At just over 10,000?, the Mammoth claim is a rare find in the high country of central Colorado. Comprising of at least 3 good adits and a few prospects, the Mammoth lives up to its name. There are thousands of tons of tailings strewn down the valley, but they are so old that they can hardly be seen from the road.

It’s not well known, but the history of the Wet Mountain district goes back to 1867 when gold was found in placers in the form of large nuggets, some as large as 28 ounces. These operations quickly moved up the hills to chase the source. The Silver Cliff was located just north of this property in 1874 and showed assay reports of 8400 ounces of silver to the ton. That’s no typo, thats 8400 ounces per ton.

This mine was a large, but mostly undocumented site. Historic documents indicate that operations in this area went down to roughly 400 feet to where veins of nearly pure gold and silver formed in fissures and fractures in siliceous host rocks. This was a gold mine, as evidenced by the tailings. There is extensive pyrite, iron and quartz to be found along with some flake gold in small veins in the quartz.

The area is high mountain, and will see good amounts of snow though the winter. The mines on this claim are easy to identify, but according to USGS reports have been closed since 1921. This is an amazing opportunity to get in on a set of mines that have been generally off the radar for almost 100 years.

The mines can be dug out by hand with no Notice of Operation required. The gold and ores can be taken off the tailings piles and crushed and processed by hand. It’s a beautiful area with high peaks, expansive views and of course, rich old mines.

Access to the mines is excellent. A paved road runs just below the claim with a good turn out. Just 34 miles outside of Westcliffe, Colorado, USA.

The road that once allowed 4WD access to the claim has been blocked to the public. It is an existing road that could be utilized by the claim owner only with a proper Notice of Operation. It’s a steep hike now to access the workings. The trail leads up the gulch to a small mine that had old bottles and relics in front of it that date back to the 1890s.

Moving farther up the hill you come across the crusher operation, where the ores from the mines just above were brought down to be crushed and separated with water. The old screens are still there, and there is a lot of flake gold where the old tipple has collapsed. As you work up to the old mine entrances there is heavy rail coming out of where an adit used to be.

The other adit only has a single track coming out and the old glory hole next to it shows quartz and gold. The claim is written to cover all of the workings. There is a large flat below the tailings that is perfect for staging equipment or processing. A spring that runs year round, runs through the claim.

Thick forest of pines and aspens make for good shelter even in a heavy rainstorm.

USGS information on the mine(s)
Comments on the location information
Along Ophir Creek, just below treasure gulch

Host rock
Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic)- Felsic Volcanic Rock- Rhyodacite

Ore control descriptions
Deer Peak Volcanic Vent, Ne-Trending Fault

Comments on the geologic information
This area is interpreted as the vent source of the Deer Peak Volcanics

Commodities:
Silver – Primary
Gold – Primary

The history of the Wet Mountain district goes back to 1867 when gold was found in placers in the form of large nuggets, some as large as 28 ounces. These operations quickly moved up the hills to chase the source.A 1921 report on these mines spoke of them being closed by the owner/operator, with the intent to return to re-open them after WWI.