Tintic, After 1980

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This page was last updated on October 23, 2025.

Overview

After the Kennecott era had ended in 1980, Chief Consolidated Mining Corp. had tried various methods of leases and joint ventures to obtain funding that would allow mining to resume from its properties east of Eureka. There were proposals to re-start mining at the Burgin and Trixie mines, along with the concentrator built by Kennecott during the 1969-1978 lease of the property.

As of November 2005, Chief Consolidated's property in the Tintic Mining District comprised some 19,300 acres of patented mining claims and approximately 200 acres of non-patented claims. Of the mining claims, approximately 8,500 acres of patented ground and 200 acres of non-patented are owned by Tintic Utah Metals LLC, which is a subsidiary of Chief Consolidated.

In March 2009, it looked like some progress was being made when Andover Mining Corp. acquired 65 percent ownership of Chief Consolidated, with the main asset being 16,000 acres of land near Eureka, Utah. Chief Consolidated had been working to develop the Burgin mine (silver, plus lead and zinc) and the Trixie mine (gold, silver, and copper). There were multiple feasibility studies, and each indicated high initial costs and varying degrees of success, depending on the changing prices of metals. The costs of its proposals and studies in hopes of a resumption of mining, were a severe drain on Andover's financial resources. In August 2013, Andover declared bankruptcy, and in February 2014, the company's attempt to reorganize failed and it was ordered to liquidate its assets.

The following description of the East Tintic district comes from USGS Profession Paper 1024, published in 1979.

Prospecting was first undertaken in East Tintic in 1870; although small quantities of ore were produced in 1899 and from 1909 to 1913, the district first achieved prominence in 1916 with the discovery of the totally concealed Central ore body of the Tintic Standard mine. Within a few years of this discovery, the Tintic Standard became one of the most productive silver mines in the world. Additional discoveries of important concealed ore deposits have continued to be made in the district, including the North Lily mine in 1927, the Eureka Lilly and Eureka Standard mines in 1928, the Burgin mine in 1958, and the Trixie mine in 1969.

To December 31, 1975, the East Tintic mining district has yielded approximately 4.83 million short tons (4.38 million tonnes) of silver, gold, and base-metal ores, largely from concealed deposits overlain by many hundreds of feet of barren rocks. These ores have a gross valuation of approximately $231 million. The district first achieved prominence in 1916 with the discovery of the ore bodies of the Tintic Standard mine, which for a time was the world's richest silver producer (Lindgren, 1933, p. 588). By 1946 this deposit and a number of other deposits discovered and developed nearby had been exhausted, and the district became dormant.

A dramatic revival of, mining activities in the East Tintic district began in 1956 after the discovery and subsequent development of the concealed Burgin ore bodies in an area 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of the Tintic Standard that previously had been only superficially prospected. As in the earlier history of the district, the Burgin development has led to the discovery of other concealed deposits, focusing international attention on the revitalization of a nearly abandoned mining district by the application of geologic and geochemical techniques.

East Tintic After Kennecott, circa 1980

(Burgin mine; Trixie mine; Apex No. 2 Shaft)

Burgin Mine Before 1980

Trixie Mine Before 1980

After 1980

1981
"Sunshine Mining Co. reported spending $3.3 million on exploration and development plans for the Burgin Mine to the East Tintic mining district, Utah County. Four of five drill holes indicated high grades of mineralization and identified three major ore bodies: the Main Burgin, Eureka Standard, and Middle Fault. A new headframe was constructed, and 1,000 feet of the Apex No. 2 shaft was rehabilitated for access to the western section of the mine." (Mineral Yearbook, 1981, page 492)

September 18, 1981
Excerpts from the Eureka Reporter, September 18, 1981.

Some New Headframes -- Now sprouting modern headframes of sturdy structural steel. Headframe and hoist are nearly in place at the Apex No. 2 shaft on the west end of the Burgin Mine where Sunshine Mining Co. is looking for lead-zinc targets. Sunshine and its partner, Metallgesellschaft, A. G. West Germany.

The big problem at Apex No. 2, which presents promising lead-silver targets, has been the underground water flow. It was flow of super heated water and bad ground conditions which finally persuaded Kennecott to toss in the towel at the Burgin Mine in 1978.

Where there is water, mines are like sieves. Every nook and cranny is an open faucet. With power rates constantly increasing, it costs a lot of money to keep a mine pumped out. "If we have to dewater like Kennecott did, there’s no way we are going to get ore out," says Carl Johnson, Sunshine’s man on the Apex project.

The answer may lie in a water control program involving the injection of concrete grout into interstices of the formations. This way minimizes need for pumping and provides a protective envelope around areas that are being mined out.

Kennecott was working the east part of Burgin which lies in shales and limestones which do not respond to grouting, he said. The Apex No. 2 shaft is in the quartzites and is much more amenable to that kind of treatment.

In April 1984, Exxon resumed its exploration [south of Eureka]. Others were also active, including Asarco in the west Tintic District, and Lee Mining company of Chicago on Anaconda's old North Lilly and Dragon properties. (Salt Lake Tribune, April 7, 1984)

1985
At some point between June and November 1985, Chief Consolidated purchased the 3,185 acres of mining ground owned by Amax Arizona, Inc. This was the former Tintic Standard properties. The reported price paid was $150,000. (Salt Lake Tribune, June 30, 1985; November 15, 1985; Eureka Reporter, November 21, 1985)

(There is no reference in online newspapers to the above sale of the Amax Arizona properties to Chief Consolidated.)

November 21, 1985
Chief Consolidated acquired control of the stock (22.5 percent) of the Central Standard Mining company and installed its own officers, directors and management. Controlling the 320 acres of Central Standard properties, which was surrounded by Chief Consolidated properties, would allow Chief Consolidated better access to the Homansville Fault discovered by Kennecott during its years working from the Water Lily shaft. Kennecott found that it had better access from the Central Standard shaft. (Salt Lake Tribune, November 15, 1985; Eureka Reporter, November 21, 1985)

Chief and South Standard Sue Sunshine

In June 1990 Chief Consolidated and South Standard sued Sunshine Mining, claiming that Sunshine violated the terms of the leases signed in June 1983.

The law suit covered Sunshine Mining company's activities, or lack of activity, on both the Burgin mine and the Trixie mine.

"Chief and South Standard leased their valuable lands to Sunshine under two long term mining leases, based upon the justifiable expectation that Sunshine would endeavor to mine the leased properties and thereby generate production royalties for Chief and South Standard. Sunshine has located vast quantities of ore that hold the promise of millions of dollars in royalties for Chief and South Standard, as well as millions of dollars in profits for Sunshine. But Sunshine refuses to spend the money and perform the labor that are required to develop and mine these ores. In addition, Sunshine has at times acted deceitfully and unfairly toward Chief and South Standard. Sunshine's acts and omissions have been contrary to the fundamental intent and purpose of each Lease, and contrary to Sunshine's express and implied covenants in each Lease."

