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with Anne Haskins, George and Fern's granddaughter. The
family is a good model of the smaller, family operations.
Anne's grandparents mined, as did her parents. Her hus-
band, Tim, was a miner in Nevada and has now retired from
10 years as a mine inspector for the federal Mining Safety
and Health Administration. Their son Chris prospects in
his spare time, helps with the family claims, and has, as
his "day job," a position with the Stillwater Mine south of
Columbus, Montana.
A few weeks back, I spoke with Jim Williams who started
out prospecting for gold in Sanders County back in 1980.
Williams told me that while he worked his mines mostly as a
hobby, he did very well with his claims, especially after the
price of gold hit $400 per ounce. He quit mining locally five
years ago when his claims expired. He applied for a renew-
al, but the Forest Service had put so many barriers in place,
he was unable to meet that agency's requirements. He sold
his claims, but to his knowledge, the man who bought him
out has never been able to start mining.
As for the large operators, the largest gold mine in the
state closed in 2019. The Golden Sunshine Mine is still
visible north of Cardwell in Jefferson County. Much of the
mountain has been torn away and the tailings are visible as
flat surfaces where we would expect rolling foothills.
Silver has played an important role, with mines listed in
MONTANA
1. COPPER
2. GOLD
3. LEAD
4. ZINC
5. URANIUM
6. SILVER
MINERALS
BY COUNTY
*1 Au, Ag, Cu, Zn, Mn
*30 Au, Ag, Cu, Pb, W
CURRENT MINING IN MONTANA
