Fourteen years after its closure in 2008, the Montana Tunnels mine near Jefferson City is taking steps that could position it for a reopening, and plans submitted to the state by the company target a resumption of mining this fall.
The mine, which produced gold, silver, zinc and lead and once employed up to 250 people, was nearly seized by Jefferson County on a tax deed late last year, at which point the mine, owned by Patrick Imeson, owed the county about $9 million in a variety of unpaid taxes, including about $4.9 million in delinquent property taxes. But Goldfield Funding Partners LLC paid the county $5.175 million “for the assignment of the tax lien certificate from the county to them” just ahead of a Dec. 2 deadline, County Treasurer Terri Kunz told The Monitor at the time.
Goldfield Funding Partners LLC was incorporated on Sept. 28, 2021, and lists Imeson as the company’s founder and registered agent. Imeson is also listed as the chairman and CEO of Eastern Resources Inc., the managing director and CEO of the Black Diamond Financial Group LLC, the manager of the Black Diamond Holdings LLC and the interim chief restructuring officer of the Rackwise Inc. Imeson said he could not comment at this time.
