Rockhounding in Beaverhead County, MT: 983 USGS Mineral Sites (2026)

Check access before you go. Most sites listed here are old mines, quarries or prospects, and many are on private land or active mining claims. Get the landowner's permission, check the rules of the agency that manages any public land, and never enter mine workings. Locations are approximate.

Sketch map

Past ProducerProducerProspectOccurrenceStatus unknown

158 paw pins; nearby sites are grouped into one pin. Hover or tap a pin for the site name. 8 site(s) with USGS coordinates outside the outline are not pinned. County outline: US Census Bureau cartographic boundary file (2023). Locations approximate.

Woof’s favorite find

Jahnke Mine

We picked it because its USGS record mentions 4 gem or collectible minerals (Tourmaline, Quartz, Gold, Silver) and 9 of our card minerals overall. No other named site here scores as high on both counts. USGS lists it as past producer for Silver, Lead, Copper. Minerals mentioned: Tourmaline, Quartz, Gold, Magnetite, Pyrite, Galena, Copper, Silver, Scheelite. Approx. location 45.189, -113.588. USGS record.

Ask first: a USGS record doesn’t mean you can visit. Find out who owns the land and get permission before collecting.

Field cards: what kind of sites?

348

Occurrence

The mineral was noted here, without development.

301

Past Producer

Produced ore or material at some point in the past.

239

Prospect

Explored or test-dug, with no recorded production.

Unknown

Status not recorded.

Producer

Was producing when the record was made.

Plant

A processing plant site.

Status terms come from USGS MRDS records.

Mineral cards

Silver
Mohs 2.5–3. Native silver tarnishes black. Mindat
427 sites
Gold
Mohs 2.5–3. Soft, heavy and bright yellow; it doesn’t tarnish. Mindat
397 sites
Copper
Mohs 2.5–3. Native copper is soft and turns green as it weathers. Mindat
286 sites
Quartz
Mohs 7. Six-sided points; smoky quartz is NH’s state gem. Mindat
108 sites
Pyrite
Mohs 6–6.5. Brassy “fool’s gold,” often cubic. Mindat
72 sites
Galena
Mohs 2.5–2.75. Heavy, silvery lead ore that breaks into cubes. Mindat
51 sites
Fluorite
Mohs 4. Cubes in purple, green or yellow; many glow under UV. Mindat
43 sites
Magnetite
Mohs 5.5–6.5. Black and strongly magnetic. Mindat
37 sites

Counts are sites whose USGS record mentions the mineral or commodity. Hardness from Mindat.

Minerals recorded here

Galena 50Gold 44Thorite 39Chalcopyrite 33Silver 23Scheelite 22Tetrahedrite 17Sphalerite 16Molybdenite 15Malachite 14Copper 11Powellite 10

Commodities

Gold 311Silver 267Lead 192Copper 187Zinc 72Thorium 65Tungsten 53Phosphorus-Phosphates 48Molybdenum 36Talc-Soapstone 33

Sites (first 40)

