A Colorado company has purchased a large interest in 3 of the old
mines above Silverton plus the mill and is going to put the pedal
to the metal this summer. Check out the interviews on the left hand
side of the home page.
Well, this is interesting news. I wonder if it means they will start limiting or restricting access to certain areas. I certainly hope not. Thanks for posting the link, Art.
Posted by Mel Ladewig on March 24, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Interesting as Mayflower was one of the last mines to close and one of the first processing facilities to be reclaimed with the intent of making the land safe and ecologically unobtrusive. I have actually been to the Mayflower Mine and the older mining sites in Silver Lake above there.
If the company can manage to undertake this effort using modern and ecologically responsible techniques, I think this could be a good thing for Silverton, the state of Colorado and this company. If they conduct themselves solely as profiteers, we could expect a different outcome.
Posted by Jack Brauer on March 24, 2008 at 3:33 PM
If the company can manage to undertake this effort using modern and ecologically responsible techniques, I think this could be a good thing for Silverton, the state of Colorado and this company. If they conduct themselves solely as profiteers, we could expect a different outcome.
Well put, Mel... I agree. Hopefully since it's a Colorado company they will have some respect and responsibility.
As a hiker/backpacker/photographer, I would rather there not be any mining at all, but of course this whole region has deep mining roots and history. All these towns were built by miners.
I understand AMAX is resuming mining in Leadville despite their having sold the crusher to the Chinese. The increased value of metal and oil is going to have an impact on the Rocky Mountain West.
Thanks for the heads up, Art.
In the 'Red Chip Virtual Conference' link, I found that a cousin (by marriage) who is San Juan county treasurer has been named to the board of directors. She's also interviewed in the 'What Would It Mean To The People Of Silverton...' link in the lower right corner of the page.
This is good news, because she loves Silverton unequivocally, and would never ever join the board of any company that would do any harm.
Posted by Mel Ladewig on March 24, 2008 at 5:46 PM
I understand AMAX is resuming mining in Leadville despite their having sold the crusher to the Chinese. The increased value of metal and oil is going to have an impact on the Rocky Mountain West.
I'm not familiar with the details of AMAX. I missed my opportunity to visit that site during summer session while I was attending CSM. But as I understood the situation, AMAX simply mothballed the site because the market value of Molybdenum ore was being strongly undercut by chinese mines (who happen to be supplying Chinese steel mills). It didn't sound like they had sold any assets critical to the operation of the mine. As I understood it, the plan was to be able to reopen if the price of the ore or concentrate rebounded sufficiently to make the site profitable.
As mineral values and demand are climbing, I expect we'll see redevelopment or reopening of many American mining sites that can return to profitability under current market conditions. For example with the Mayflower site, it is believed that there is additional ore available deeper than the current mayflower mine had cut, but under the economic conditions at the time the deeper ore was discussed it was assumed that it could not be extracted profitably. Gold and Silver have roughly tripled in price in the last decade, so the economic feasibility deserves to be revisited.
Anyways, I hope this will be a positive era for Silverton, though this type of activity always brings boom time concerns. As a metallurgical engineer by education, I find the mining, concentration and ultimately the products created to be very interesting.
Discussion
6 replieshttp://www.cologold.com
A Colorado company has purchased a large interest in 3 of the old
mines above Silverton plus the mill and is going to put the pedal
to the metal this summer. Check out the interviews on the left hand
side of the home page.
Art L.
If the company can manage to undertake this effort using modern and ecologically responsible techniques, I think this could be a good thing for Silverton, the state of Colorado and this company. If they conduct themselves solely as profiteers, we could expect a different outcome.
Well put, Mel... I agree. Hopefully since it's a Colorado company they will have some respect and responsibility.
As a hiker/backpacker/photographer, I would rather there not be any mining at all, but of course this whole region has deep mining roots and history. All these towns were built by miners.
In the 'Red Chip Virtual Conference' link, I found that a cousin (by marriage) who is San Juan county treasurer has been named to the board of directors. She's also interviewed in the 'What Would It Mean To The People Of Silverton...' link in the lower right corner of the page.
This is good news, because she loves Silverton unequivocally, and would never ever join the board of any company that would do any harm.
I'm not familiar with the details of AMAX. I missed my opportunity to visit that site during summer session while I was attending CSM. But as I understood the situation, AMAX simply mothballed the site because the market value of Molybdenum ore was being strongly undercut by chinese mines (who happen to be supplying Chinese steel mills). It didn't sound like they had sold any assets critical to the operation of the mine. As I understood it, the plan was to be able to reopen if the price of the ore or concentrate rebounded sufficiently to make the site profitable.
As mineral values and demand are climbing, I expect we'll see redevelopment or reopening of many American mining sites that can return to profitability under current market conditions. For example with the Mayflower site, it is believed that there is additional ore available deeper than the current mayflower mine had cut, but under the economic conditions at the time the deeper ore was discussed it was assumed that it could not be extracted profitably. Gold and Silver have roughly tripled in price in the last decade, so the economic feasibility deserves to be revisited.
Anyways, I hope this will be a positive era for Silverton, though this type of activity always brings boom time concerns. As a metallurgical engineer by education, I find the mining, concentration and ultimately the products created to be very interesting.