Cresson Mine (new surface mine)

Site Name

Primary: Cresson Mine (new surface mine)
Secondary: see also MAS ID# 0081190018, historic underground Cresson Mine
Secondary: Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co. Mine
Secondary: Cresson, South Cresson, Upper Cresson-Wildhorse, and East Cresson-Altman mines operating in 2006

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver

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Location

State: Colorado
County: Teller
District: Cripple Creek District

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Land Status

Land ownership: Private
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.

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Holdings

Type: Located Claim
Type: Patented

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Workings

Type: Surface

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Ownership

Owner Name: Texasgulf Minerals And Metals Co. (Tg)
Info Year: 1997
Years: 1976 - 1989

Owner Name: Pikes Peak Mining Co. (Sub Nerco Minerals Co.)
Company ID: 503695
Home Office: Colorado
Info Year: 1997
Years: 1989 - 1993

Owner Name: Cripple Creek And Victor Gold Mining Co. (Cc And V)
Home Office: Colorado
Info Year: 1997

Owner Name: Golden Cycle Gold Corp.
Percent: 33.00
Home Office: Colorado
Info Year: 1997
Years: 1900 -

Owner Name: Pikes Peak Mining Co. (Sub Independence Mining Co. Inc.)
Percent: 67.00
Home Office: Colorado
Info Year: 1997
Years: 1993 -

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Production

Year: 2005
Mined: 19684000.000 mt
Material type: budget ore mined
Year: 2004
Mined: 20020877.880 mt
Material type: ore mined
Year: 2003
Mined: 16833930.010 mt
Material type: ore mined
Year: 2002
Mined: 15365502.630 mt
Material type: ore mined
Year: 2001
Mined: 11318300.000 mt
Material type: ore mined
Description: Gold 1533 Kilograms
Year: 2000
Mined: 11121460.000 mt
Material type: ore mined
Description: Gold 1788 Kg Projected
Year: 1999
Mined: 11087013.000 mt
Material type: ore mined
Description: Gold 483 Kilograms
Year: 1998
Mined: 10757306.000 mt
Material type: ore mined
Description: Gold 404 Kilograms
Year: 1997
Mined: 9928534.800 mt
Material type: ore mined
Description: Gold 311 Kilograms
Year: 1996
Mined: 9522941.050 mt
Material type: ore mined
Description: Gold 187 Kilograms
Year: 1995
Mined: 7877908.820 mt
Material type: ore mined
Description: Gold Dore Bar-Ore Is 2.06 Gm/Mt Gold 248 Kilograms

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Plant Type: Leach
Plant Subtype: Hydromet
Operation Type: Surface
Mining Method: Open Pit
Milling Method: Heap Leach-Carbon Column-Merrill-Crowe
Year First Production: 1892
Discovery Year: 1890
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y

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Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Southern Rocky Mountains

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Alkaline Au-Te (Au-Ag-Te veins)

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Not available

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Calaverite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Gold
Gangue: Adularia
Gangue: Celestite
Gangue: Chalcedony
Gangue: Chrysocolla
Gangue: Fluorite
Gangue: Hematite
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Marcasite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Rutile
Gangue: Wad
Trace: Galena
Trace: Tetrahedrite

