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Lost Mines of Arizona
From The Mineralogical Record, Volume 14, No. 5, September-October, 1983: “The mountains and plains of Arizona are vast, complex, well mineralized and largely uninhabited even today. No one would dare to suggest that Arizona has given up all its secrets, and that no deposits or mineral occurrences remain to be found…” Continue Reading
Native Gold From the Jamestown Mine
From The Mineralogical Record, volume 25, January-February, 1994: “On December 26, 1992, owners of the Jamestown mine in Tuolumne County, California, received an unexpected Christmas present. Excavation in the company’s Crystalline pit revealed a ‘pocket’ of crystalline leaf gold. Approximately 1,568 ounces of specimen gold were collected in all. The largest piece, weighing in at 25.79 kg (69 troy pounds), ranks as one of the largest specimens of gold ever found in California, or the nation.” Continue Reading
Arequa Gulch: A Long Gone Town in Colorado
Long ago, before the mine and before the bridge, Arequa was one of 25 towns once located in the Cripple Creek District. Arequa was not only the oldest community in the area, but also played an essential part in the formation of the district and the gold boom of 1891. Continue Reading
Barry, Colorado: An Early Town in the Cripple Creek District
Following the discovery of gold in the Cripple Creek district, many mining communities were formed in the early 1890s. The town of Barry was one of the first, but it was soon swallowed up by its expanding neighbor. Continue Reading
Cache Creek, Colorado – An Early Placer Mining Camp
Cache Creek was an important early placer mining camp in Colorado’s Arkansas Valley. Horace Tabor lived here before later becoming one of Colorado’s richest mining tycoons at nearby Leadville. Continue Reading
Little Girl Lost: The Story of Colorado’s Silver Dollar Tabor
How does it feel to go from unimaginable wealth to equally unimaginable poverty? In the Tabor family, youngest daughter “Silver Dollar” clearly knew, and was most affected. Continue Reading
An Ode to Elkton, Colorado
Author Jan MacKell Collins describes her fondness for the mining town of Elkton, Colorado. “Being there somehow made me feel at home, and I slowly but surely fell in love with that old ghost town.” Continue Reading
Mining in the Black Hills
“Mining in the Black Hills” provides an overview of the geography and history of mining and mining communities in the Black Hills. Included are historic and modern maps of the mining towns and districts of this famous mining region. Continue Reading
User Contributed Photos – 1930s Goldroad, Arizona
This collection of 1930s photos of the Goldroad Mine in Arizona was contributed by a family member of the man that once served as the superintendent of the Goldroad mill. The photos have been restored by Western Mining History. Continue Reading
Cripple Creek “The World’s Greatest Gold Camp”
“So thickly were the hillsides and gulches studded with homes, than one can easily say that the Cripple Creek district is one great city, covering thirty-six square miles.” Cripple Creek – “The World’s Greatest Gold Camp” uses selected text from a 1903 special edition of the Cripple Creek Times, and over 50 images from various sources to illustrate the importance and magnitude of Cripple Creek during the district’s peak years. Continue Reading
