Barber Gulch

BARBER GULCH PLACER 

• Price: $228,800.00

• USGS Quadrangle: Illinois Peak, MT

• Project: Oregon Gulch Project

• Type: Placer

• Acreage: 160 Acres

• MLRS / Legacy Serial No.: 101881902 / MTMMC 221585

• LLD (Legal Description): N ½ of SE ¼ Sec 25, T16N, R28 W, and N ½ of SW ¼ of PB67, T16N, R27W

• County & State: Mineral County, Montana

• Approx. GPS (NAD83): 47.11465 N, 115.06930 W

• Approx. Elevation: 4,297 ft MSL

• Primary Waterbody: Oregon Creek/Barber Gulch (Main Drainage)

• Access Road: Cedar Creek Rd (USFS 320)

• Directions from Superior, MT:  Take Mineral County Rd #320 (Cedar Creek Rd) onto USFS routes toward the claim area.

• Placer Mining Potential: High Bulk Volume: Secures major drainage segment with extensive alluvial gravels.

MINING POTENTIAL & TECHNICAL NOTES

Placer Mining Potential: High Bulk Volume: Secures major drainage segment with extensive alluvial gravels.

Technical Notes: 

Location & Access

• Setting: Barber Gulch is a steep, gold-bearing tributary on the west side of the Oregon Creek system, within the Lolo National Forest (Superior Ranger District).

• Access: Primary approach via Cedar Creek Rd (USFS 320) from Superior; spur/2-track into Barber Gulch along the lower drainage. Conditions vary seasonally (spring breakup, post-storm washboarding).

• Nearby services: Fuel/food in Superior; parts/equipment in Missoula.

 Hydrology & Stream Reach

• Channel under control: $\sim0.7–1.0 mile of intermittent/perennial channel within claim bounds (field-verify with your map).

• Morphology: Alternating riffle–pool reaches with cascading drops, slot cuts, and stretches of exposed bedrock. Expect false bedrock (clay/hardpan) lenses on inner bends and below gradient breaks.

• Runoff pattern: Snowmelt-dominated; peak flows May–June with flashy rises after summer thunderstorms.  Late season baseflow supports small gravity/sluice work (permit-dependent).

Relief & Elevation

• Elevation range (typical for this belt): 4,600$ ft upper gulch benches to 3,900–4,100 ft at the confluence.

• Drop across claim:  Several hundred feet of cumulative fall create multiple natural gold traps (waterfall aprons, bedrock steps, boulder shadows, inside bends).

• Big Flat context: Steep tributaries (Rainbows End, Barber, Bonanza, Missoula) all shed snowmelt and sediment into Oregon Creek, focusing heavies in the lower Big Flat accumulation zone.

Deposit Model & Targets

• Type:  Placer gold sourced from nearby quartz-sulfide lodes in the Bitterroot Range; reworked into alluvium/colluvium.

• Primary targets on Barber Gulch: On/near bedrock below short cascades and at slope breaks. Inside bends/point bars for pay streaks on the convex side. Behind boulders/log jams (reduced velocity eddies). At clay/hardpan contacts (“false bedrock”) beneath coarse gravels.

• Indicators: Abundant black sands (magnetite/hematite), quartz cobbles, and compacted pay layers.

 Historic Context (district-level)

• Cedar Creek district active since 1869; long record of placer output from Cedar Creek, Oregon Creek, and tributaries like Barber Gulch.

• Early methods (hand/sluice), later small hydraulics and 1930s mechanized re-work elsewhere in the system.

• The 1910 fire disrupted peak-era operations area-wide; subsequent activity has been intermittent. Barber retains significant untested benches due to steep terrain and limited historic reach.

Water, Snow & Seasonality

• Snowpack: Ridges above Barber accumulate substantial snow; peak SWE late Mar–early Apr typical for the region.

• Work window: May–October, depending on melt-out and road conditions.

• Water management:  Plan for settling/recirc during high water; stage fuels above flood line.

Sampling & Work Plan

• Phase 1 – Recon (hand/sluice): Pan/sluice every 100–150 ft at inside bends, bedrock steps, and cascade aprons; GPS/flag positives.

• Phase 2 – Systematic (mechanized tests):  Checkerboard pits/trenches on active floodplain & lower benches (20–30 ft spacing).  Log depth to bedrock, pay thickness, concentrate weight; auger where trenching is limited to hit clay contact.

• Phase 3 – Pilot run: Mobile plant to chase pay axis longitudinally; track yd³ processed vs.  Au recovered to set cut-off and scale.

• QA/QC: Duplicate pans, periodic blank runs, photo log (ID/depth/station), chain-of-custody for any assays.