(Contrary to the claims in the law suit, reports of Sunshine's activity on the Burgin mine included the reopening of the Apex No. 2 shaft to avoid the unsafe conditions in the Burgin shaft, and extensive drifting from the Apex shaft to reach the Burgin ore body. But the owners were correct, there was no formal production from the Burgin mine during the period of the lease, from 1983 to 1992.)

Excerpts from the law suit.

1978 -- Kennecott ceased mining the Burgin Mine. The Burgin Mine (originally known as Tract 1, 2 and 3) was removed from the original 1956 Unit Lease and returned to Chief. Chief began looking for an experienced underground mining company to resume operations at the Burgin Mine.

October 15, 1980 -- Chief leased the Burgin Mine to Sunshine Mining company pursuant to a lease and agreement signed by both companies. Sunshine Mining company contracted with Paul Hunter and his HMC Mining company to began exploration and development of the ore body.

(There was no production during this 1980 to 1983 period.)

April 1983 -- Kennecott sold all of its remaining interest in the original 1956 Unit Lease (originally Tract 5 through 8) to HMC Mining, Inc. (HMC; Hunter Mining company, owned and controlled by Paul Hunter). Two months later, Sunshine Mining company acquired all of the stock of HMC. Since that time, Sunshine has operated on the Unit Tract (Trixie mine) and has exercised all of HMC's rights as lessee under the original Unit Lease from 1956.

June 1983 -- Sunshine had become the lessee and operator of the Burgin Tract (Burgin mine) and the Unit Tract (Trixie mine). Chief was the sole owner and lessor under the Burgin Lease. By virtue of certain acquisitions. Chief and South Standard had become the sole owners and lessors under the Unit Lease, which covered both mines.

(Research suggests that the term "Unit Lease" was for the entire 10,000 acre area that encompassed both mines, and "Unit Tract" was for just the area that encompassed the Trixie mine. Although some of the documents use the two terms interchangeably.)

Shortly after Sunshine took over the Unit Lease in 1983, Sunshine completed its 1983 Operating Plan, which recommended a variety of exploration, development, and mining activities on several Unit Lease target areas. Sunshine never acted upon the 1983 Operating Plan, however. Between 1983 and 1988, Sunshine's Unit Lease activities consisted of operating the Trixie Mine on an intermittent basis at one-third or less of its capacity, and conducting sporadic, inconclusive exploration and development activities elsewhere within the Unit Tract.

October 1984 -- "Sunshine developed a Mining Plan for the Burgin mine. Sunshine did not implement its 1984 Mining Plan as scheduled. Instead, during 1985 Sunshine cut back on expenditures and activities at the Burgin Mine."

1988 -- Sunshine told Chief that Sunshine was committed to commencing work on the Burgin Mine by the end of that summer, but Sunshine did not begin the work as represented.

May 1988 -- "Sunshine completed a Feasibility Study for the Burgin Mine. Sunshine did not implement its 1988 Feasibility Study, or any other plan to reopen the Burgin Mine."

July 1988 -- Sunshine prepared a Special Eureka Potential Report, and a Eureka Resource Inventory Report. Sunshine failed to exploit the full potential of the Trixie Mine, and Sunshine had done virtually nothing to exploit or even explore the numerous other Unit Lease targets. In addition, Sunshine mortgaged the Unit Tract for non-mining purposes.

"Sunshine has continually delayed the implementation of its purported plans to bring the Burgin Mine back into production. Sunshine in fact has no intention to bring the Burgin Mine back into production without the use of someone else's money, and then only if it can obtain a return on its investment."

June 26, 1990 -- Chief Consolidated Mining company and South Standard Mining company, as plaintiffs, filed a suit against the Sunshine Mining company, as defendant, for breach of lease agreement, claiming that Sunshine had not used its best effort for production from the Burgin and Trixie mines. Sunshine did not refute any of plaintiffs' statements, but stated that the features of the lease were not as specific as the plaintiffs claimed, and therefore Sunshine was not in violation of the terms of the lease.

June 21, 1991 -- Sunshine (defendant) asked for a partial summary judgment by the court, instead of a jury trial. The partial summary judgment was issued on July 25, 1991, in which the court denied all of Chief and South Standard claims based on the lack of any law that stipulates the level of performance required in the lease. The plaintiffs appealed.

(The sticking point for the judge was the term "miner-like manner" for the way any work was to be performed. The lease stated that work was to be "performed under the circumstances by a reasonable and skilled miner or mining company" but did not define the terms "reasonable" and "skilled." The judge was unable to find any reference in outside sources that defined the term, although he was able to find definitions for "farmer-like" and "workmanlike." Sunshine said it had performed the work as stipulated in the lease, and Chief Consolidated disagreed.)

September 5, 1991 -- Upon appeal, the District Court court issued its final judgment, denying the Chief and South Standard (plaintiffs) claims, finding that Sunshine had made its best effort to fulfill the lease agreement. Chief and South Standard immediately appealed the District Court decision to the Utah Supreme Court. On December 16, 1991, the Utah Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, with informal discussions over the following six months pointing to Sunshine winning the case.

On November 21, 1992, the parties in the law suit settled their differences, with termination of the leases being part of the terms of the settlement.

November 25, 1992
From the Shoshone Idaho News Press, November 25, 1992.

South Standard Mining Co. announced that it and Chief Consolidated Mining Co. have settled their lawsuits brought in the Utah State Court against Sunshine Mining Co., Sunshine Precious Metals, Inc. and HMC Mining Co.

As a result, South Standard has regained full control over approximately 2,554 acres of Unit Area properties. Sunshine also abandoned its interests in the improvements to these properties.

The Trixie Mine, a gold mining operation, has had an annual production under the Sunshine Lease, and the reserves in the Trixie Mine have generally and historically remained rather stable, with development of new reserves generally keeping pace with the ore produced each year.

Since production started in 1969, the Trixie Mine had produced by the end of 1991, 672,381 tons of ore from the mine

A spokesman for South Standard indicated that they will be seeking a new lessee to operate its properties that were in the Unit Lease.

Burgin Mine After 1980

Sunshine Mining Company, Burgin (1978-1992)

Mid-1978
"The Burgin, a lead-zinc and silver producer, was closed in mid-1978. Still closed down as of April 1983, it is under lease of the Sunshine Mining Co." (Eureka Reporter, April 8, 1983)

The Burgin mine had previously been leased by Chief Consolidated to Kennecott Corporation. Kennecott developed various mining shafts and other capital improvements on the property, including underground access by way of the Apex No. 2 Shaft.

Kennecott had closed the Burgin mine in 1978 "after a long and costly battle against hot water flow and unstable ground conditions." (Salt Lake Tribune, October 31, 1980)

(Research suggests that Kennecott closed the Burgin mine in mid 1978 due to high operating costs -- a combination of dealing with hot water flows, unstable ground conditions, and the renegotiated lease agreement which reduced Kennecott's profit. The combination of costs was not justified by the, at that time, low metal prices, especially silver. Also, Kennecott was in the middle of fighting a hostile take-over at the corporate level.)

