Financing
Finance the Zenith Gold #2 Lode claim with 1,600 USD down and 110.47 USD per month for 24 months.  No early pre-payment penalties, hidden fees, or credit checks.

Overview
The Zenith Gold #2 Lode Claim is an Unpatented Lode Claim located outside of Chloride, New Mexico within the famous Black Range Geological District.  

Featuring a tailings pile and declined shaft cut into a well know vein structure in Chloride Canyon.  This mine produces primarily gold and silver.  

Although this mine is not as large as some of the other mines in the area it is certainly perfect for a smaller miner on a budget.  

History
The Zenith Gold #2 Lode Claim has very little history surround the claim and mine workings itself.  The mine looks like it has been abandoned since the early 1940's, more than likely shut down due to the war act.  

There are numerous lode and placer mines in the direct vicinity of the Zenith Gold #2 including patented acreage.  A significant amount of mining took place during the boom days that made the town of Chloride, New Mexico.  The area was prospected and developed heavily for Gold, Silver, Copper, and lead.  The area is known for Silver Chloride specimens that not surprisingly gave the town its name.

The veins structures found in the Chloride valley all strike primarily Northwest and typically dip steeply.  The vein characteristics are known to pinch and swell significantly in width between the footwall and hanging wall.

Assay results for this particular mine returned excellent gold values and area/vein specific average silver values.  There are approximately 100 tons of millable ore sitting on the surface adjacent to the declined shaft entrance.  The surface ore is usually the first ore processed by the buyer as it's already on the surface and the size of the raw ore is compatible with small hammer mills and jaw crushers; helping the buyer make the initial investment back while cash flowing into more of the underground mine development.

Decline shafts are not very common in this part of New Mexico.  Typically, lode development is predominately shaft based and occasionally adit based.  Personally, I am a fan of the decline shafts as opposed to vertical shafts due to the ease of ingress and egress and the ease of ore skip building on a decline shaft is fast and cost efficient for a small operator.

A large majority of the deeper decline shaft has been filled with the waste rock surrounding the entrance of the decline due to weathering and erosion of the surface exposed rock.  Beyond high grading the pre existing surface materials the second step would be to develop a decline ore haulage system and begin the mucking out and rehabbing of the decline into the in-situ ore body beneath.

Camping
Camping is Allowed on the claim for up to 14 days at a time.

Access
The Zenith Gold #2 Lode Claim is located approximately 6.5 miles west of Chloride New Mexico via Wall Street RD.  The physical mine location is located on the North side of the canyon West of the trail.  The shortest road in is via Wall Street RD from Chloride and 4WD or an ATV is definitely recommeded as I work in this valley multiple times per year and the road conditions are constantly changing and rarely maintained by the Forest Service.  There is a longer and more remote access route to the claim that provides access from the North.  The claim is located off of the main Chloride Canyon drainage and a footpath/crude ATV spur trail are needed to access the physical workings of the claim via a rough tributary drainage.

Ore Sample Pictures