Box Creek Placer Mine: Then and Now

In my last blog I had mentioned that there was a new gold mining operation going on just south of Leadville that is capitalizing on the leftovers of a dredging operation from a century ago. In the video below you'll see a bird's-eye view of the current placer mine. Today's dig relies on large dump trucks and front-end loaders to deliver the massive amounts of dirt and gravel to the trommel and sluice box that sort the material and collect the gold but a hundred years ago you would have seen a gold dredge at this site. I've seen and visited dredges from Fairplay to Alaska but knew next to nothing about the dredging operation along Corske and Box Creeks that are two of the myriad of streams coming down from the eastern flank of Mount Elbert, Colorado's highest 14'er at 14,440 feet. 

On Sunday, October 10, 1915 the Derry Ranch Gold Dredging Company, owned and operated by the New York Engineering Company began operation of a dredge of their own design and manufacture first on Corske Creek and after 1923 on Box Creek. It would continue operating until 1926 when it was subsequently dismantled ultimately to be shipped to South America.  The dredge was equipped with 6 cubic foot steel buckets electrically driven (power supplied by the Colorado Light and Power Company) and in its first two months of operation handled 142,900 cubic yards of gravel and recovered $69,552 in gold ($1.78 million in 2020 dollars). 

Now, if you are not familiar with what a dredge actually is picture a floating barge with a digging conveyor belt of buckets at the front end (that can be moved up and down and side to side) to dig into the slope ahead of the dredge. In the middle is a revolving perforated cylinder and screen (trommel) which washes and sizes the material with the over-sized material being carried via another conveyor belt at the rear of the dredge where it is dumped and left behind as a tailing. The smaller screened gravel is processed via a sluice where the gold is actually recovered.

As the dredge moves forward in the pond (either natural or man-made) in which it floats it continues to process material from the front while discarding tailings from the rear so the size of the required pond remains relatively constant. A huge digging spud holds the dredge in place and can be raised when the dredge is moved forward.

Over the time period the Derry Dredge operated it collected 39,000 ounces of gold. At the time the dredge was operating the United States government set the price of gold at $20.17 an ounce. That equates to $786,630 in 1920 dollars. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics $1 in 1920 is equivalent in purchasing power to $12.82 in 2020. So those $786,000 1920 dollars would be worth a little over $10 million in today's world. Not bad, but consider this - unlike when the Derry Dredge was mining and the price of gold was set by our government, in today's world the price of gold is free to fluctuate based on demand. In June 2020 the price of gold is around $1,761 per ounce. Those 39,000 ounces at today's price would be worth more than $68 million. Thus the incentive to see if there is any gold in the tailings left behind by the Derry Dredge. One Colorado company, Titan AU out of Greeley, is betting there is. 

In December 2018 Titan AU filed an application with the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board to commence placer mining in March 2019 with a proposed date of completion of 2044. The proposal indicated the land would be returned to rangeland and ponds after mining is finished. There was some local opposition to a large scale gold mine in the area but if the company truly reclaims the land as promised it will more closely resemble what it looked like before the Derry Dredge began operation 105 years ago. From a historical perspective one might not appreciate that the reclamation done by the current mine operators will also actually erase the signs of the Derry Dredge tailings. Once the reclamation is complete future generations may look at the site and have no real comprehension of what happened there. So if you are a history buff or simply interested in what a placer gold mine in full operation looks like, now is your chance. To get there, drive south out of Leadville on Highway 24 and then turn right onto County Road 24. I think the best views are from County Road 24A which parallels the south side of the mine. Bring the binoculars!

According to the Leadville Herald Democrat the Box Creek Placer mine sits on 950 acres including land leased from the City of Aurora and the Colorado State Land Board. The State Land Board is the second largest landowner in Colorado (the Federal Government is the largest) and manages their land in large part for the financial support of Colorado's public schools and other public institutions. 

Lots of resources were used in writing this blog. History Colorado, the Denver Public Library, the Leadville Herald Democrat were all very helpful in doing research. Perhaps most helpful in learning about the early days of the Derry Dredge was a hard to find book published by the actual owners of the Derry Dredge, the New York Engineering Company, titled "The Business of Gold Dredging" in 1922. The book provides a wealth of information not only on the Derry Dredge but on the dredging business in general in the early 1900's. It's a fascinating and fun read for any history buff and can be found here. 

And as promised, here's a short video on the Derry Dredge and the Box Creek Placer Mine then and now. Enjoy!

Can you imagine?

Coloradans love their High Country. And each has their own individual  reason. Some like to take in the grand vistas, some like to hike/bike/fish/camp/ski. I increasingly find myself seeking out the quiet peaceful places where I can look around, close my eyes, listen as the wind wafts through the pine and aspen, and get transported back to days long gone and long forgotten.

The High Country around Leadville is dotted with mines. The remains of most of them are almost gone but here and there enough remains to pique the curiosity of what they must have looked like when in their prime. With names like the Matchless, Julia Fisk, Young America, Painter Boy one wonders what significance those monikers had to the miners of those days. Some evoke sweethearts, wives, and loved ones. Others reminisce of countries, States, and towns hailed from or left behind. Others are aspirational while some make you scratch your noggin wondering what were they thinking.

The decaying wood and stone remains silent, giving no hint as to how meaningful those names were in the hearts of those men (and yes, a few women) who gave their blood and sweat in hopes of  striking it rich. This time of year wildflowers share the stage with the remnants of mines that made Leadville the richest square mile on earth at its peak. Not so wealthy today though there still are active mines operating. One of the newest, just

south of town, is the Box Creek Placer Mine. This site saw dredging in the early twentieth century and the new miners, using modern techniques, are going through millions of tons of dredged up rock gleaning the gold that older technologies could not. Their claim lasts until 2044 and from watching the size and scale of the operations grow in the last year there is enough gold to be had to justify spending a lot of money and effort. Dreams of striking it rich are alive and well to this day.