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Comments

Comment (Reserve-Resource): At the end of 2004, ore reserves were estimated at 134,299,000 tons containing 3,877,815 tr. oz. of gold ( 2,374,467 tr. oz. recoverable) at an average grade of 0.029 tr. oz./ton.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): 1994 UPDATE: 1,788,000 MTS ORE MINED AND PLACED ON LEACH PADS FROM 2 PITS, THE IRONCLAD AND GLOBE HILL WITH AVERAGE GOLD GRADES OF 1.43 G/MT . (GOLDEN CYCLE GOLD CORP SEC FORM 10-K REPORT, 12/31/93, P. 4.) RESERVES FROM SEC FORM 10-K REPORT, P. 8.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Q-MATRIX 1 CONTAINS THE RESERVE FIGURE FOR THE ORE WHICH IS CURRENTLY BEING MINED AT THE IRONCLAD AND GLOBEHILL MINES. M2C1=M9C5; Q-MATRIX 2 CONTAINS THE RESERVE FIGURE FOR THE PROPOSED CRESSON MINE WHICH WILL COME ON LINE IN 1995. M3C1=M9C6; Q-MATRIX 3 CONTAINS THE RESERVES FOR THE WILD HORSE DEPOSIT THAT WILL PROBABLEY BE DEVELOPED IN THE FUTURE. M4C1=M9C7; Q MATRIX 4 CONTAINS THE RESERVE FIGURE FOR VARIOUS OTHER DEPOSITS THAT COULD BE DEVELOPED IN THE FUTURE.

Comment (Production): Production began in 1995, and more than 2.6 million oz. of gold had been produced by the end of 2005.

Comment (Production): PRODUCT RECORD A REFERS TO THE VICTOR PLANT THAT IS CURRENTLY OPERATING. PRODUCT RECORD B REFERS TO THE FUTURE RECOVERY PLANT FOR THE CRESSON DEPOSIT.

Comment (Production): THE RECOVERY GIVEN IS AN AVERAGE. RECOVERIES RANGE FROM 50 TO 80%. SILVER IS RECOVERED AT ABOUT THE SAME RATE AS GOLD, BUT THE RECOVERY FOR SILVER IS NOT GENERALLY DETERMINED. THEREFORE THE SAME RECOVERY HAS BEEN ASSUMED FOR SILVER. THE DORE GRADES ARE ESTIMATES BUT VARY CONSIDERABLY. DORE GRADES RANGE FROM 60 TO 75% AU AND 25 TO 40% AG.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): At the end of 2005, ore reserves were 119,100,000 metric tonnes containing 102.7 metric tonnes of gold (131,300,000 tons containing 3,300,000 tr. oz. of gold) at an average grade of 0.85 grams/metric tonne (0.029 tr. oz./ton).

Comment (Geology): Lying wholly within the fragmental and intrusive rocks of the Cripple Creek volcanic complex, the mine is characterized by a pipe-like basaltic breccia mass known as the Cresson blowout. Ore occurs as broad zones of low-grade disseminated native gold with pyrite and potassium alteration, with hydrous iron and manganese oxides, or as gold-silver tellurides in narrow quartz-fluorite fractures.

Comment (Location): Near the head of Eclipse Gulch between Raven Hill and Battle Mtn., about 2 miles SE of Cripple Creek, centered in the SW/4 sec. 20, T 15 S, R 69 W.

Comment (Deposit): THE INFORMATION IN THE LITHOLOGY, MINERALS, AND GEOMETRY DATA SETS GENERALLY APPLIES TO BOTH THE CURRENT DEPOSITS BEING MINED AND THE CRESSON DEPOSIT. THE OREBODY DIMENSIONS ARE FOR THE CRESSON DEPOSIT.

Comment (Development): The Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co. joint venture began design of the project in 1992 and commenced production in 1995. Expansion of operations has resulted in a surface mine (2006) moving 20 million tons of ore/yr., using shovels, loaders, and trucks, and a valley-heap cyanide-leach process to recover gold from ore grading about 1 g/ton.

Comment (Economic Factors): DORE IS MAILED TO JOHNSON & MATHEY IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

Comment (Economic Factors): THE GRADE GIVEN FOR SILVER IS AN ESTIMATE BASED ON 1992 PRODUCTION. SILVER IS NOT ASSAYED OR RECOVERY DETERMINED. THE GRADE GIVEN IS CONSISTENT WITH THE HISTORICAL AVERAGE.

