Cannon Mine EarthCache

This cache has been archived.

MAX-X (deceased): Deceased

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Hidden : 7/10/2008
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

The cache site can be driven to and would be accessible by wheel chair

Cannon Mine
In the past, many mining companies had examined the property now known as the Cannon Mine. Giants such as Anaconda, ASARCO, Knob Hill, & Cyprus Mining Co. had all investigated the property and deemed it to have gold but not enough to be a profitable venture. The price of gold at the time that many of them explored the site was a major factor. In the mid 80’s all that changed.

In the early 1980’s Cyprus Mines had discovered an ore body and granted a working option to Gold Belt and Asamera Minerals U.S. Inc. to investigate the property, and the rush was on. Breakwater Resources Ltd. soon acquired Gold Belt. The mine was operated as the “Cannon Mine”, named in honor of a long time Asamera executive, Donald G. Cannon. Cannon brought the mine to the attention of Asamera.

The Cannon Mine was a multi-lift benching cut-and-fill operation utilizing high-strength backfill to allow full recovery of the gold mineralization. High-strength backfill was required for stable conditions during pillar recovery and to limit surface subsidence. Production and backfilling sequences were established to coordinate the mine operations and optimize stability. Design of the backfill material included evaluating material resources, generating mixture specifications, and the testing of different candidate mixtures. Subsidence was not permitted, so the fill placement techniques were developed to minimize ground movement. Sand for the backfill was mined on the property. Aggregate and cement were hauled to the property.

Over its lifetime the mine produced over 1.25 million ounces of gold and 2 million ounces of silver. This made it the second largest underground gold mine in the United States. A 2000-ton per day floatation mill processed the ore 24/7/365, producing about 100 tons of concentrate a day. The tailings were pumped up Dry Gulch and placed behind the tailings impoundment.

The reason the mine was closed was that the reserves were running low. All the mining equipment was pre-sold and the mine had one year to finish its operation. Late discovery of some high-grade ore led to some last minute high grading. The mine was one of the few to close while still making a profit.

To look at the property today, you would hardly know that any mining happened in the area. The hills were re-graded and planted, and most access roads were reclaimed. The mine and hoist shafts were filled as needed and then sealed with many feet of concrete. The tailings pond was covered with topsoil and seeded.

"The northwest striking elongate ore body is hosted within a sequence of Eocene (+40 million years old) continental fluvial and lacustrine sediments that have been folded, faulted and intruded by later Tertiary rhyodacites and andesite. (The mine portal, decline, shaft and main access working are driven in the competent Wenatchee Dome rhyodacite located to the immediate east of the ore body; the prominent Saddle Rock andesite can be seen just west of the mine site.) Alteration/silicification and mineralization appear to be associated with the rhyodacite intrusive event. The role of this intrusion during mineralization was probably to provide a heat source and focusing mechanism for the hydrothermal fluids, which deposited the silica and gold; the porous and fractured sediments providing structural control and physical limits to the mineralizing system."

A word of caution: There is no such thing as a safe, old abandoned mine tunnel. Stay out of them!

NOTICE: Please respect this private property. The building houses the Maintenance & Operations Departments of Wenatchee School District #246.

REF (visit link)
(Gene's BMX)
Discovering Washington’s Historic Mines Volume 2 (Oso Publishing)

To log this cache you MUST answer the following Questions:

1. Who presented the ore car, at the given coordinates, to the Cannon Mine?

2. (Answer at least 2 of the following)
a. What did they call the three parts of the “B-Reef ore body?
b. How many people died over the operation of the mine?
c. What was the diameter of the hoist shaft and how deep was it?

Send the answers to me. Do not put them in your log.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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