For me, I'm content musing on once was as I sit among the beauty and solitude at 10,000 feet. Here's some of the view...

Here and there...

Are you getting tired of COVID? I am. That's not to say that I'm not still taking prudent precautions (wearing a mask in public and practicing social distancing) and I have yet to visit a restaurant or bar now that they are able to reopen. The gym we go to just reopened Monday and they put up some pictures of the occasion. Not a mask in site and social distancing seemed non-existent. Class size is however limited to a maximum of 9 participants in rooms that used to accommodate 30 plus. While that may be nice for the 9 folks lucky enough to get in it raises inevitable questions of the value of maintaining our memberships for the rest of us.

The Red line represents Google 
searches for COVID

The airwaves and social media are still crowded with COVID this and COVID that, but as tends to happen with any news item it inevitably is forced to eventually make room for other news events. Of course, the predominant other non-COVID item that is front and center right now is the phenomenon of the George Floyd death at the hands of police and the resulting, and continuing protests. Google statistics on COVID show the drop in people searching for COVID-related topics since the peak in March while those for George Floyd continue to skyrocket even surpassing, I'm sure to his chagrin, searches for Donald Trump.

Which will we be talking about a year from now? COVID, Floyd, or Trump? Or none of the above? I hope COVID is not still dominating the headlines in June 2021 and there's a chance that November might take Mr. Trump out of the spotlight. On the other hand, if in 2021 we're not still talking at some level about the repercussions of Mr. Floyd's death then perhaps shame on us.

Meanwhile life goes on. I'm still waiting, thanks to - guess what - COVID- for my cardiac rehab to begin. While miniscule in the grand scheme of things my little heart event in April was a big bump on my road through this thing called life and I'm treating the fact that I'm still alive as a second chance at living it to the fullest. I continue to be a walking fool as it's the only exercise (other than my wife's Honey Do list) that I'm ok'd to do. I've had the chance to get up to the High Country in the last week and surprisingly feel very good at 10,000 feet. In part its due to it being cooler up there than the hot temps Denver has been experiencing but I also think the repair they made to my heart by removing the 99% blockage in one of my arteries has actually made it easier for me to breath 'up high'. 

And when I say it's cooler up there, yesterday we woke to four inches of fresh Rocky Mountain powder. The day before we did a 5 mile hike through the Leadville Mining District on a picture perfect Colorado day with temps in the 60's. Here's a short video recap of some of that walk (I'm not allowed to 'hike' yet so between you and me we'll just consider it a wee little stroll). There's even a short clip of a young lady participating in my favorite activity of mountain biking and perhaps from the clip you'll understand why I miss it so. 

I had also put up a video detailing what actually happened to me in April that landed me in the Intensive Care Unit at Littleton Adventist Hospital. The video above is certainly a more happy subject but somebody might at some point go through what I experienced so thought I'd share...

I'm certainly looking forward to making more of the happy type of videos that I usually put up. If only 2020 will cooperate!

The sound of silence?

"White silence is violence."

I stared at the sign held by a protester standing on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol on my T.V. screen. When the image changed I continued to ponder what the sign meant. To me. To you. To America. To Mr. Floyd. 

I pondered for a lot longer than the 8 minutes and 46 seconds it took to take Mr. Floyd's life. 

Just a couple of weeks ago I sat in the comfort of my living room watching armed white Americans (some carrying automatic assault rifles) standing on the steps of the same Colorado State Capitol demanding that the Governor relax, no - remove, the economic restrictions put in place to protect us from a worldwide pandemic that has now claimed more than 105,000 American lives. The not-so-veiled threat of course was that if Governor Polis did not 'reopen' the State on his own the protesters would do it for him. 

"White silence is violence." 

Four words on a handmade sign. Silence. Merriam Webster defines silence, among other things, as forbearance from speech or noise. To not speak up, to not speak out, is to remain silent.

What appalls me most about Mr. Floyd's death is not that it came at the hands, or more accurately the knee, of a police officer. What struck me as I watched the horrible video was that three other police officers, no - three other human beings, stood silent and did nothing as the life ebbed from Mr. Floyd as he lay on that Minneapolis street. In 2020 does police training truly not cover how to intercede when a fellow officer crosses the line? In exactly these types of situations? 

Newscasts from around the country showed police officers kneeling in respect for Mr. Floyd. In Denver, our police chief, Paul Pazen, walked arm in arm with Black Lives Matter protesters through the streets of Denver. The message of course is that they are different than Mr. Chauvin, the white Minneapolis police officer who's knee killed Mr. Floyd, and the other three officers who stood silent. I'm not sure I believe them. 

Statistics show that a black man has a 1 in a thousand chance of being killed by police in his lifetime, 2.5 times the odds for a white man. In a Kyle Clark (9News) interview this week Denver Mayor Hancock acknowledged that Denver police had murdered 3 men of color in just the recent past. And Colorado has a very suspect history when it comes to race relations.  

If I were to make a protest sign it would ask "Will we let the past define our future?" If you believe the answer is yes then there is no hope that Mr. Floyd will be the last of an already too long list of those killed by officers purporting to 'Serve and Protect'. Change is hard, but it is possible. 

If we choose not to be silent.

As an aside, it was literally almost two years ago to the day that I was writing in this blog about Colin Kaepernick teaching me a lesson. Truly, the lessons are there if we only heed them.