Snowstorm Dredge, Largest dragline dredge in Colorado. Options

[Denise]

Here is a picture of the Snowstorn Dredge. It was used between Fairplay and Alma from 1941-1960's. It's the last intact gold dredge in Colorado, and maybe even the west. It processed roughly 600 tons of gravel an hour, and every 3-4 days almost 50 pounds of gold was cleaned out of its sluices. :o There are working on trying to restore it, and hopefully they will be sucessful. :D

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[Johnny]

Howdy all, this is a great opportunity to support a very worthy project saving a historic artifact that represents the work of many a miner.... can you imagine tending this sluce? Kinda boggles the mind don't it!
Happy Trails to you and yours! :D

[Denise]

Have a look at just some of the sluices inside this dredge. I would love to have seen it working!!

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[79CHIEF]

Mrs. C.P. Great photos of this old landmark! Who owns this? and what are the chances of it producing GOLD again....?

[mtpan]

That sure is a nice looking old dredge. I hope they get it running again.
MTPan

[Denise]

:)
Hey 79Chief,
I have added some pics of the dredge in the News and Events page on www.coloradoprospector.com Check them out. You can also learn more about the dredge at www.coloradopreservation.org :D Everyone's help is greatly appreciated. :)

[Redpaw]

Mrs. CP,
Fire it up and lets get some GOLD !!. :P
Those are some nice pictures you posted, I was really amazed at the riffle system in this dredge as it appears they just lift out for clean up. There are no angles to the riffles at all just boards nailed together and placed in a trough to provide a low point for the gold to get trapped.

Amazing....

[Denise]

Hi Redpaw,
This is an amazing piece of equipment. I would love to fire it up and see it run. I would hate to see it go away in pieces for scrap iron. :(
Hopefully there are alot of people who feel the same, that can make a difference.
It would be a shame to see it go.
If I hear any new news on it's status.....I'll keep everyone informed. :)

[Quilomene John]

What a cool old dredge! I noticed something in the upper center of the photo that looks like a current divider for an undercurrent sluice. I'd love to see this in operation! QJ :D

[coargonaut]

It is the only one left in Colorado.
Only one other one in the west now. But, it sort of sank.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/01/28/gold.dredge.ap/

But, the owning company, Cal Sierra Development, has bought a sister ship from Bolivia to replace the sunken ship. It is being shipped in pieces, and will be reassmbled, and put to work.

Further research indicates Cal Sierra has gotten their bond approved (by the State Mining and Geology Board).......only $1,694,957. Of that, 1$,183,925 is for removal of two dredges (the one that sank, and the replacement).

http://www.consrv.ca.gov/smgb/agendas/2003/0911c.pdf

Not much else to find. There seems to be some sort of tie between Cal Sierra and Teichert Aggregates, a local material company.

Hope thye get their stuff together, and get the new dredge running. I, for one, would pay to see that sucker run.

Ed

[Denise]

It processed roughly 600 tons of gravel an hour, and every 3-4 days almost 50 pounds of gold was cleaned out of its sluices.  :o 

If you dont have cabin fever yet.......this will fix you right up!

CP and I found some cool links and pdf's.
In the "Gold in Colorado" RockTalk Volume 6, Number 2 (April 2003)", there is a pic of the Snow Storm Dredge in action, wet tailings, floating and all. :o :D , and if you think about it, there could have been 50 pounds of gold in that pic! :D ;) Don't you wish we could see it? :D

http://geosurvey.state.co.us/Default.aspx?tabid=71

I would have been willing to put up with the amount of noise in there and getting wet to get a peek. :P :D

Here is another link to the history on the dredge.

www.parkchamberofcommerce.org/Dredge/dredge.html

[sgaolson]

Denise that's real cool. I am printing it off and adding to my reference manual I am putting together
By the way Chirs my son is moving out there Jan 3 05 going to be staying in Ft. Collins....keep an eye on him for me will ya? :(

[Denise]

I e-mailed for an update, Patricia who is a Technical Advisor for the Endangered Places Program for Colorado Preservation, Inc. She said that they will be giving a public update about the dredge. Here is the update..

Denise,

The Snowstorm Gold Dredge is now a part of the Mosquito Range Heritage
Initiative, a plan (currently in final stages of development) we hope to
unveil publicly in June, 2005.

I'd be happy to share some details.  If you are interested in more
information, please contact me at the email/phone listed below.

Patricia (Pat) Holcomb
Technical Advisor
Endangered Places Program
Colorado Preservation, Inc.
1900 Wazee Street, Suite 360, Denver CO  80202
(p) 303.893.4260 (f) 303.893.4333
Not yet a member of Colorado Preservation, Inc.?
Visit www.coloradopreservation.org and join today!

:)

[Redpaw]

Wow great information in that PDF, I'll look forward to using it.

Rp

[prospector_41]

Take a look at Gold Prospectors Of Colorado web site www.gpoc.com we are doing a fundraiser to move it down to Fairplay to make it into a working musem.

Burt