Chief Consolidated then leased the Burgin mine to the Sunshine Mining Company in 1980. Sunshine rehabilitated the Apex No. 2 shaft, together with the connecting drifts and drill stations, at a cost of approximately $6 million.

At the time, Sunshine Mining company was the nation’s leading silver producer through its operations at the Sunshine mine at Kellogg, Idaho.

June 1980
"In June 1980 Sunshine acquired a 120-day option to lease from the Chief Consolidated Mining company for the underground mining rights on 1,387 acres that includes the Burgin Mine area. Sunshine began aggressively evaluating the ground and a surface drilling program was underway in July 1980. If the option is exercised, the lease involves 1,387 acres for a 50-year period. The option was extended to January 1, 1981. In early 1981 Sunshine started reconditioning the Apex No. 2 Shaft for re-entry into the mine. In March 1981, Sunshine announced a letter of intent to joint venture further exploration and development of the Burgin area with Metallgesellschaft Corp. of Germany. Under the 50-50 venture, Sunshine would continue as operating partner. This joint venture will provide the necessary capital for Sunshine to complete the project." (Salt Lake Tribune, June 19, 1980; Eureka Reporter, July 21, 1981)

October 15, 1980
Chief Consolidated Mining company leased to Sunshine Mining company a parcel of Chief Consolidated property encompassing 1,387 acres.

Sunshine was to pay Chief Consolidated the sum of $100,000 in 1981 and every year thereafter until ore shipments and net smelter returns begin. Sunshine was to refine or otherwise treat the ore at its own facilities (the Burgin mill)

October 31, 1980
In a report to the stockholders of the Chief Consolidated company at the annual meeting, company officials reported that Sunshine Mining company had encountered a "major mineralization in one drill hole near the Burgin on Chief's land." The Chief Consolidated company was very excited by the Sunshine findings, and along with earlier drill explorations by Kennecott in the same area, Chief was of the opinion that all any leasing company needed to do was mine down to the ore body and extract it for astounding profits. Simple as one-two-three. (Salt Lake Tribune, October 31, 1980)

In addition, Chief shareholders were unhappy that, with the rising prices of gold and silver, Chief officials had let Kennecott out of its lease of the Burgin property in 1978, and that Chief would have a much smaller share of profits (1/3 instead of 2/3) from the Trixie mine, known later as the "Unit Tract."

(Later statements by Chief Consolidated officials and shareholders show that they were not familiar with the actual conditions in the mine, and the difficulty of mining operations in that part of the Tintic district. Their statements reveal that they believed that any operator merely had to enter the mine and start extracting and shipping ore. There was also the reality that neither Sunshine nor its affiliate HMC Mining had any real cash flow and were unable to fund the operations they had agreed to, without a financial partner of their own.)

November 1982
After completing a two-year program of exploratory drilling, in November 1982 Sunshine began its own operations to develop the Burgin ore body by extending the Apex No. 2 shaft to a lower level, then drifting northeast to reach the ore body. Sunshine planned on selling ores to Kennecott as smelter flux for its large smelter at Garfield on the south shore of Great Salt Lake. A heap-leach gold mine was also planned at the Burgin site, but the entire mine was closed again in 1985.

(There was no production during this period. The only activity was Sunshine working to rehabilitate the surface facilities at the Apex No. 2 shaft, along with the shaft itself. Sunshine was also working to put the surface facilities at the Burgin site back into operating condition, including the Burgin mill that had been built by Kennecott in 1966, and expanded in 1975.)

September 23, 1983
"The approach to the Burgin lode taken by Kennecott through the old Burgin shaft, had been like trying to mine a sponge. The fractures and faulting in the east part of the ore body and the disintegration of the limestone structures had presented Kennecott with horrendous water and earth collapse problems. The Dallas-based Sunshine Co., which took over the operations earlier this year, will sink the Apex No. 2 by another 400 feet to the water level, then drift northeast to the ore zone." (Eureka Reporter, September 23, 1983)

March 1984
Sunshine connected the north end of the Trixie Mine with the Eureka Standard Mine. When work was completed, Sunshine expected to connect the Trixie Mine, the Eureka Standard Mine and the Burgin Mine. With the underground link between the three mines completed, the complex would form a nucleus for Sunshine's planned program for the exploration, development and mining of the entire East Tintic District. (Eureka Reporter, May 24, 1984)

April 7, 1984
From the Salt Lake Tribune, April 7, 1984.

Paul Hunter, resident manager for Sunshine, said Sunshine also is deepening the Apex Shaft in expectation of drifting north to the back side of the old Burgin lead-zinc silver property. Re-entry is through quartzite, he said, which should provide sound ground conditions for mining.

Kennecott, which developed the Burgin Mine, was active in the district for 25 years. However, it was plagued by unstable underground conditions and extensive hot water flow at Burgin. Kennecott's abandoned lease was acquired two years ago by the Dallas-based Sunshine.

Mr. Hunter also said the Burgin mill has been overhauled and is now milling test ores.

Sunshine has a unit lease on properties of Chief Consolidated Mining Co., South Standard Mining Co., Eureka Standard Mining Co. and Amax Inc.

August 2, 1984
Sunshine had a separate lease from Chief Consolidated Mining Co. for operation of the Burgin mine. Sunshine also operated the Trixie Mine on a separate unit lease from Chief Consolidated Mining Co., South Standard Mining Co., and Amax Arizona. (Eureka Reporter, August 2, 1984)

1986
The last train to the Burgin mine was in 1986 when D&RGW ran a box car of equipment to the mine. The train with two GP30 locomotives ran the entire 32.5 mile distance from Springville up the branch to the Burgin mine. The crew waited for the boxcar to be unloaded and returned to Springville. (D&RGW Conductor Neal Thorpe, interview with James Belmont in 1992)

As of late 1987, as stipulated in the original lease between Chief Consolidated and Bear Creek/Kennecott, Chief Consolidated retained ownership of the $50 million in improvements that Kennecott made to the Burgin mine and mill, along with the $10 million renovations that Sunshine did since 1982. (Salt lake Tribune, December 10, 1987)

(By late 1987, Sunshine still had not yet begun production from the Burgin mine.)

November 13, 1992
Sunshine agreed to relinquish its two leases with Chief Consolidated (Burgin) and South Standard (Trixie). (Eureka Reporter, August 25, 1995, citing Chief Consolidated's annual report)

The other members of the Unit Lease (from 1956), included 50 percent held by the Chief Consolidated Mining Co., and the other 50 percent held United States Smelting Refining and Mining Co., Newmont Mining Co. and the Raddatz interests in the Tintic Standard and its controlled companies which included South Standard Mining company, the Eureka Standard Consolidated Mining company, and the Eureka Lilly Consolidated Mining company. During the 1956 to 1992 period, numerous mergers and sales took place, with the split during the 1990s being 50 percent for the Chief Consolidated company, and 50 percent for the Tintic Standard and South Standard companies. These two latter companies were no longer affiliated in any way and continued to pursue their short-term interests.

Production from the Burgin mine stopped in 1992, with the mine and its surrounding property being owned 100 percent by the Chief Consolidated company. The Trixie mine and property was not part of this group.

Joint Venture, Burgin (1994)

(There was no production from the Burgin mine during this period.)

March 15, 1994
Chief Consolidated Mining Company, owner of the Burgin Mine, and Akiko Gold Resources Ltd. of Canada are entering into a joint venture to reopen the Burgin Mine. The Canadian company will be the operator for the development and mining of the Burgin Mine. The two companies will begin a $2.5 million program this fall. Actual production will begin in 1996. The mine is located in the Tintic Mountains near the Tintic Standard mine, which was once the world's largest silver producer. Akiko geologists describe the ore deposit as being contained in a "six hundred to 800 foot, amoeba-shaped underground deposit." The ore is considered to be of fairly high-grade quality. (Eureka Reporter, April 1, 1994, citing a Chief Consolidated press release dated March 15, 1994, "today")

(The agreement was for Akiko Gold to purchase a 20 percent interest in the Burgin mine, after all needed feasibility studies were completed. -- Salt Lake Tribune, September 24, 1994)

September 29, 1995
Akiko Gold signed an agreement with Korea Zinc company to provide additional funding for its joint venture with Chief Consolidated. The original agreement from March 1994 called for Akiko to invest money in the joint venture in the form of in the exploratory drilling, and in purchase of Chief Consolidated stock shares. Akiko had already spent $2 million of the required $10 million for its buy-in of the joint venture, and Korea Zinc would provide an immediate $2 million as an equal partner with Akiko in its 50 percent interest in the joint venture. The deadline for Akiko's buy-in was September 30, 1995. Together, Akiko and Korea Zinc would provide the needed $5 million to participate in the $10 million joint venture. (Eureka Reporter, September 29, 1995)

(The November 1995 Chief Consolidated annual report mentioned the joint venture of Chief Consolidated (50 percent), Korea Zinc (25 percent), and Akiko Gold (25 percent). Korea Zinc and Akiko Gold had already paid $2 million each, of the required $3 million each, for participation in the joint venture, the final total of $6 million being required before Chief would make it required contribution and allow access to the underground mine for development purposes. Geologists for both companies were confident that the joint venture was a positive thing. The joint venture was pending agreement between Korea Zinc and Akiko Gold. -- Eureka Reporter, November 24, 1995)

By January 1996, Korea Zinc held 10 percent of Chief Consolidated stock, while Akiko held 5 percent. Korea Zinc was to process all of the ore extracted from the Burgin mine. There had been at least 22 holes drilled as part the exploratory drilling done and the companies were confident that the mine's potential was still good. While there were buildings and facilities on site at the Burgin mine, the companies estimated that it would take two years and $25 million to bring the Burgin mine back into production. (Eureka Reporter, January 5, 1996; April 19, 1996)

August 9, 1996
The joint venture went into effect. Korea Zinc and Akiko Gold were to pay Chief Consolidated a combined total of $10 million before August 31, 1998, or ownership of the Chief Consolidated property would revert back to 100 percent by Chief Consolidated. It was reported that $4 million had already been paid, with the remaining $6 million to be paid as mining budgets allowed. Chief was to use the initial $4 million to delineate and define the boundaries of the ore body, presumably by exploratory drilling. (Eureka Reporter, August 9, 1996)

(Akiko Gold was unable to raise the funds to fulfill its part of the joint venture, and withdrew from the venture in September 1996.)

Tintic Utah Metals, Burgin (1996-2010)

(There was no production from the Burgin mine during this period.)

(The Burgin mill was rehabilitated and used to process the ore from the nearby Trixie mine, located about 1-1/2 miles southwest of the Burgin site.)

Tintic Utah Metals LLC was organized in 1996 as a Colorado LLC joint venture for the development of Chief Consolidated properties. Chief Consolidated Mining company held a 75 percent interest and Korea Zinc Co. Ltd. (Young Poong Corporation) held 25 percent interest.

(There is no reference to Korea Zinc after October 11, 1996.)

(The first reference to the Tintic Utah Metals company in online newspapers was in April 1998, for its support of an Easter Egg hunt in Eureka.)

Tintic Utah Metals also held the rights to the Chief Consolidated-owned Burgin concentrating mill, built by Kennecott in 1966 when it was mining from the Burgin mine under its lease.

The Burgin concentrating mill, approximately 24,000 square feet in size, was built by Kennecott to process up to 1,200 tons of lead and zinc ore per day. Tintic Utah Metals rehabilitated the mill over a several year period to include a precious metals (gold and silver) flow sheet. The total cost of the renovation was reported as approximately $1.9 million.

May 1998
"In mid-May 1998, the rehabilitation of the Burgin Mine's Apex No. 2 shaft was completed." (Eureka Reporter, September 11, 1998)

July 10, 1998
Chief Consolidated Mining company, and its subsidiary Tintic Utah Metals LLC signed a contract with U. S. Filter company, the largest filter company in the U. S., as a subsidiary of Culligan, to treat and purify the outflow of 12,000 gallons per minute from the dewatering of the Burgin mine. (Eureka Reporter, July 10, 1998)

January 8, 1999
Chief Consolidated owned 100 percent of Chief Gold Mines, Inc. (ownership of the Trixie and Eureka Standard mines), and 75 percent of Tintic Utah Metals LLC (ownership of the Burgin mine). (Eureka Reporter, January 8, 1999)

As of May 2000, the ore from the Trixie mine was to be processed at the "newly rehabilitated concentrating mill" of the Tintic Utah Metals LLC at the site of the nearby Burgin mine. (Eureka Reporter, May 26, 2000)

July 28, 2000
Chief Consolidated announced "today," a strike of high value gold and silver ore in its Trixie mine, between the 600 and 700 levels. The Trixie shaft itself was located 1,200 feet from the exploratory drill hole where the new ore body was found. A drift the the new ore body was to begin in 4th Quarter 2000, with production to begin by January 2001. When production begins, the ore will be processed at the concentrating mill that went into operation in June 2000, processing low value ore from the Trixie dump. (Eureka Reporter, July 28, 2000)

(There was no production from this discovery.)

October 25, 2000
Tintic Utah Metals LLC applied to Utah County for approval to purify 9 billion gallons of water flowing from the Burgin mine, and sell it as culinary water for use by residents and companies in south Utah County and north Juab County. The water was to be purified by U. S. Filter company, the largest filter company in the U. S., as a subsidiary of Culligan. (Provo Daily Herald, October 25, 2000)

The last reference to Tintic Utah Metals LLC was in December 29, 2001, on a published delinquent property tax list.

Chief Consolidated Mining company purchased all of Korea Zinc's interest in the Tintic Utah Metals joint venture during 2008, for a reported $3 million. (Chief Consolidated SEC Fork 8-K, dated September 10, 2008)

As of 2008, the Burgin mine remained closed because it was still flooded.

As of 2010, and since 1992, the Burgin mine has remained out of production. Chief Consolidated or any of its partners cannot proceed with production at the mine unless the mine can be dewatered.

Trixie Mine After 1980

(The Trixie mine surface works were located on the property of the South Standard Mining company. Later underground expansion by Sunshine Mining company took the Trixie mine into ground owned by the Chief Consolidated Mining company's Apex Standard mine.)

(A map of Tintic District mining claims dated 1927 shows a "Trixy" shaft in the northeast corner of Section 28, and located near the south boundary line of the Eureka Standard company with the South Standard company.)

The Trixie shaft extends to a depth of about 1,300 feet and was active from 1969 to 1992. Operators initially were Kennecott Mining Company (1962-1980), followed for the last nine years by Sunshine Mining Company (1983-1992).

During its life (1969 to 1992) the Trixie produced a reported 713,478 tons of ore, which was directly shipped (without concentration) to the Kennecott smelter in Garfield, Utah as smelter flux. Metals produced were 150,048 ounces of gold and 4,670,289 ounces of silver. This ore was contained in the vertical interval from 750 feet down to 1300 feet.

October 31, 1980
The ore from the Trixie mine was being concentrated at the mill on the Burgin site, which was being operated under lease by the Sunshine Mining company as part of its lease of the Burgin property. The meant that ore from the Trixie mine, and later the Burgin mine, was more marketable by not having to meet the fluxing needs of the Kennecott smelters. (Salt Lake Tribune, October 31, 1980)

November 1982
Kennecott stopped working the Trixie Mine in November 1982. There was no production for just slightly over a year until Sunshine Mining company acquired the lease and began initial shipments of gold and silver ore. (Eureka Reporter, May 24, 1984)

December 31, 1982
Amax proposed to sell its 61 percent interest in Eureka Standard Consolidated to South Standard, after which South Standard would merge with Eureka Standard Consolidated. (Eureka Reporter, December 31, 1982)

(The sale was blocked by other stockholders of the two companies, but the merger took place later during 1983, with South Standard being the surviving company.)

(Raddatz Corp., owned about 10 percent of the Eureka Standard company. Eureka Standard had about 1,700 shareholders.)

(Raddatz Corp., owned about 31 percent of the South Standard company, along with about 300 other shareholders, of which five or six together owned an additional 21 percent. This resulted in almost every decision by the Amax- and Raddatz-controlled boards of both companies being protested and contested by the other stockholders. Short term profits vs. long-term planning. Or rather, perceived potential for short term profits vs. long term planning for continued production. There had only been three dividends declared since 1916, and those had been during the 1978-1981 period under the renegotiated lease to Kennecott. Kennecott stopped operations at the Trixie mine in late 1982.)

March 1984
Sunshine connected the north end of the Trixie Mine with the former Eureka Standard ground of the South Standard Mining company. When work was completed, Sunshine expected to connect the Trixie Mine, the Eureka Standard Mine and the Burgin Mine. (Eureka Reporter, May 24, 1984)

April 7, 1984
Paul Hunter, once general manager for Kennecott in the Tintic District, said Sunshine has made a connection from the Trixie shaft into the workings of the old Eureka Standard mine, the first such re-entry in 50 years. (Salt Lake Tribune, April 7, 1984)

April 7, 1984
Sunshine Mining Co. resumed shipping fluxing ore from the Trixie Mine to Kennecott's Utah Copper Division for use in copper smelting, and the gold-silver is recovered in the refinery process. (Salt Lake Tribune, April 7, 1984)

June 7, 1984
Sunshine was shipping several hundred to 2,000 tons of fluxing ore per month from the Trixie mine to Kennecott, which had asked Sunshine for a consistent amount of 1,500 tons per month. Sunshine had also deepened the Apex No. 2 shaft down to 1300 feet and would very soon begin drifting southward into the Eureka Standard ground, and north into the Burgin ground. The ore from the Trixie mine was showing as 16.14 percent lead, 6.85 percent zinc and 12.8 ounces silver per ton, but no gold. Sunshine was planning on 200,000 tons production per year by 1985. (Salt Lake Tribune, June 7, 1984)

August 2, 1984
"Trixie is a gold and silver producer. The Kennecott Utah Copper Division buys the ore as a smelter fluxing agent. The silica content of the Trixie ore combines with iron during the smelting process to form a slag which is drawn off. Gold and silver values, however, remain with the blister copper product. They are recovered as byproduct in sludge formed during electrolytic refining at the refinery. So far, Kennecott is continuing to buy normal amounts of flux." (Eureka Reporter, August 2, 1984)

"In the meantime, Sunshine is continuing to drift northward from the old Apex No. 2 shaft toward the Burgin Mine ore body. Expectations are that underground conditions will be more stable than when the mine was worked from the original Burgin shaft." (Eureka Reporter, August 2, 1984)

"Sunshine operates the Trixie Mine on a unit lease from Chief Consolidated Mining Co., South Standard Mining Co., and Amax Arizona. It has a separate lease with Chief for operation the Burgin properties." (Eureka Reporter, August 2, 1984)

(The shipments to the Kennecott Garfield smelter continued because the smelter remained in operation during the 1984-1986 shut down of Kennecott's Bingham mine and Magna mills.)

October 1992
"One month prior to the termination of your Company’s prior leases with Sunshine in November 1992, Sunshine ceased its production of gold and silver silica ores from four Trixie Mine operating levels. All prior Trixie Mine production, both by Kennecott and Sunshine, were shipped to one or more copper smelters for use as a fluxing agent. Since the mining of the Trixie by both Kennecott and Sunshine over a 20 year period was primarily directed towards a silica catalyst (fluxing) product for smelters, entire walls of the Trixie were mined in bulk, which significantly diluted the gold and silver content of veins in the walls containing high grade gold and silver values." (Eureka Reporter, September 18, 1998, citing Chief Consolidated's annual report)

(This "mining in bulk" was by use of stopes and timber frame sets, rather than by drifts, raises and winzes that followed ore veins themselves. It is seen as a "get rich quick" scheme to extract as much ore as possible, as quickly as possible without consideration of overall safety or future operations of the mine.)

October 1992
The Trixie gold mine, located on South Standard's property, produced gold and silver ores when it was in operation, initially by Kennecott Corp., and then by Sunshine Mining Company until Sunshine terminated mining the Trixie in October 1992. (Eureka Reporter, August 25, 1995, citing Chief Consolidated's annual report)

(This was part of the settlement of Chief Consolidated and South Standard suing Sunshine for breach of contract for non-performance on the lease.)

July 12, 1995
The Chief Consolidated Mining company purchased the South Standard Mining company. The acquisition of the South Standard by Chief was based on an offer to exchange three shares of Chief stock for each ten shares of South Standard stock outstanding. The acquisition of South Standard would put under Chief Consolidated ownership all of the properties originally incorporated in the Kennecott Unit Lease from 1956, which then included the properties of Tintic Standard, Eureka Standard, Eureka Lily, South Standard and Chief Consolidated. South Standard's properties totaled approximately 2,550 acres contiguous to the south and west of the Chief Consolidated's East Tintic properties. The Trixie gold mine, located on South Standard's property, produced gold and silver ores when it was in operation, initially by Kennecott Corp., and then by Sunshine Mining Company until Sunshine terminated mining the Trixie in October 1992. (Eureka Reporter, August 25, 1995, citing Chief Consolidated's annual report)

(The sale and merger of South Standard Mining company into Chief Consolidated Mining was formally completed on June 28, 1996. -- Eureka Reporter, August 9, 1996)

Chief Gold, Trixie (1996-2002)

June 1996
Chief Gold company, a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Chief Consolidated, was formed with the merger of the Chief Consolidated company with the South Standard Mining company. As a result of the merger in 1996, Chief Gold owned 2,200 acres of patented mining properties located in the East Tintic District of Utah, including the Trixie Mine.

"In June 1996 shareholders of South Standard Mining Company approved the merger of South Standard into Chief Gold Mines, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chief Consolidated Mining. Chief Gold Mines ultimately plans to rehabilitate the Trixie shaft and initiate an underground drilling program to confirm and increase gold reserves. The earliest start date would be late 1997. The mine was last operated in 1992 by Sunshine Mining Company." (USGS, 1996 Summary of Mineral Activity in Utah, page 10)

South Standard Mining company had been controlled by Tintic Standard Mining company since 1917, and in later years by the Raddatz estate. The Raddatz estate sold the property to Amax ArizonaThe Trixie shaft was on the site of the shaft of the Eureka Standard Consolidated Mining company, a predecessor to the South Standard Mining company, and was where Kennecott first developed its Trixie mine in 1969.

May 1998
"In late May 1998, rehabilitation of the Trixie Mine was initiated, beginning with the shaft which was closed in 1992. It is anticipated that complete shaft, station and drift rehabilitation to the 750 foot operating level will be completed early in the last quarter of 1998, with underground drilling beginning immediately thereafter." (Eureka Reporter, September 18, 1998)

As of late 2000, Tintic Utah Metals continued to process the dumps from the Trixie mine in its refurbished Burgin mill. The mill had been refurbished over a multi-year time period at a cost of $1.9 million to include the processing of gold and silver, in addition to its original lead and zinc capabilities.

Chief Gold, as a subsidiary of Chief Consolidated, began mining ore from the Trixie Mine in 2001. The ore was stockpiled and in January 2002, Chief Consolidated began processing ore at its nearby Burgin concentrating mill, 1-1/2 miles distant.

On March 28, 2002 a serious cave-in at the 610 Stope, put an end to the mining. Records exist up until the end of February 2002 for the mine production. No records have been found for operations in March 2002 and later.

During its last quarter of production in February 2002, the Trixie Mine processed 7,808 tons of ore and produced some 4,460 ounces of gold representing over $500 per ton of rock. The total mining and milling cost at that time was reported as $89 per ton of processed ore.

In March 2002, Chief encountered unstable mining conditions in the Trixie Mine and suspended mining and processing operations.

Water Lily Shaft (Homansville) (1978-)

(The Water Lily shaft was a project by the Chief Consolidated company, begun in 1920 and restarted in May 1921 from an existing depth of 60 feet, to assess the ore bodies of the eastern part of the Tintic district near Homansville. By November 1921 the Water Lily shaft had been sunk to a depth of 1250 feet. By February 1922, the Water Lily shaft was a full three-compartment shaft and was down to a depth of 1468 feet, known across the Tintic district as the water level. From the 1450 level, at least two drifts pushed in separate directions to explore for potential ore veins.)

(There is no reference to any production taking place from the Water Lily shaft. In March 1956, when the Jenny Lind Unit Lease was taken by Kennecott, the Water Lily shaft was included as one of the existing improvements made by the Chief Consolidated company, to be included as part of the lease area.)

(Research has not yet found why the shaft was named Water Lily. The detailed maps of mining claims in the area do not show a Water Lily claim, with the shaft shown on the "Railroad No. 12 " claim.)

May 1921
In 1920, the Water Lily shaft was 60 feet deep. The conflicts with other companies had been cleared up. Work was to be resumed "at once" in May 1921. The Water Lily shaft was a three-compartment shaft, and would be very near the same size the the Chief Consolidated company's No. 2 shaft. (Eureka Reporter, May 20, 1921)

October 1921
"For the three months ending October 18, the Water Lily shaft was sunk a distance of 1106.8 ft., or an average of 368.9 ft. per month. The shaft is now down to a depth of 1250 feet." (Mining and Scientific Press, Vol. 123, November 19, 1921)

February 13, 1922
"The Water Lily shaft in the East end of the [Chief Consolidated] company's holdings in East Tintic, was bottomed at 1468 feet, a point slightly below permanent water level, and drifting was taken up on the 1442 level." (Deseret News, February 13, 1922)

April 7, 1922
"Among the most important pieces of development work which this organization has in progress at the present time is the prospecting of the Water Lily tract at a point just above the water level." (Eureka Reporter, April 7, 1922, citing the 1921 Chief Consolidated annual report)

(After 1922, and until 1978, there is no reference in online newspapers to the Water Lily shaft except to recall the record for driving a shaft that it broke, and which was broke again in a South Africa mine in 1936.)

November 10, 1978
Kennecott was moving ahead with plans to re-open the Water Lily shaft. (Eureka Reporter, November 10, 1978)

(The Water Lily shaft was about 2.5 miles north of the Burgin mine, which was 1.5 miles northeast of the Trixie mine.)

September 1980
The Water Lily shaft collapsed during Kennecott's activity to rehabilitate the shaft to gain access to the nearby Central Standard ore body. Kennecott had leased what was called the Homansville property from Chief Consolidated. But with the collapse of the Water Lily shaft in mid-September, Kennecott was drilling on Central Standard ground, which Chief controlled but only owned 24 percent of. (Salt Lake Tribune, October 31, 1980, "one and a half months ago")

October 1983
Sunshine purchased from Chief Consolidated an option to lease the Homansville property in October 1983. Chief Consolidated announced in May 1984 that Sunshine has decided to exercise its option to lease the underground rights of 2,013 acres comprising Chief's Homansville property, to be accessed from the existing Water Lily shaft and the Central Standard shaft. Sunshine would also exercise its option to lease from Central Standard Consolidated Mines company's 320 acres that adjoin the Homansville property. Chief Consolidated owned 18 percent of the outstanding stock of Central Standard. (Eureka Reporter, May 24, 1984)

(The Water Lily shaft is still shown on topographic maps of today, with the shaft collar at about 5900 feet elevation. It is located very near the center of Section 3 of T10S, R2W, about 2000 feet from where D&RGW branch line passed through a tunnel.)

EPA Settlement (2000-2010)

(This activity concerning the Environmental Protection Agency and the Chief Consolidated Mining company covers the former mined-out area in the vicinity of Eureka, Utah, and does not affect the area of the Burgin and Trixie mines in the East Tintic area.)

In July 2000, after receiving complaints from some Eureka residents, the State of Utah and EPA began investigating impacts of historic mining activities on the environment and residential areas of Eureka. In 2001, EPA began "Time Critical" soil removal actions due to high concentrations of lead and arsenic in soil combined with elevated blood lead levels in children living in Eureka. Based on the findings of the Site Investigation in 2000, the generically-named "Eureka Mills Site" was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) in September 2002.

