Goldstrike Mine

The Goldstrike Mine district is located in Washington County, Utah, at an elevation of 5,000 feet. This route easily travels across a wide-open desert, down through a scenic canyon, and up to the sprawling mine district. In addition, there are a couple of accessible, large open-pit mines that border the trail. Thus, you can get right up close to what once was one of the largest gold mining operations in southern Utah. According to published project documents, the Goldstrike district was first explored in the late 1800s. During these early years, the production peaked in the area around 1910 before eventually closing down. The district sat idle until the 1970s when there was renewed interest in the area. Widespread exploration started with roughly 1500 drill holes, creating an extensive road network being built. The former Goldstrike open-pit heap leach gold mine was developed and mined by Tenneco Minerals Company from 1988 to 1993. Then was sold to USMX of Utah Inc. USMX operation was the largest yet, encompassing 11 pits, four mine dumps, a crushing plant, a heap leach facility, a carbon recovery plant, smelting facility, and an alkaline chlorination facility. Finally, the mine was closed, and they finished reclamation work in 1996. The last info published on the area states: In October 2018, the company Liberty Gold raised $11.6 million in bought-deal financing that will be used to explore and once again develop Goldstrike.