Comment (Location): LOCATION DATA IN MILS IS FOR THE CARLTON MILL AND MAIN OFFICE. COULD NOT LOCATE CARLTON MILL ON TOPO SHEET; MILS LONGITUDE WAS W1059440, THIS IS INCORRECT; CHECKED USGS CRIPPLE CREEK SO. 7.5 MIN, 1951, REV 1975 TOPO SHEET: FOUND CRESSON MINE PLANT ON SHEET IN SEC 20 NOT SEC 30; CORRECTED LONGITUDE TO W1050845, SECTION #, AND SECTION SUBDIVISION, TO SWSW. 1996: EXPLORATION AND DRILLING CONTINUE ON THE PROPERTY. AU MINERALIZATION HAS BEEN INTERSECTED IN MANY HOLES.

Comment (Names): Companies associated with the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co. joint venture include Golden Cycle Gold Corp., the land and mineral owner, and a series of partners including Texasgulf, Inc., Hecla Mining Co., NERCO Minerals Co., Pikes Peak Mining Co., Independence Mining Co., and, now Anglogold AshantiNA.

Comment (Ownership): Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co., a joint venture of AngloGold Ashanti (Colorado) Corp. (67%) and Golden Cycle Gold Corp. (33%).

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References

Reference (Deposit): Vardiman, D.M., Roy, E., Thornton, D., Nicholson, D., White, D., and Melker, M., 2006, Geology and exploration developments, Cripple Creek mining district, Colorado, USA: Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co., Geology Field Guide, 11 p.

Reference (Geology): PONTIUS, J. A. (EXPLORATION MANAGER) AND R. A. BUTTS (PROJECT GEOLOGIST). GEOLOGY AND GOLD MINERALIZATION OF THE CRESSON DEPOSIT, CRIPPLE CREEK, CO. PRESENTED AT THE NORTHWEST MINING ASSOCIATION CONVENTION, SPOKANE, WASH. DECEMBER 4-6, 1991.

Reference (Geology): THOMPSON, T. B. MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE CRIPPLE CREEK DISTRICT, COLORADO. COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, PRESENTATION AT THE 1991 SME ANNUAL MEETING, DENVER, CO., 1991.

Reference (Deposit): Jensen, E. P., 2003, Magmatic and hydrothermal evolution of the Cripple Creek gold deposit, Colorado, and comparisons with regional and global magmatic-hydrothermal systems associated with alkaline magmatism: Tucson, AZ, University of Arizona, Ph.D. dissertation, 846 p.

Reference (Deposit): ROCKY MTN PAY DIRT, 9-96, P.10.

Reference (Deposit): Pontius, J. A., and Head, J. A., 1996, Cresson mine: case history of a rapidly evolving mining project: Mining Engineering, Jan. 1996, p. 26-30.

Reference (Deposit): THE MINING RECORD, VOL. 107, #8, FEB. 21, 1996, PP. 1, 4,

Reference (Deposit): THE MINING RECORD, VOL. 108, #5, JAN. 29, 1997, PP. 1, 4,

Reference (Reserve-Resource): GOLDEN CYCLE GOLD CORPORATION, 1995 ANNUAL REPORT, P5.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): GOLDEN CYCLE GOLD CORPORATION, 1996 ANNUAL REPORT, PP. 1-2.

Reference (Production): Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co. corporate info., accessed from internet on 4/13/2006

Reference (Ownership): THE MINING RECORD, VOL. 108, #8, FEB. 21, 1997, PP. 1, 4,

Reference (Deposit): JIM MUNTZERT (GENERAL MANAGER). CRIPPLE CREEK & VICTOR GOLD MINING CO. SITE VISIT, PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS, AND INFORMATION RECEIVED JULY 13, 21, AND 27, 1992 AND AUG. 3, 1992.

Reference (Ownership): THE MINING RECORD, VOL. 108, #5, 01/29/97, PP. 1, 4,

Reference (Reserve-Resource): Golden Cycle Gold Corp. corporate info., accessed from internet on 4/13/2006

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