New gold rush for Irish mine in Montana

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An old shot of Drumlummon mine

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A gold mine founded by Irish emigrants in Montana has been found to contain vast new veins of gold, leading to a new gold rush for the remote area.

Drumlummon mine near Helena, Montana was discovered by Irish emigrant Thomas Cruse, who named it after the little town in Leitrim he left behind.

Cruse became very wealthy and would ride through town every morning on a white horse on his way to the local saloon to drink a glass of whiskey.

Now the ghost town is about to go through a massive revival, but many of the Irish descendants in the area are not happy because of what that will mean to the rural area.

A Canadian company, RX Explorations took over the old mine four years ago and, using old maps, have discovered a new mother lode that they say is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But the massive mine exploration will cause huge upheaval in the local town and residents have mixed views.

 “They say that history repeats itself,” said Shauna Simpson. “I say, ‘Let it.’”

Sam Long, a retiree, disagrees.

“I think the water around here will eventually be a problem — I don’t care what they say,”  Long, 67, told The New York Times  “I wouldn’t have come here if this was in operation.”

For Deb O’Connell, 57, the matter is personal.

Her great-grandfather, Richard O’Connell, came from Drumlummon in Leitrim.

Cruse sent word back to locals in Leitrim that he had struck it rich. Her great-grandfather caught the bug too.

“He mined here until we were starving, then sold cars the rest of his life,” she said.

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