Mineral County, Colorado, USA.

Claim Information: Grab a browser and google “Midwest Mine” and Creede. Then plan for a few hours of reading and research. There is a ton of information on this mine and its all exceptional. In addition to being an exceptionally rich, and large mine underground, this claim covers a host of historic buildings that are in excellent condition. Creede boasts a great historical society and I’m sure they would be happy to help out any efforts to revitalize a mine in this epic district. A steep and well graded road runs north out of Creede, and is signed as the Bachelor Loop Road. At about 10800ft. after passing numerous old mining artifacts, and approximately ¾ of a mile up the road, we arrive at the Midwest Mine. The site has been historically raped by the EPA and Colorado Division of Reclamation, in the name of saving the public from the evil of mining, All pre-existing tailings have been removed and capped. There is a grass field planted where the tailings used to be. It doesn’t look natural and definitely distracts from the historical flavor of the area. This is a wetland, nasty area full of mosquitos, even when cold. That said, the buildings have been well preserved and while the entrance to the mine requires a dig out, the rest of the site is relatively intact. Just don’t expect to be digging up any bottles or relics. The Surveyors reported the discovery of a small creek that runs just below the mine. On the claim, at the main camp, there are three buildings and one outhouse. We found a 20’x40’ separating building. This is the Main building that the track runs into. The building is very stable, wood construction with corrugated steel exterior. Inside the building the windows are boarded up, and there are thousands of boxes of core samples. There are two separated rooms; one contains an era correct refrigerator. The core samples are stacked 2 to 4 feet deep in the building and the floor cannot be seen. It would be simple to secure the doors and this building. We also found a smaller home type building that has a main room and a side room. Approximately 12’ x 10’ in size. This building is also in great shape, estimated build time is 1940s, judging by the door, floor and wall construction and materials. This building is also secure, with boarded up windows and working doors. This would be simple to secure as well. The building is full of Core Samples, similar to the other buildings. At least 3000 core samples, some still in boxes. The last building appears to be a workshop of some sort. The door is loose and would need work to secure. Approximately 1960s era construction. It has a few hundred core samples in it. All of the buildings have been reinforced with corrugated steel and are open and accessible, all in excellent condition. In addition to the buildings there is an outhouse near the existing rail line. This is original and likely 1910-1920s construction. It has not been molested and is not “dug out”. There is a sign, noting a brief, if uncomplimentary history of the site. The main goal of the sign is to boast at the feat of how the EPA, along with the Colorado division of Reclamation removed all of the historic tailings and resurfaced the area. Basically destroying the historical landscape and violating the context for the sake of spending a few dollars on a mine that was causing no issues. It is disconcerting to not be able to examine any tailings, as the history of the mine indicates it is over ½ mile of tunnels and stoping intercepting gold and silver deposits. This sign also verifies a depth of 2500 feet (minimum). There is a 1960s construction; wooden entrance 15–20 feet long over the mine portal, the backfilled dirt does not come out of this wooden cover. From the portal there is a length of track extruding almost 25 feet before it splits, continuing both south and east. The Eastern leg of the track runs to the edge of where the tailings used to be. Assumption is this was completely waste tailings. The other leg of the track runs out and into another building. Also 1960s construction. Likely for shipping of the high grade ore. There is extensive area for staging on site. The Mines: The main adit on the claim is the newer (1960s) Midwest Tunnel. The Midwest Tunnel was punched in to intercept just below the rich lodes that had been discovered in the early 1900s. Another miner had tried to clear the original workings in 1945, but was unsuccessful. These old workings are on the claim, but are collapsed but not from natural means. The Midwest was sunk to intercept these rich workings. And intercept they did, the records show the hit dead on the lode and worked samples out of some of the old workings. This is the primary adit of interest on the claim with a reported large steel bulkhead that kept intruders out since 1970s. The adit is backfilled with an estimated 15ft of dirt in front of the bulkhead. It would take very little work to reopen the mine. A few guys with shovels and a wheelbarrow could accomplish it. GRE is available to open the entrance for the new claim owner at a greatly discounted rate. Please inquire if you would like to make use of this service. The historic sign validates a minimum of 2500 ft. of workings, but historical documents indicate it is closer to 4000 ft. The mine was noted for silver deposits but also for significant gold in veins and faults. The claim owner should expect multiple levels, interconnected with winzes and many, many stopes. There are some samples of pure native silver and stringer gold from the Midwest Mine at a rock shop in Denver. These were collected in 1968 by Colorado Fuel and Iron Corp. The site is on the historic loop road and anyone working the site should expect some tourist traffic.

