1897 Assays: Gold in Colorodo Springs Sands

[jeff of pa]

The Scranton tribune. (Scranton, Pa.), 29 May 1897. C



The Scranton tribune. (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, May 29, 1897, Morning, Image 1 « Chronicling America « Library of Congress

 

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[Capt Nemo]

Hmmm.....Maybe all the pyrite in the water system at Manitou Springs ain't just pyrite.

 

[dredgernaut]

that's funny , I grew up in Manitou , I often think of all the dirt I played in , probably could have been wealthy twice , if I only knew , lol , is it weird that 2 cheeseheads know about manitous dirt , lol

 

[Capt Nemo]

While I was out at Summit Ministries back in the 80's, there was always black sand in the bubbler with pyrite that looked more golden than most of what I normally find. If any was gold, it was pretty angular, so it didn't travel all that much. That old hotel was just down the street from the powerhouse that Tesla set fire to. Wish I had a pan back then!

 

[dredgernaut]

I can remember stories of a location that was always called million dollar hill , supposedly full of flour gold , but I never worked there , and now the homeless live there , they should dig instead of panhandle , wish I still lived there I would go check it out

 

[Clay Diggins]

Wow 130 ounces of gold per ton of sand? My BS meter is screaming. Only a fool would buy into that "mine". Maybe that's what the story writer meant by "Pennsylvania capitalists".

Today the richest gold mines in the area of Colorado Springs produce 0.028 ounces per ton (37+ tons mined per ounce of gold). The richest gold deposit ever in the United States and the second richest in the world the Carlin Trend of Nevada produces at best 0.30 ounces per ton and on average about 0.20 ounces per ton. The best production ever from the second richest mine in the world was 1.03 ounces per ton.

The Summitville mine was the richest gold mine in Colorado history. It produced less than a quarter million ounces over 80 years at 1.2 ounces per ton in it's richest portions. Most ore produced less than 0.5 ounce per ton. It was not a free milling gold mine so was not in any way comparable to the fantastic and unbelievable 130 ounces per ton in the story presented in the OP.

Usually when a story seems to good to be true it probably isn't true. In the case of 130 ounce assays the best and most profitable strategy is to grab your wallet and RUN!

Thanks for sharing the story. These sorts of scams were a dime a dozen during the great mining era of 1850 - 1900. Even today I see reports of these sort of rich finds. In all cases they are eventually exposed as scams. Gold is really rare stuff, that's part of the reason it's so valuable, finding it in the sort of quantity promoted in those old stories is an exciting concept but not a reality.

Heavy Pans

 

[Capt Nemo]

Yeah, I'll bet they were counting pyrite as gold. Pyrite could be seen all over the place locally. In the creek, you'd see a lot of it along the banks and behind rocks. If it were heavy, you shouldn't see it on the surface. I'd guess you'd get about 1000 chunks of pyrite for every piece of gold there. The stuff in the water supply seemed different though, as it would still gleam in indirect artificial light.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Wow 130 ounces of gold per ton of sand? My BS meter is screaming. Only a fool would buy into that "mine". Maybe that's what the story writer meant by "Pennsylvania capitalists".

Today the richest gold mines in the area of Colorado Springs produce 0.028 ounces per ton (37+ tons mined per ounce of gold). The richest gold deposit ever in the United States and the second richest in the world the Carlin Trend of Nevada produces at best 0.30 ounces per ton and on average about 0.20 ounces per ton. The best production ever from the second richest mine in the world was 1.03 ounces per ton.

The Summitville mine was the richest gold mine in Colorado history. It produced less than a quarter million ounces over 80 years at 1.2 ounces per ton in it's richest portions. Most ore produced less than 0.5 ounce per ton. It was not a free milling gold mine so was not in any way comparable to the fantastic and unbelievable 130 ounces per ton in the story presented in the OP.

Usually when a story seems to good to be true it probably isn't true. In the case of 130 ounce assays the best and most profitable strategy is to grab your wallet and RUN!

Thanks for sharing the story. These sorts of scams were a dime a dozen during the great mining era of 1850 - 1900. Even today I see reports of these sort of rich finds. In all cases they are eventually exposed as scams. Gold is really rare stuff, that's part of the reason it's so valuable, finding it in the sort of quantity promoted in those old stories is an exciting concept but not a reality.

Heavy Pans

I got about 14 oz per ton for the cook's sand ($296.30 / ton) and did not do the calculation for the other one. You are correct--way too rich for Colorado. It said Colorado City, which is not the same as Colorado Springs, nor Manitou. However, I have done quite a bit of research on gold in El Paso county (where all three are), and other than some supposed strikes on Pikes Peak, there isn't any. (Well, the dumps from the Golden Cycle Mill probably have some gold still in them).

The assumption from the article is that the cook's lot is in El Paso County, not Teller County where Cripple Creek is, where you might find gold in your sand from your lot. I do not know of a Philip B Mining Company in Colorado Springs area. The article said it was a mine; there were coal mines north of Colorado Springs, a copper mine NW of COS, but no gold mines ever that I know of.

So, I thought BS from the beginning, but hadn't thought about the assay. Probably salted and sold to Pa. investors.