Montana, Idaho & Colorado Gold Mining

Montana Gold Mining
In Montana, the main placer mining districts are located in the south part of this state. A number of the more chief localities are located on the Missouri River in the Helena mining area and this is where the Last Chance Gulch is also located. A lot of the regions can be found further south, on the tributaries and headwaters of the Missouri River, for the most part in Madison County which is within the highest ranks of the gold production in Montana and which has, in addition, produced more placer gold than any many of the counties in the state. One of the most productive placer deposits in the state of Montana is located in Madison County, which is the Alder Gulch located close to Virginia City. There are in addition many places located on the headwaters of Clara Fork of the Columbia River where gold has been found as well, mainly in the area of Butte, however the placer output from this area has been outdone by lode production.

Gold Mining in Idaho
A good amount of the gold that has been produced in Idaho comes from placer deposits, given that this state was one of the most important placer mining states. One of the main dredging areas can be found in the Boise Basin, which is located a few miles northeast of Boise, and in the west central area of the Idaho. There are also other known of placer areas which can be found through the Salmon River in Lemhi and Idaho counties as well as on the Clearwater River and its tributaries, mainly in Orofino, Elk city and Pierce. This area also has flour gold in its sands of the Snake River in the south side of Idaho.

Gold Mining in Colorado
The placers that are located in Colorado have proven to be very productive in the Fairplay area of Park County and in the Breckennridge region in Summit County. At one time very big dredging operations used to be done during the 1930’s in these districts. Colorado used to be number two in the gold producing states.