Argentine District – Summit County, Colorado
You will have to hike approximate 500 feet to the mines at this time.
This claim is located just off an easy 2WD dirt road. The road directly to the claim has been blocked but with an approved notice of intent, you could get the road reopened. Currently, you would have to hike about 500 feet from the main road to access this claim.
Contact us for exact coordinates.

The Callo Mine is found just below the famous Pennsylvania Mine on Peru Creek, in Keystone, Colorado. The mine has been overshadowed by the massive Pennsylvania. This should not discount its value. The Callo mine is a single cut onto a high grade body of ore containing gold and pyrites. This Callo has been mostly forgotten under the shadow of the massive Pennsylvania. The outlying mines around the Pennsylvania are not huge but they were known to be mined specifically for gold with high returns. Ores and waste rock around the mine show good potential for gold development including quartz and heavily oxidized iron, this alongside un-oxidized pyrite with native gold. The portal of the Callo Mine has collapsed, it does not appear intentional. It would take some work to re-open the portal and shore it for development. There is a running river on the claim that will provide the new claimant with year round water. The Callo Mine is located in the historic Argentine mining district and most likely had all the processing completed at the Pennsylvania Mill. This mineral claim is suggested for the artisanal miner who might like to just sift through the tailings and find some minimal gold values. This could all be done without filing any notice with the BLM or FS. For larger development, including re-opening the portal, there would be a Notice of Operation required. This would also require a bond and a promise of reclamation. Ideally, this mine would be absorbed by the new owner of the Pennsylvania Mine as it is so close. It could be a profitable aspect of an already massive mining operation.

The Argentine district, located at the heads of Leavenworth and Stevens Creeks in southwestern Clear Creek County, is 6 to 8 miles southwest of Georgetown and Silver Plume, just east of the Continental Divide. The mineralized area is on Kelso and McClellan Mountains and also included in the district an area in Summit County at the head of Peru Creek on the west side of the Continental Divide, but this area has produced insufficient gold to be considered in this report.

Production records for the Argentine district are fragmentary. According to incomplete mine production figures, the district had a minimum gold output through 1928 of 21,990 ounces. From 1932 through 1957 the district had a recorded production of 3,373 ounces of gold, or a total minimum of 25,400 ounces..

The Argentine district is underlain by schist and gneiss of the Idaho Springs Formation into which were intruded masses of Silver Plume Granite, of Precambrian age. Dikes and plugs of Tertiary quartz monzonite porphyry and rhyolite and dacite porphyry cut the Precambrian rocks. The ore bodies are in veins that trend north-northeast and contain gold, galena, pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and silver sulfantimonides.. Quartz, carbonates, and locally occurring fluorite are the most common gangue minerals.[3]

There is no distinct historical information found on the Callo specifically. It is thought that the Callo Mine and Tunnel were likely assumed as part of the Pennsylvania workings and combined as same reports. The Callo mine does appear to have operated independently with its own workings that are not connected to the Pennsylvania.

Access to the Mine: You will have to hike approximate 500 feet to the mines at this time.
Tailings Present: 1001-9999 tons. Some silver/lead/galena type ores seen. The tailings were mostly covered in snow at the time of survey. Historically this mine was worked for gold (major) and trace lead, zinc, silver and copper.
Entrance: The entrances to the mines have collapsed. It appears the mines were cut into hard rock but have filled with slough from years of inactivity.
Mine Cut: Adit
Depth / Length: Surveyors estimate 1500-1700'
Minerals in the Mine: This mine is historically known as a gold producer.
Foot Traffic in the Mine: None
Last Worked: 1960s (est)

Federal Registered Mining Claim ID:CMC288716