, the Bi-Metallic and the Gold Point (Iroquois).

From USGS:

Bi-Metallic Mine-
"THIS DEPOSIT IS A WESTWARD CONTINUATION OF THE VICTORINE VEIN. THE ORE OCCURS AS POCKETS AND VEINLIKE MASSES OF QUARTZ ALONG A SILICIFIED ZONE IN LIMESTONE AT THE TOP OF A LOWER CAMBRIAN MAP UNIT."

Klondike Mine: First discovered in 1865 with a Gold as a primary mineral and silver as secondary. This mine was part of the modern-day resurgence that took place in the area in the 1980's.
"ACTIVE IN 1981, UNDERGROUND MINE, ROOM AND PILLAR OPERATION ON "FLAT" STRUCTURE CREW OF 4 HAD PUT IN 2000 FT OF NEW WORKINGS IN PAST YEAR (1980-1981). HOMESTAKE MINING CO. LAST LEASED THE PROPERTY FROM PRECIOUS METALS INC, WHO HAD IT UNDER THE NAME OF IMPERIAL KLONDIKE JOINT VENTURE, JOHN O'BOYLE, JR., LOCK BOX 34, 717 N. HARWOOD, DALLAS, TX 75201."

Victorine Mine: USGS provides alternate names for this mine as: Phoenician, Kingston, Klondike, Bi-Metallic and Sumich. Gold and Silver were primary minerals, with copper being a secondary. This mine was one of the original mines in the area. It was also part of the resurgence in the 1980's.
"GOLD- AND SILVER-BEARING QUARTZ VEINS WERE DISCOVERED AT THIS SITE DURING THE EARLY 1860'S. PRODUCTION HAS BEEN ERRATIC, WITH PEAKS DURING 1865-71 AND 1937-41. THE ORE OCCURS AS POCKETS AND VEINLIKE MASSES OF QUARTZ ALONG A SILICIFIED ZONE IN LIMESTONE AT THE TOP OF A LOWER CAMBRIAN MAP UNIT. THE ORE ZONE TRENDS EAST AND IN GENERAL, DIPS 20DGE-30DGE N, CONFORMABLE TO THE HOST ROCKS. IT FORMS A PROMINENT AOUTCROP, RANGES FROM 3 TO 8 FEET IN THICKENSS, AND IS TRACEABLE FOR MORE THAN A MILE ALONG STRIKE. THE MINE IS DEVELOPED BY ABOUT 3000 FT OF WORKINGS INCLUDING TWO 700-FT ADITS. .SEVERAL UNPUBLISHED COMPANY REPORTS FROM NEW BEGINNINGS RESOURCES INC (ONE OF THE JOINT VENTURE PARTNERS) IN AUG-SEPT, 1983, REPORT DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS EXTENDING UNDERGROUND WORKINGS UNDER THE OLD VICTORINE MINE. THEY ALSO REPORT HOMESTAKE MINING CO ACTIVELY PROSPECTING BRAZOS GROUND, THE OLD KRONDIKE MINE AREA ADJOINING THE VICTORINE, ACROSS THE CANYON, TO THE WEST ALONG THE SAME STRUCTURE."

Post Office: None.

Last Trip/ Road Conditions: Many trips here, with the last being in the Fall of 2017. The photos are from 2017. The road up Kingston Canyon and beyond Bunker Hill is a pretty good road. However, that might not be as true, depending on the type of vehicle you drive. To me, it's a good truck road. That statement will definitely change in the winter when the snow falls. There is an old stone cabin that sits a little bit beyond Bunker Hill. I don't know if this cabin had anything to do with Bunker Hill. It could be a non-related ranch or homestead. I didn't know where else to put the photos, so I added them here.