Colorado -- Molly Kathleen Gold Mine Tour

couple year back I had a chance to take the Molly Kathleen Gold Mine tour in Cripple Creek, Colorado.

Pretty cool to go down 10 levels............or 1,000 feet, walk and ride thru the mine, see how gold ore was mined back in the "olden days" with candles for light, single jacking to drill holes in rock, blasting and mucking, etc.

Here's some pics:









Interesting that this several square mile area was an old volcanic caldera and a lot of the gold rich ores there were Tellurides and other forms of gold in rock, not visible to the naked eye.

Here's a couple ore samples I got there:




These ores had to be milled, crushed and either chemically extracted or smelted to get the gold out. So, that old saying about IF you see colors in nature that are pretty........like blues, blacks, purples, reds........check it out closer...

This tour gave me a HUGE appreciation for being above ground...........out in the sun, weather, enjoying the sights, fresh air.  I'd find it hard to be a hard rock miner...........not impossible IF there was good gold to be had........but just hard!  

Randy "C-17A"

I understand gold tellurides turn purple when heated. Looks like you have some gold there, even if you cannot see gold color.

Dave,

It was very instructive............a cool tour for sure...

Like I said before...........unless I am getting filthy rich, underground isn't my thing...

I wanna see the sun, TRWs build up, feel the wind, hear the birds and rushing water.......TOP SIDE!

Randy C-17A