8) Compliance & Operations

• Surface: USFS – Lolo National Forest (Superior RD)

• Minerals/admin: BLM – Missoula Field Office (unpatented claim)

• Typical permits: BLM Notice (≤5 acre disturbance) or Plan of Operations (>5 ac/mechanized in sensitive areas); MT DEQ 318 Authorization (short-term turbidity); SP-310 Stream Protection (Mineral County Conservation District) for in-stream work.

• Safety: Steep banks, legacy pits/tailings; wildlife (bear/elk). 

• Maintain defensible space in fire season.

Hydrologic Basin: Barber Gulch → Oregon Creek → Cedar Creek → Clark Fork River

Project: Oregon Gulch Project

1) Location & Access

• Setting: Barber Gulch is a steep, gold-bearing tributary on the west side of the Oregon Creek system, within the Lolo National Forest (Superior Ranger District).

• Access: Primary approach via Cedar Creek Rd (USFS 320) from Superior; spur/2-track into Barber Gulch along the lower drainage. Conditions vary seasonally (spring breakup, post-storm washboarding).

• Nearby services:  Fuel/food in Superior; parts/equipment in Missoula.

2) Hydrology & Stream Reach

• Channel under control: ~0.7–1.0 mile of intermittent/perennial channel within claim bounds..

• Morphology: Alternating riffle–pool reaches with cascading drops, slot cuts, and stretches of exposed bedrock. Expect false bedrock (clay/hardpan) lenses on inner bends and below gradient breaks.

• Runoff pattern: Snowmelt-dominated; peak flows May–June with flashy rises after summer thunderstorms. Late season baseflow supports small gravity/sluice work (permit-dependent).

3) Relief & Elevation

• Elevation range (typical for this belt): ~4,600 ft upper gulch benches to ~3,900–4,100 ft at the confluence.

• Drop across claim: Several hundred feet of cumulative fall create multiple natural gold traps (waterfall aprons, bedrock steps, boulder shadows, inside bends).

• Big Flat context: Steep tributaries (Rainbows End, Barber, Bonanza, Missoula) all shed snowmelt and sediment into Oregon Creek, focusing heavies in the lower Big Flat accumulation zone.

4) Deposit Model & Targets

• Type: Placer gold sourced from nearby quartz-sulfide lodes in the Bitterroot Range; reworked into alluvium/colluvium.

• Primary targets on Barber Gulch:

  • On/near bedrock below short cascades and at slope breaks.

  • Inside bends/point bars for pay streaks on the convex side.

  • Behind boulders/log jams (reduced velocity eddies).

  • At clay/hardpan contacts (“false bedrock”) beneath coarse gravels.

• Indicators: Abundant black sands (magnetite/hematite), quartz cobbles, and compacted pay layers.

5) Historic Context (district-level)

• Cedar Creek Mininng 

• District active since 1869; long record of placer output from Cedar Creek, Oregon Creek, and tributaries like Barber Gulch.

• Early methods (hand/sluice), later small hydraulics and 1930s mechanized re-work elsewhere in the system.

• The 1910 fire disrupted peak-era operations area-wide; subsequent activity has been intermittent.  Barber retains significant untested benches due to steep terrain and limited historic reach.

6) Water, Snow & Seasonality

• Snowpack:  Ridges above Barber accumulate substantial snow; peak SWE late Mar–early Apr typical for the region.

• Work window: May–October, depending on melt-out and road conditions.

• Water management:  Plan for settling/recirc during high water; stage fuels above flood line.

7) Sampling & Work Plan

Phase 1 – Recon (hand/sluice):

• Pan/sluice every 100–150 ft at inside bends, bedrock steps, and cascade aprons; GPS/flag positives.

Phase 2 – Systematic (mechanized tests):

• Checkerboard pits/trenches on active floodplain & lower benches (20–30 ft spacing).

• Log depth to bedrock, pay thickness, concentrate weight; auger where trenching is limited to hit clay contact.

Phase 3 – Pilot run:

• Mobile plant to chase pay axis longitudinally; track yd³ processed vs. Au recovered to set cut-off and scale.

QA/QC: Duplicate pans, periodic blank runs, photo log (ID/depth/station), chain-of-custody for any assays.

8) Compliance & Operations

• Surface: USFS – Lolo National Forest (Superior RD)

• Minerals/admin: BLM – Missoula Field Office (unpatented claim)

• Typical permits:

  • BLM Notice (≤5 ac disturbance) or Plan of Operations 

  • MT DEQ 318 Authorization (short-term turbidity)

  • SP-310 Stream Protection (Mineral County Conservation District) for in-stream work

• Safety: Steep banks, legacy pits/tailings; wildlife (bear/elk). 

• Maintain defensible space in fire season.