Remediation of the Eureka Site was completed in 2010 and the site was removed from the National Priorities List on September 25, 2018.

Recent Developments, Burgin and Trixie (2010-2025)

With the original Burgin mine still suffering from high water problems, there has been continued exploration of adjacent ore bodies. The following updates include efforts to develop what is known as the Burgin Extension mine, which is separate and not connected with the old Burgin mine. The Burgin Extension mine was planned to extract ore by way of a new production shaft, as well as rehabilitating the historic Apex No. 2 shaft, which dates from the original exploration work by the Apex Standard company in the 1920s.

The region surrounding the Burgin and Trixie mines have laid dormant since 1978 and 2002, respectively. During 2007, the Chief Consolidated company completely rewrote the mining and reclamation plans to support the needed permits to dewater the mines and begin production. Protests, negotiations and changes to the plans delayed the permits until early 2009 when Andover became involved.

The Burgin mine had ceased any mining activity in 1992 due to the same unstable underground conditions and extensive hot water flow that had caused Kennecott to close the mine in 1980.

The Trixie mine had ceased any mining activity in 1992; reopened in 2000 and closed in 2002 due to a cave-in that stopped production.

Genco Resources (2008-2009)

March 14, 2008
Excerpts from a Genco Resources press release.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Mar 14, 2008 -- Genco Resources Ltd., announced today it has made an investment in the ownership of two formerly producing silver-gold mines, Burgin Mine and Trixie Mine, and a concentrator plant, in Utah owned by Chief Consolidated Mining Company.

Genco's acquisition was made through the purchase of approximately 65 percent of the outstanding shares of Chief Consolidated, a publicly traded company based in Eureka, Utah.

The purchase was from Chief Consolidated's largest shareholder, Dimeling, Schreiber & Park Reorganization Fund II, L.P. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for a purchase price of approximately $4.9 million.

Genco was in negotiations with Andover Ventures for the sale of all or part of its investment in Chief and its assets. Any agreement would involve shares of Andover and a silver production royalty over all of Andover's properties, including its Sun polymetallic property in Alaska.

At the time of the above statement in March 2008, Chief Consolidated owned or controlled approximately 16,000 acres of mining land in Utah and Juab counties in Utah. These properties included.

The Burgin Mine, held by Chief's 75 percent owned subsidiary Tintic Utah Metals, LLC, a Colorado limited liability company
The Trixie Mine, held by Chief's 100 percent owned subsidiary Chief Gold Mines, Inc., a Delaware corporation.
Of these 16,000 acres, approximately 6,000 acres are subject to being sold as the result of a Consent Decree with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Neither mine was currently in production.

In September 2008, in a development separate from Andover's purchase of Genco interest mentioned above, Chief Consolidated and the U.S. subsidiary of Anglo American formed a joint venture to develop the porphyry copper, gold, and molybdenum property in the immediate vicinity of the old Trixie, Burgin, Iron King and Eureka Standard properties. The joint venture was 55 percent Chief ownership, and 45 percent Anglo American. Included in the deal was the sale of Korea Zinc's 25 percent interest in the Burgin mine to the Chief company. (Reuters, September 10, 2008)

In late May 2009, Anglo American withdrew its interest in the Big Hill joint venture, and in August 2010, Rio Tinto's Kennecott Exploration subsidiary took up the same 45 percent interest in the Big Hill project. Exploratory drilling commenced in August 2011.

Andover Ventures (2009-2015)

In March 2009, Canadian company Andover Ventures acquired 65 percent of Chief Consolidated from Genco Resources for about $5 million. The chief asset of Chief Consolidated Mining was 16,000 acres of land near Eureka, Utah, that the company hoped would yield valuable minerals. The company has been working to develop the Burgin Mine (silver, plus lead and zinc) and the Trixie Mine (gold, silver, and copper). Environmental cleanup obligations associated with earlier mining operations on the property have delayed the company's progress.

By 2010, Andover's primary assets were the SUN project in Alaska, regarded as one of the largest undeveloped copper/zinc deposits in the world, and its 65 percent controlling stake in Chief Consolidated.

Andover and Genco Resources disagreed on the final payment that Andover owed on the Chief Consolidated purchase. The amount was settled in September 2010, with Andover paying the final amount of $4 million instead of the original $5 million.

In an associated settlement, Andover was able to get its obligation to the federal EPA for mitigation of contaminated soils on property owned by Andover but on formerly mines land of Chief Consolidated in and around the town of Eureka, Utah. The original consent decree amount was $60 million, which was reduced to $1.125 million, to be paid over five years.

October 22, 2012
Andover Mining Corporation announced today that Chief Consolidated Mining Company, approximately 83.5 percent owned by Andover, had agreed to enter into a joint venture with the Enirgi Group Corporation to develop and operate the Burgin mine (silver-lead-zinc) located on a part of Chief's land holdings in the East Tintic Mining District, Utah. Enirgi would provide the financing for a feasibility study, and following the study, production from the mine. Following the study and arrangement of project financing for the mine and facilities development, Enirgi would earn 51 percent in the Burgin Complex. Chief would retain 49 percent. (NASDAQ, October 22, 2012)

By July 2013, Andover held 83.5 percent ownership of Chief Consolidated, and its associated subsidiaries.

February 12, 2014
Andover Mining Corp. filed a notice of intention to reorganize on August 22, 2013 and was deemed bankrupt on February 12, 2014, under the provisions of Canada's Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. After a number of extensions were granted by the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the company filed a proposal with its creditors on January 22, 2014. On February 12, 2014, the proposal failed because it did not receive the required creditor approval. As a result, the company was deemed bankrupt, and the company's assets will be liquidated. (Stockwatch.com, February 13, 2014)

(In 2007 Andover Mining Corp. had also purchased potential mining properties in northern Alaska, near the town of Ambler, Alaska. The company had built a camp and a 1,700-feet landing strip, since air was the only access to the property.)

January 13, 2015
The bankruptcy assets of Andover were sold to its partner in the Chief Consolidated joint venture, Enirgi Group, after the sales and purchase agreement was signed on December 4, 2014. (Documents on file with Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining)

LeadFX (2015-2018)

August 31, 2015
The following was extracted from a LeadFX press release dated August 31, 2015.

The Chief properties include patented and unpatented mining claims that hold prospective subsurface lead, silver, zinc, copper and gold deposits, and prospective surface industrial minerals such as silica, limestone, clays, calcium carbonate and iron ore, along with aggregates (sand and gravel).

Chief currently has no active mining operations. Chief's near-term commercial focus is to develop the at-surface industrial minerals and aggregates deposits potential of its properties with a medium to longer term focus on developing base and precious metal mining from its other properties.

The Burgin Mine is located in the East Tintic Mining District, Utah, about 60 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah. The Burgin Mine has not been in operation since 1978. Among other things, any plan to re-start the Burgin Mine would be subject to significant capital investment to dewater the Burgin Mine. The Trixie Mine is located approximately 1.5 miles from the Burgin Mine's concentrating mill. The Trixie Mine is a gold-silver mine and was in production from late 2001 until closure in March 2002 due to unstable mining conditions. The Trixie Mine has not operated since 2002.

