The center of a rich mining district extends from Butte to Helena, where the mountains are spurs of the Continental Divide and ghost and active mining camps are found in almost every gulch. The ores yield gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc. The district has been productive since quartz mining came into favor following the first wave of placer mining in the 60s. In those days placer deposits were the poor man's El Dorados, needing little more than a grub stake and a pick and shovel to work them. Quartz properties, seldom rich at the surface, required machinery and capital, transportation and smelting facilities.