Site	Commodity	Minerals recorded	Status	Approx. location
Unnamed Garnet Occurrence	Garnet	Almandite	Occurrence	45.080, -112.418
Unnamed Garnet Occurrence	Garnet	Almandite	Occurrence	45.083, -112.408
Unnamed Garnet Occurrence	Garnet	Almandite	Occurrence	45.105, -112.476
Kent Mine	Silver, Gold, Lead	Anglesite, Bindheimite, Cerargyrite, Covellite, Galena, Jamesonite, Linarite	Past Producer	45.187, -112.950
Hand Mauldin Group	Lead, Silver, Zinc, Copper	Anglesite, Chalcopyrite, Galena, Hemimorphite, Plumbojarosite	Producer	45.287, -112.866
Sunrise Mine	Gold, Copper, Silver	Anglesite, Copper, Gold, Silver	Occurrence	45.298, -113.022
Nick Preen Mine	Silver, Copper, Lead	Anglesite, Galena	Occurrence	45.315, -113.033
White Cap Mine	Silver	Anglesite, Galena	Past Producer	45.847, -113.168
Dillon Nickel Deposit	Nickel	Annabergite	Occurrence	45.084, -112.408
Yellow Bird	Gold, Lead, Copper, Silver	Antimony	Past Producer	45.269, -112.909
New Departure Mine	Silver, Gold, Lead, Copper, Zinc	Argentite, Bindheimite, Cerargyrite, Galena, Gold, Jamesonite, Psilomelane, Pyrargyrite, Silver, Smithsonite, Sphalerite	Producer	45.198, -112.922
Lone Pine Mine	Silver, Gold, Copper	Argentite, Bornite, Cerargyrite, Embolite, Freibergite, Galena, Pyrargyrite, Silver, Sphalerite, Stephanite	Past Producer	45.715, -112.900
Queen of the Hills Mine	Gold, Silver	Argentite, Chalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Silver	Past Producer	45.674, -112.954
Fraser Placer	Lead, Silver, Copper, Gold	Argentite, Chrysocolla, Galena, Malachite, Pyrargyrite, Silver, Sphalerite, Wulfenite	Prospect	45.797, -113.034
Aurora Mine	Silver, Copper	Argentite, Silver	Past Producer	45.723, -112.904
Bonanza Mine	Silver	Argentite, Silver, Stephanite	Past Producer	45.723, -112.901
Buffalo Creek Ba Occurrence	Barium-Barite	Barite	Occurrence	45.169, -113.194
Blacktail Mtns Ba Occurrence	Barium-Barite	Barite	Occurrence	45.053, -112.618
Lucky Jim Beam Group Mine	Barium-Barite	Barite	Past Producer	45.452, -113.279
Fluorite No. 1	Barium-Barite	Barite, Fluorite	Occurrence	45.262, -112.951
Black Rock #1 Mine	Thorium, Zinc	Barite, Hematite, Smithsonite	Occurrence	44.949, -113.441
Jung Frau	Copper, Silver	Barite, Tetrahedrite	Past Producer	45.004, -113.344
Unnamed Clay Occurrence	Bentonite	Bentonite	Occurrence	45.119, -112.743
Calvert Red Buttons Mine	Tungsten	Beryl, Scheelite	Producer	45.848, -113.152
Sir Walter Scott Group	Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead	Bismutite, Galena	Past Producer	45.280, -112.877
Lookout Mine	Gold, Silver, Copper	Bornite	Past Producer	45.160, -112.977
Pacman Claims	Silver, Copper	Bornite, Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite	Occurrence	45.444, -113.368
Indian Queen Mine	Silver, Copper, Gold	Bornite, Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite, Chrysocolla, Copper, Cuprite, Malachite, Melaconite, Scheelite	Past Producer	45.398, -112.820
Park Mine	Silver, Copper, Zinc, Gold	Bornite, Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite, Galena, Sphalerite, Tetrahedrite	Past Producer	45.483, -113.048
Dark Horse Mine	Gold, Silver, Copper	Bornite, Chalcopyrite	Past Producer	45.167, -113.589
Golden Leaf Group (Bannack)	Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead	Bornite, Chalcopyrite, Chrysocolla, Galena, Gold, Malachite, Melaconite, Silver, Smithsonite, Sphalerite	Past Producer	45.155, -112.986
Jahnke Mine	Silver, Lead, Copper	Bornite, Chalcopyrite, Copper, Cuprite, Galena, Gold, Malachite, Scheelite	Past Producer	45.189, -113.588
Moosehorn Mine	Silver, Copper	Bornite, Specularite, Tetrahedrite	Past Producer	45.560, -113.733
Ingersoll Group	Copper, Silver, Lead	Bromyrite, Cerargyrite, Chalcopyrite, Malachite, Sphalerite	Past Producer	45.173, -112.956
Wheal Rose Mine	Silver, Lead	Cerargyrite	Past Producer	45.194, -112.936
Cottontail Mine	Silver, Lead, Gold, Copper	Cerargyrite, Chalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Pyrargyrite, Silver, Sphalerite	Past Producer	45.190, -112.953
Del Monte Mine	Silver, Gold, Copper, Lead	Cerargyrite, Galena, Polybasite, Pyrargyrite, Stibnite	Past Producer	45.195, -112.958
Blue Bell Mine	Lead	Cerussite, Galena	Occurrence	45.670, -112.990
Jack Rabbit Mine	Lead, Silver, Copper	Chalcocite	Past Producer	45.286, -112.860
Mcconnell Wellman Group	Silver, Lead, Zinc, Copper	Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite, Copper, Galena, Malachite, Sphalerite	Past Producer	45.447, -113.081

Fossil collections

The Paleobiology Database lists 36 fossil collection records in Beaverhead County. These are research records, not public dig sites.

Nearby counties

Madison County · Silver Bow County · Deer Lodge County · Granite County · Ravalli County

Montana mineral guides

Back to all Montana counties.

Is It Legal to Collect Rocks on Public Land? BLM, Forest Service and National Park Rules

How we built this page: we counted named sites in the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) for this area, left out sand, gravel, crushed stone, clay pits and unnamed sites, grouped them by Census county, and linked every site to its USGS record. We did not visit these sites, and MRDS does not tell you who owns the land or whether collecting is allowed.

Source: USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS). USGS ceased systematic updates to MRDS around 2011, so status and details may be out of date. Each site links to its USGS record.

Updated October 2026

Rockhounding in Beaverhead County, Montana

Sketch map

Jahnke Mine

Field cards: what kind of sites?

Mineral cards

Silver

Gold

Copper

Quartz

Pyrite

Galena

Fluorite

Magnetite