Gallatin Corundum Deposit (Montana Curundum; Fuller-Old Corundum), Gallatin Co., Montana, USA

The Gallatin Corundum mine is located in sections 22 and 23 in T3S, R3E on Elk Creek about five air miles south of the Bozeman deposit. The mine was first worked in 1901 through 1903. The mine produced 350 tons of corundum concentrates from a 2,100 pound per day rated mill at the mine. However, the mine failed to show a profit and was closed. The mine was idle until 1943 when the U. S. Bureau of Mines did some exploratory work. The mine was then purchased by the American Abrasives Company. In 1944-1945 part of the mine was explored by the Industrial Minerals Corporation. The mine was again explored in 1945 by the Metal Reserve Company for the purpose of milling a test lot of the ore. Test showed that a majority of the corundum could not be used for grinding wheels as was proposed (Heinrich 1948; Clabaugh and Armstrong 1951).

The mine was explored for a length of nearly a mile and a width of 400 feet. The southwest end is developed by the Sunset shaft which has short drifts in two directions and four trenches. The central portion contains the Elk Adit which has drifts and crosscuts that extend 350 feet to the southwest. Across Elk Creek are three adits and four trenches. The northeastern group has the Bureau of Mines shaft which was 100 feet deep and has 109 feet of drifts. The collapsed Montana shaft is nearby; this shaft had levels at 40 and 65 feet. The lowest level extended 200 feet west and connects to an open-air raise. In all the mine was said to have about 1,900 feet of excavations (Heinrich 1948; Clabaugh and Armstrong 1951).

The Gallatin Corundum mine has also been referred to as the Montana mine, the Fuller Corundum mine, and the Industrial Minerals Corp. property. The term Elk Creek deposits is also widely used (Clabaugh and Armstrong 1951).

References:
Abandoned Mine Reclamation Bureau (AMRB) 1994. Mining districts of Montana. Maps 1:100,000 and Map #94-NRIS-129. Compiled and edited by Joel Chavez. Prepared by Montana State Library Natural Resource Information System (NRIS) for Montana Department of State Lands. Helena

Clabaugh, S. E. and Armstrong, F. C. 1951. Corundum Deposits of Gallatin and Madison Counties, Montana, Contributions to Economic Geology 1949-50. U. S. Geological Society, Bulletin 969.

Heinrich, W. E. 1948. Pegmatite Mineral Deposits in Montana, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Memoir 28.

U.S. BUR. MINES 1947. RI 4113, 9 P.

U.S. BUR. MINES 1951. IC 7607, P. 12-13.