Silver mining in Colorado facts for kids
Silver mining has been an important part of Colorado's history since the 1860s. Colorado used to be known as the Silver State because of all the silver found there. (Even though Nevada also uses that name, Idaho actually produces the most silver in the United States today!)
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Early Silver Discoveries
Central City-Idaho Springs Area
Silver was found in the Central City and Idaho Springs area soon after gold was discovered there in 1859. However, miners couldn't really dig up the silver until special factories called smelters were built in the late 1860s. These smelters helped separate the silver from other rocks.
Montezuma and Argentine Districts
The very first silver discovery in Colorado happened near Montezuma in 1864. This exciting find led to more silver discoveries in the Montezuma area. One of these was at Saints John. The discovery at Montezuma also led to finding silver at the Belmont lode in the Argentine district, which is close by.
Georgetown-Silver Plume District
Gold was first found near Georgetown in 1859. But silver, which became the main mineral from this area, wasn't discovered until 1864.
John Henry Bowman was an important person in the silver mining here. He worked as a foreman at a sampling plant and later became the superintendent of the American Sisters Mine. This mine was a combination of two silver mines on Columbia Mountain. John and his wife built a house in Georgetown that is now a historical site.
His daughter, Mellie, later inherited part of the mine. Her husband, John James White, Sr., bought the rest of the mine's shares. He helped build a dam and power plant for the mine. He also worked as a lawyer and was the Mayor of Georgetown for a time. The Bowman-White House is still a historical landmark in Georgetown today.
Major Silver Mining Towns
Leadville: Colorado's Silver King
Even with earlier finds, Colorado's biggest silver area, Leadville, wasn't discovered until 1874. Leadville became the largest silver-producing district in all of Colorado. Over the years, it produced huge amounts of silver. It also produced gold, lead, zinc, and copper.
Aspen: A Silver Mountain Town
In 1879, people looking for another big silver find like Leadville came to the Aspen area. They found silver ore on Aspen Mountain. At first, not much silver was mined. But when the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad reached Aspen in 1887, it became much easier and cheaper to send the silver ore to smelters.
The silver ore was found in certain types of rock layers. The main minerals found were galena, sphalerite, and even pure native silver. In the beginning, almost all the mining was for silver. But after 1900, lead and zinc also became very valuable. Big mining operations continued in Aspen until 1952.
Gilman: From Silver to Zinc
Silver was found in the Gilman mining district around 1878 or 1879. As miners dug deeper, they found that the silver ore had a lot of zinc in it. At first, smelters didn't want this kind of ore.
But in 1905, special machines were installed to separate the zinc from the other minerals. This turned the problem into a good thing! The mining in Gilman started to focus more on zinc. Even so, the Eagle Mine in Gilman was still the top silver producer in Colorado in 1930.
The New Jersey Zinc Company bought most of the mines and even the whole town of Gilman. Zinc was the main product until 1931. When zinc prices dropped, the company switched to mining copper and silver instead. Zinc mining started again in 1941 and remained the main product until the mines closed in the 1980s.
Creede: A Late Bloomer
The Creede district was discovered in 1887. But it didn't become a major silver producer until 1891. The silver ore in Creede is found in veins along cracks in the earth. It's also found in certain rock layers.
The minerals found here include sphalerite, galena, acanthite, native silver, pyrite, and chalcopyrite. Creede produced a lot of silver, gold, lead, and zinc over the years.
Silver Today in Colorado
Today, the biggest source of silver in Colorado comes as a side product from gold mining. This happens at the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine. This is a very large open-pit mine near Victor, Colorado, owned by Newmont Mining Corporation. In 2006, this mine produced a good amount of silver along with its gold.
