Old mine on friend's property Options

[Dypheron]

So I spent the weekend relaxing on our friends property off of Gold Camp Road which is right on the edge of the mining district near Cripple Creek. There's a lot of old mines up there, most are just depressions with small tailing piles but there is one that is quite interesting.

Near as I can tell it was a lead mine, the ore samples from the tailings sure looks like Galena. Looks to me that at some point the top of the shaft collapsed, probably after the vein dried up. No idea how far down it actually goes because the water table is so high that it's full of water. There is still piping from the original pump to keep the shaft dry but the pump is long gone. The vein itself is clearly visible at the entrance and it's at a pretty steep angle, probably 45 degrees or so.

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[ASTROBLEME]

Hi Dypheron,

The photos show that upper part of the vein has some "good color", it looks like it might be turquoise! There were several turquoise yielding claims in the district that were a by-product of the gold mining efforts. Pperhaps you found one of the mines that carried it.

If you go back to the mine, be sure to check the dump for samples if you can get permission from the owner. Some of the turquoise deposits actually carried visible gold! Those would be premium specimens for sure.

ASTROBLEME