November 13, 2015
Enirgi Group bought controlling interest in LeadFX, the new company formed by the consolidation of the former Invernia, Inc., and GeoZone Exploration, Ltd. At the time of the consolidation, GeoZone owned 83.5 percent of Chief Consolidated Mining Co., which owned 14,112 acres of land (including approximately 13,166 acres of patented mining claims) in the East Tintic Mining District in Utah County and Juab County, Utah, USA.

November 20, 2017
LeadFX announced on November 20, 2017, from its headquarters in Perth, Australia, of potential activity at its Burgin mine at Tintic.

North American lead assets. -- The Company has a majority ownership position in Chief Consolidated Mining Company, and Chief owns mining properties in the State of Utah, United States. Chief has entered into an agreement with the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining to extend the mining permits on properties owned by Chief and associated with the historic Burgin mines in the Tintic District in Utah. LeadFX has received expressions of interest from a number of parties to participate in the future development plans for the properties. In the week beginning November 6, 2017 the Company hosted some of these parties on site as they undertook initial due diligence.

LeadFX is an Australian based mining company focused on the development of its lead and lead-silver projects located in Australia and North America. The Company's primary undertaking is the Paroo Station lead mine. The Paroo Station lead mine is located 30km west of the town of Wiluna in Western Australia. The Company also owns an 83.5 percent interest in the Burgin mines and surrounding land claims in the Tintic mining district 60 miles south-east of Salt Lake City, Utah and exploration interests in the Amber Mineral belt in Alaska.

July 30, 2018
"LeadFX Inc. today announced it has agreed to sell its indirect equity and debt interests in Chief Consolidated Mining Company. Chief owns approximately 14,000 acres of land, of which approximately 13,000 acres are patented mining claims, in the Main Tintic and East Tintic Mining District, located across Utah County and Juab County, Utah. The Chief properties contain three potential primary mineral projects: (1) the prospective lead, silver, gold and zinc deposits and related infrastructure surrounding the former operating Burgin Mine; (2) the prospective gold and silver deposit and related infrastructure surrounding the former operating Trixie Mine; and (3) the prospective mining or quarrying of industrial minerals and aggregates (namely, silica and limestone). The Company's interests are being sold to 100 percent-owned subsidiaries of Riverfield Capital, a mining, investment and capital markets business operated by Mr. Geoff Stanley." (LeadFX press release dated July 30, 2018)

Riverfield Capital was a mining, investment and capital markets business operated by Geoff Stanley. Stanley had over 30 years experience in the financial and investment side of the mining industry. He had assembled a team of mining, corporate and legal practitioners to promote and develop the Chief properties. The reported purchase price was $4.5 million with $3.0 million is due at closing and a further $1.5 million, subject to adjustments, due 12 months after closing.

October 3, 2018
The sale of Chief Consolidated to Riverfield Capital followed a decision on October 3, 2018 by LeadFX shareholders to take the company private. The sale was to be for $3.5 million, part paid on December 5, 2018, and part paid on December 5, 2019.

On December 5, 2018, the cash price was reduced to $1 million, with $2 million due on February 28, 2019, and a final $1.5 million due on December 5, 2019.

Tintic Utah Metals (2021-2022)

April 6, 2021
As of April 6, 2021, the Trixie, Eureka Standard, and North Lily mines were being reopened by the newly organized Tintic Metals LLC, a joint venture of IG Tintic LLC (75 percent owner-operator) with minority partner Chief Consolidated Mining Company (25 percent). (Tintic Metals LLC; broken link: https://www.tinticmetals.com)

IG Tintic LLC is a U. S. affiliate of larger international IG Global Group. (Tintic Metals LLC; broken link: https://www.tinticmetals.com)

January 25, 2022
"Osisko Development Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Chief Consolidated Mining Company Inc. from Riverfield Capital Limited and others on January 25, 2022. In a related transaction, Osisko Development Corp. also entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 75 percent stake in Tintic Utah Metals LLC from IG Tintic LLC on January 25, 2022. Pursuant to the terms of the transaction, Osisko Development would acquire 100 percent of Tintic Utah Metals LLC through the purchase of IG Tintic's direct 75 percent ownership in Tintic; and purchase of all issued and outstanding stock of Chief Consolidated Mining Company from Riverfield Capital Limited and other stockholders of Chief Consolidated for aggregate payments at closing totaling approximately $177 million, of which approximately $54 million will be paid in cash." (Osisko Development press release dated January 24, 2022)

With this acquisition, Osisko would gain ownership of the fully permitted and producing Trixie Mine, as well as mineral claims that cover more than 17,000 acres in Central Utah’s historic Tintic Mining District. Osisko Development is a North American gold mining company mainly focused on developing a mine in Canada.

Osisko Development Corp. acquired 100 percent of Tintic Utah Metals to gain ownership of the fully permitted and producing Trixie Mine, along with significant mineral claims. The Tintic Mining District is historically known for its silver, lead, gold, copper, and arsenic deposits.

Tintic Consolidated Metals (2022)

May 30, 2022
Osisko Development Corp. announced that it had acquired 100 percent of Tintic Consolidated Metals (TCM) from IG Tintic LLC and Chief Consolidated Mining Company.

The purchase was finalized on May 31, 2022. At the time of the sale, Tintic Utah Metals LLC was changed to Tintic Consolidated Metals LLC.

TCM is held 100 percent by Osisko Utah LLC, a Delaware LLC 100 percent owned by Osisko Development Corp. Osisko Development completed its acquisition of TCM and its East Tintic properties on May 27, 2022.

TCM holds the mineral rights to a consolidated land package of approximately 17,000 acres, including over 14,200 acres of which are patented mining claims in the East Tintic mining District spanning Juab County and Utah County near the town of Eureka, Utah. There are 23 past-producing mines on the property that operated predominantly between 1906 until the late 1940s. More recently the Burgin mine operated until 1978 and the Trixie mine between 1968 to 1993, before a short re-start between 2001-2002. No mining activity has been conducted since 2002 prior to the restart of the Trixie mine by TCM in 2020.

May 11, 2023
Tintic Consolidated Metals LLC received a special tax credit from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity. The tax credit was intended to bring relief to companies in Utah's rural areas to encourage job growth. At the time, Tintic Consolidated Metals LLC was shown as a subsidiary of Osisko Development Corp., a leading Canadian-based gold mining company focused on developing its 100 percent-owned Tintic project located in Utah County and Juab County, a historically dormant mine in rural Utah located 60 miles south of Salt Lake City.

The Tintic property consists of more than 17,000 acres of mining claims located in a classic porphyry geologic formation that has in the past hosted 23 mines producing gold, silver, lead, zinc and a wide variety of lesser metals, including the past-producing Trixie mine, Burgin mine and Eureka Standard mine.

More Information

Tintic -- An article about the history of railroads and mining in Tintic.

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