Hollis Gold Mine, Hollis, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, USAi

Regional Level Types
Hollis Gold Mine	Mine
Hollis	- not defined -
Hillsborough County	County
New Hampshire	State
USA	Country

There is a arsenic (arsenopyrite) mine in Hollis, NH that has small amounts of gold, silver. Although the town historian and the new owners knew about it, only Steve Stillman (this author) has been known to dig in it. The condition it was found in was a 8 foot deep pit with 2 more other depression one foot deep trending off to the SW. There was milky quartz on the NE ledge side of the pit. There were mounds of tailings surrounding all pits out 6 feet around. There was a wagon access trending North made of raised rubble. The whole area was 6 inch hardwood trees but open and generally flat but not flat enough for vehicles. I dug the pit out to clean it out and try to get some of the arsenopyrite. In 1974 just before college, I worked for a couple of hours to find 3 chunks (pics posted here) totaling 1700 gram or 3.7 pounds that had 25% arsenopyrite and 75% milky quarts. I never dug again but visited it up to 1979 when it was subdivided for housing and sold. If I remember correctly, only 10% of the tailings were milky quarts and the rest shale like that of the entire region. The shale made nice skipping stones and would have been good for roofs and found in all the ledge for miles around looking like pages of a ratty book on east facing ledges and all tilted down to the west about 20 degrees. I had never seen any quartz veins in all my youth hiking that area, so the mine was quite a rare vein. There were only a rare rounded glacial eratic of 5 foot known but any stone walls, and they are rare, used up any smaller glacial rounded stones.

A new owner might have built a driveway over the mine from the looks of aerial photos in 2002. An aerial photo of 1962 does not give any indication of it. My best guess at the location is 42.764312, -71.566358 by max zoom into the google contour map and then viewing satelite view while looking at the lot deed. The elevation here is 350'. If the mine is a little bit further south it is at 42.763871, -71.566057.

At the time of finding these rocks I was already trying my hand at panning, using magnets to separate magnetite sand from the red garnet sand, collecting rocks from the tops of several NH mountains I hiked with the Boy Scouts and buying minerals at Stiles antiques store (beryl, smokey quarts, rose quarts). I began serious mineral collecting from 1993 to 1995. My collection was so complete I began to refine it after that. I specialized in minerals that span the range of metals. I also have a 42 industrial metals in a collection that few mineral collectors are much interested in.

Text of the report from Henry Hildreth 1969
to Stephen L. Stillman Jr.
144 Wheeler Rd.
Hollis, NH 03060
(just moved into old farmhouse in 1968 on 30 acres)

[handwriting] Thought you folks would be interested in this article. Henry Hildreth
[typed] November 30 1900
GOLD DISCOVERED IN HOLLIS

Gold has been discovered in the old silver mine on the farm of John Corliss formerly owned by George T. Patch. Several different parties from out of town have looked the ground over within the past few months and specimens have been sent to be assayed. One resulted in finding gold to reach the average of $14. to the ton. Metalic arsenic has been found very plentiful, this is valued at 75 cents per pound in crude form. There are also deposits of silver, copper, galena and iron. The gold taken out was found less than three feet from the surface. There is talk of forming a stock company to work this property. Mr. Corliss is willing to lease the territory and allow interested parties to make tests. The vein of minerals runs from north-west to south-east and extends over adjoining farms the owners of which have already been asked to set a price upon their land.

Silver was taken from this mine about 1770 and a small lot sent across the water to England for which $50. in gold was recieved by the sender also the advice to keep on digging. The advice was followed and about 50 large kegs were shipped just previous to the Revolutionary War, this was never heard from and the mine was abaondoned. Several attemps have been made since for silver ore but not to any great success.

Copied from the Hollis Times, Novembe
Published by James C. Hildreth, Hollis
[end]

note; -the above says Corliss was willing to lease. If you look at the property lot Stillman bought in 1968 there is a triangle of land at the upper right enclosing the mine for the purpose of defining the lease.
-other farms had been asked to sell their land indicating that the testing parties thought the vein ran for 1000's of feet.
-The kegs that were lost were more likely heisted by the processor than lost at sea given the timing of the coming war and past strife such as the Stamp act riots of 1765, the Boston massacre of 1770, the Tea Party of 1773, and the "punish the colony" Act and blockade of Boston Harbor of 1774. News flowed well enough that a ship sinking would have been relayed back.
-Stillman's son at age 17 in 1974 panned a few places where sand was found in the steam crossing Wheeler Rd at the farm with no specs of gold found. Sand was not tested across the region in ravines.
-Stillman's son (this author, Steve Stillman III) has the original paper letter and a scan.

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References