Claim Specific Geology:
Host rock unit name: Campbell Mtn. Member Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite
Host rock type: Rhyolite
Associated rock unit name: Campbell Mtn. Member Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite
Associated rock type: Rhyolite
Structural characteristics: “San Juan Volcanic Field; La Garita, Creede, And Bachelor Calderas”, “Isolated Fault Between Amethyst And Solomon-Holy Moses Fault Zones; Creede Graben”.

Mineral deposits:
Ore body reported as 2.74 meters wide.
Commodities reported as Gold (Primary), Silver, Lead, Zinc (Tertiary).
S-T-R, LAT-LONG, AND ELEV DETERMINED FROM EMMONS AND LARSEN’S (1923) TOPO MAP (1:24,000). MINE OR CLAIM LIES ON NELSON CR. 0.75 ABOVE W. WILLOW CR. CONFLUENCE ; INFO FROM LAND.ST- (1976)

There are many minor fault zones at Creede Camp that are mineralized to some degree. One of these faults lies between the Amethyst and Bulldog Lodes and strikes north across the ride between Nelson and West Will Creek. The Midwest Mine was punched in on this fault. The best description we have found is from the book “A silver town called Creede”, by Richard C. Huston. In it, he recounts the firsthand account, from John Jackson:

“Steve McDermott owned several claims northwest of the Midwest Tunnel that generated much interest after a kidney of high grade gold ore was discovered on the Edith Lode. It was only 10 tons, but it sparked the driving of the Knauss Tunnel at a lower level and eventually, entry of Midwest Mining Company under the direction of Elwood Neff in 1926. Midwest Mining Company drove a tunnel northwest from Nelson creek a distance of nearly a thousand feet with 900 feet on a vein structure composed mainly of marcasite and clays enclosing crushed lead, zinc and copper minerals in appreciable amounts, but not of productive grade. The mine folded in 1929.

In 1945, John Van Buskirk and Emmett Dabney relocated the Midwest claims using the name Gateway and spent several winters cleaning up caves, stockpiling better ores and driving 50 ft. of tunnel by hand on a stringer from the fault. In the 1950s, Emmett deeded his half to John, and John enlisted his son-in-law, Whitey Miller, a veteran miner, to help in trying to clean the former tunnel to its face. The soft, argillized structure had caved too badly and they were unsuccessful.

I bought the mine in 1958 and spent every available minute and dollar in another vain attempt to reach the face. In 1968, Allan and Clara Phipps offered to help and at the same time, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation formed a mining exploration company under direction of Les Wahl. I contacted Mr. Wahl and through his efforts, CF&I agreed to join us in a well-funded effort to drive a new tunnel 2500 ft., which would place the breast (end) of the tunnel approximately under the Edith Shaft of Steve McDermott’s early prospecting.

This was the culmination of a prospectors dream. A mineralized structure to follow, new equipment, and enough funding to see it through to a productive mine. The tunnel was 6 x 8 ft. with excellent ventilation, a Diesel Trammer and the latest mucking machine and drills. The crew consisted of Charles Steele, Mechanic and outer maintenance; Mike McClure, Jim Morrow, and Sid Samuels, miners; John Jackson, Manager; Clyde Mathews, Geologist; and Davis Engineering, claim staking and mapping. Pervious to our formation of Gateway Access Company-New Midwest Mining Company, I had started the tunnel and it was into solid rock for a concerted effort in 1969. My brother was killed in a mining accident in Homestake’s Bulldog Mountain operation in March 1969. He had joined me in all my ventures and his death greatly dampened my enthusiasm.

With a spirited crew we drove the tunnel to the initial goal at a cost of less than $28.00 per foot, approximately 1/3 of the estimated cost, but the elevation proved to be above the most favorable ore horizon. We encountered good values in two areas and had planned to sink on one, but Crane Company had taken control of CF&I and elected not to fund any additional exploration. The mine closed in 1971 with no production. Allan and Clara took their loss most graciously and our friendship strengthened over the years. I still have faith in Nelson Mountain.” (letter from John Jackson to Richard Huston, dated December 17th, 2000.)

I. MRDS: Deposit 10166707 – D007943 (related 10087582)
COLO. DIV. MINES REPORTS AN OLD MIDWEST MINE ACTIVE IN 1923 ON MAMMOTH MTN. A 1950 INSP. REPORT SAYS GATEWAY MINE WAS FORMERLY KNOWN AS MIDWEST BUT NOW LOCATED ON NELSON CR. 2 MILES ABOVE AMETHYST. POSSIBLY SHOULD BE CALLED NEW MIDWEST MINE. “OLD” MIDWEST REPORTED TO BE 2000 FT LONG. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT.