Location and Access
Near Poncha Springs, CO, USA.
Description
The Last Chance Mine, sometimes called the Kramer by the last major company to lease the site, is located on a very well maintained road just outside of Poncha Springs and Salida. This claim encompasses a massive mine and a large mining camp and mill. There are various roads in and around the claim, but none are in very good repair. Some could be navigated with ATV but many will need some repair to drive and park vehicles on the claim.
This is not a small mine, the Last Chance workings as documented in 1969 had well over 6800? of workings with ore bodies up to 6? in length. There is a caveat to these workings. There is only a single adit and a single shaft that access the workings today. These workings below the main adit level are also flooded. It would require a good pump and some pipe to get the water out, but what a treasure you would have with the water gone. This mine has not been mapped or explored since 1944 when the mill burned and the Kramer group let their option on the mine with Universal , Inc. lapse.
There has been some reclamation done here. The upper adits have been backfilled, they are noted very distinctly with large steel pipes that protrude from the former entrances. This makes the re-opening of these a much more simple task.
The Last Chance is located a little more than 2 miles away from the main highway on easy dirt roads. This operation gives the opportunity for gem quality fluorspar, opal and other minerals, as well as bearing a long and detailed history.
The Last Chance Mine is a very large, productive fluorspar mine that operated from 1924 to 1944. Prior to 1942 it produced over 1,000 tons of metallurgical-grade concentrates. From 1942-1944 it was operated by Kramer , and shipped over 10,000 tons of concentrate. The Kramer company also built a massive mill in 1942 to reduce their product. The ore bodies were reportedly an average of 8? wide and some as large as 25? wide. The Kramer mill caught fire and burned in 1942. That was the last date of any real operation or production at the mine.
Today the foundations of the old mill snake around the property just outside of the main adit entrance. There are thousands of tons of tailings to view, many containing various colors and bits of fluorspar, pyrites and some green pigmented minerals that were undefined. The old lower adit is open and can be accessed but bring your waders, unless you clear the entrance, you have 3? of water to wade through. There is a winze at 200? as reported that drops 110? to the 90? level, which according to the historical documents, was extended 210 feet over the original mapping to expose an ore body that was 6? wide. It has been years since anyone has even remembered that this mine was here, let alone looked at it for the value it has in fluorspar, opal and other minerals.
Geology
These were historically worked for Silver, Fluorspar and Opal. The last days of operation were in the 1940’s. The include 2 adits, one shaft and multiple prospects.
Commodities:
Fluorine-Fluorite – Primary
Silver – Secondary
