The Aurora Gold mine is one of those lost treasures that has been nearly completely forgotten about. Although its history notes it as a very substantial gold producing property, it sits hidden back in the trees, and what people cannot see, they forget. The Aurora was a complex of a few thousand feet of underground workings. It boasted a few fine tipples, rail cars, a small tram system and a few buildings for the miners to stay on site.

Located near Basin, Montana, USA.

Our surveyors reported that the easiest way to access the mine was from the Powerline road, south of the mine. The road is rather well maintained and could be traversed with a good AWD. There is a great campsite at the end of the road and it’s only a short hike of less than 500 feet to the mine from camp.
The mine camp is staged out into 3 levels. Each of the levels had a drift level into the mine, but the best mine entrance is at the top of the hill. The workings of the mine are currently inaccessible, but there is a good sized hole above the upper entrance that is blowing a bit of air. It is set against some solid rocks and would only take a few hours to re-open by hand with a shovel. This would require no bonds and no notice of operation.

The lower adits are in worse shape and would take a bit more work to re-open. According to the USGS, the largest and most productive level was the upper adit, but all of the adits were interconnected via raises. There is no water damage visible and the river is still 200? below the mines, so navigating all of the levels should be relatively easy from the upper level.

The historic reports document gold, silver and chalcopyrite as the exports. Silver is everywhere here, rich and is in its native form, beautiful and interspersed with the quartz and gold. A small mill in Basin did the processing of the gold for the Aurora, while the reports should be viewed as inaccurate as miners wanted to pay as little taxes as possible, they do give valuable assay information, showing that ores averaged 3 oz. gold, 85 oz. silver and 21 lbs of copper per ton. Not a bad return from a bit of rock.

The old tipple between the 2nd and top level is still standing and has some very rich ores still in the hoppers. There is a foundation of a small cabin up top, and a possible boarding house at the second level. A large, 50s era gasoline sign lies in the tailings at the second level as well, which further documents the last workings of the mine.

The lowest level of the mine camp is in good condition and sits low in the trees. Foundations from two cabins can be found in the trees and the remnants of the old mining trails are still visible through the thick pines. Surveyors reports many small tools (hammers, pliers and drills) in the undergrowth. It’s a nearly forgotten mine, even though it produced thousands of dollars in gold and silver as late as the 1970’s.

The main challenge is access. The upper access seems the best and allows for good camping while still keeping close to all the required services.