The MBMM Gold Mine
The MBMM Gold Mine
Jason and Steve Gaber currently lease a previously-operating gold mine. This is a perfect compliment to their MBMM manufacturing business and continues the long-running Gaber family interest in this particular mine, located in some of the most rugged and spectacularly beautiful mountains of Washington state.
The Gaber’s fascination with the mine began in 1980 when Steve Gaber, then a young, single man open to adventure, joined a group of equally enthusiastic partners to lease and re-open the mine. He acquired his blaster’s license and was the engineering vice president of the company. Over a period of three summers, the company drilled and blasted a high pass, 4WD, 1.4 mile long road all the way to the mine site. Less than a ton of ore was produced before the group ran out of enthusiasm and funding, and disbanded in 1983. Fast forward 20 years when Steve took his 17-year old son, Jason, for a hike to the mine, which lit his interest in mining and geology. For the early 2000’s, Jason worked at the mine as an underground miner under the mentorship of a rugged, veteran miner and learned the specialty skills it takes to run a successful small scale, hard-rock mining operation. Now, coming full circle 40 years later, the Gabers are again actively invested in the lease and operation of the mine.
The mine was discovered in 1897 and was a producing mine until World War II. The old-timers hauled machinery and supplies via horse trail over a treacherous seven mile long trail to reach the mine. Initially working with single-jack bits and black powder, they produced the gold-rich ore that was processed on-site. Larger machinery was later skidded up and down mountainsides and rock faces with a steam donkey to reach the mine. Over its lifetime, a hydropower plant and sawmill, along with a stamp mill and various ore-processing machinery, were installed and abandoned. Calamities such as avalanches, fires, murders and bankruptcy were all part of the history of the mine. Multiple attempts were made to re-open the mine after the War, but all failed until a group of loggers and road builders began producing commercial quantities of ore in 1992. They shut down for good in 2008.
