Mt. Massive
The Arkansas River Drainage runs
from Climax Molybdenum Mine to the
Mississippi River, but we will be
only dealing with the part from the
mine to Point Bar Recreational Area.
Since this area covers several
hundred miles, you will find the
information broken up into 4 pages
so you don't get tired of reading
so much copy, and so that you can find
specific
information more easily.
|
|
The
Arkansas River runs
through some of the richest ore
bodies in the state. At the
northern tip of the river sits the
Climax Mine, owned and operated by
Freeport MacRohan and slated to reopen in
2011 or sooner. (Currently in '09,
that opening is on hold, but
construction at the site
continues). 10 miles below sits
Leadville. Lead Silver Carbonate
was the biggest money maker for
Leadville until the silver crash in
the 1890's. Everyone knows the
story of The Unsinkable
Molly Brown and the Little
Johnny, the saga of the
Tabor's, and the tales of
California Gulch, so gold
was also an important part
of Leadville's
history. Most of the area
is claimed that would be on
the river, but metal
detecting goes on, in the
surrounding hills where you are not
on private, marked property or
active claims. From Mosquito Pass to
Independence Pass, there is an
extensive mining |
community, fun to prospect as well
as explore. You can pick up a
pamphlet from the Chamber of
Commerce in Leadville that will show
you a marked car/bicycle tour of the
mining district to the east as well
as many other interesting things in
the area. Around Turquoise
Lake you can still pick up a piece
or two of turquoise. Oh, gem
hunting in Colorado is also BIG.
The same geothermal conditions that
put the gold into matrix in many
areas also put some of the best
crystals into pegmatite as well. We
won't get into fossils, but
we have them too!
Downstream from Leadville are the
Hayden and Derry Ranches. The
Hayden is still private property and
is used for grazing, but the ranch
part of the Derry is State land open
for fishing, but no prospecting.
The dredges found gold at the
fifteen foot level so you would have
trouble finding it with a
#2 shovel
anyway. There is some surface gold,
but the old ruins of the ranch are
far more interesting and the fishing
is good. You might try your metal
detector here, but it has been
hunted to death. There is a lot of
private property in this area and it
is a dam site for the city of
Aurora, so watch out for possible
construction. As of Feb '08 we
have heard that the City of Aurora
has erected signs prohibiting many
activities. There is, also, a
large placer mining operation at the
base of Mt. Elbert, the highest peak
in the State, that operates on and
off. It is fenced and gated.
Page 1
2
3
4
|
|
|
|
