Located in Baker County, Oregon, USA. 45 minutes from Baker City, Oregon and 2 3/4 hours from Boise, Idaho.

The High Bar gold mine is a placer mine, with a rich history, located in gold-rich Baker County Oregon. The unpatented mining claims encompass over 2000 acres, are contiguous and are historically famous for their gold deposits. A lack of water over the ages has prohibited the mining of the High Bar deposit. However, the current owners drilled and found two powerful wells. The first well has produced over 23 million gallons of water and runs at approximately 200 g.p.m. The second well is also strong (final g.p.m. calculations being determined). Also, additional water is available from the Burnt River from the original United Mining and Metals Point Of Diversion (P.O.D.).Finally the secrets of the well-known High Bar gold deposit can be unlocked. WATER IS AVAILABLE TO MINE THE ENTIRE PROPERTY. Should a buyer wish, there is an assemblage of mining, processing and recovery equipment to make this a turn-key mine. However, the mine is being sold without this equipment. An equipment list is available to buyers upon request. The High Bar mine is not remote and offers easy availability to parts and labor.

The High Bar gold mine is "a Pleistocene bench gravel capping Tertiary sediments. The gravels include lava, quartz, schist, and greenstone rock types in sizes ranging to large boulders to two feet or greater in diameter...Whether a lava bed exposed on the side of the hill or superimposed Tertiary lake beds, constitute the true base of these gravels, and at what depth, is yet to be established. The greatest established depth is 26' with gravel still in the hole. From a surface standpoint this bench covers almost all the acreage comprising these holdings."

~Oregon Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries, "High Bar Placers of Pine Creek", April 22, 1946

Western Mining History regarding "High Bar and Pack Rat" Physiography:
General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Columbia Plateau
Physiographic Section: Blue Mountain Section

Many of the gold mining claims that were purchased and integrated into this sale are noted for their previous claims and production, including the famous Pine Creek area claims, United Mining and Metals, etc:

"Bruneau claims to have recovered course gold comparable to Johnny Wyant's Pine Creek Stuff all over the best portions of the bar, plus many fist sized hunks of quartz plastered full of gold like the 3 foot boulder McChord has that was picked up there 20-30 years ago. He claims to have gotten as high as 12.9 oz. per yard for some yards, which of course isn't altogether astonishing when one is dealing with slug gold, but what is the screwiest part of the whole deal is that Bruneau claims that his test yardage recovery average $3.60 per yard."*

~Mr. F.W. Libbey, Oregon State Department of Geology, Feb. 3, 1953

*the average price of gold in 1953 was $34.84 per oz., making the $3.60 value equivalent to $150 per yard (on average), recovered during testing using $1450 per oz. of gold.

Also: "These claims have been acquired by Mr. Wyant over a period of years beginning in 1900 and they have been worked regularly and successfully by him ever since. Excepting for a hydraulic set-up on the Bulldog group, operations have been on a small scale, handwork basis. An exceptional abundance of nuggets weighing from one half to one ounce are received regularly and two fourteen ounce nuggets together with several six and eight ounce ones have been found. One of these fourteen ounce nuggets is on display in the First National Bank in Baker, Oregon."

*Testing [on a portion of the High Bar mine] suggested 1 million yards that should average 1 oz of gold every 24 cubic yards and the 3' above and down to bedrock averaged 1 oz of gold every 4.8 cubic yards. (1946 Wyant Placers, page 6)
-gold averaged $24/ounce from 1900-1946

~State Department of Geology, "Wyant Placers of Pine Creek (Gold)", April 22, 1946