You are bidding on the full purchase price on a
Non-Patented Placer Mining Gold Claim in Rio Grande County,
Colorado State. The claims location is on Park Creek in Summitville
Mining District.
Rio
Grande County is in south-central Colorado in the southeastern San Juan
Mountains, on the west side of the San Luis Valley. The Rio Grande River
crosses the northern part of the county.
In the
early 1880's Rio Grande County ranked third in the State in the production of
gold, the county's chief metal. Gold output of the county through 1947 was
about 257,600 ounces (about $7 million worth) ; however, from 1949 through 1958
it was only 135 ounces. Small amounts of silver, copper, and lead valued at
about $330,000 have been recovered from the gold ores.
SUMMITVILLE
DISTRICT
The
Summitville district is in the southwest corner of Rio Grande County, high in
the San Juan Mountains.
The
earliest discoveries of gold in the San Juan Mountains were in 1870 in the
Summitville district and in Arrastre Gulch in San Juan County. The news of
these finds started a rush to the region, and within a few years most of the
major mining camps were established. The early discoveries in the Summitville
district were of placer gold, but available records indicate that placer
production in the area was minor, probably less than $10,000 worth. The first
lodes were located in 1871, the richest deposits were located by 1873, and
large-scale mining began in 1875.
The ore
near the surface was oxidized, rich, and easy to beneficiate. By the end of
1887 most of the known oxidized ore had been mined out, and the underlying
sulfide ores were much lower grade and more difficult to mill and concentrate.
During 1873-87 the Summitville district produced, mostly from the Little Annie
mine, about $2,064,000 in gold and silver, 95 percent of which was gold (Steven
and Ratte, 1960b, p. 6). Production declined sharply in 1888 and fluctuated
considerably in the years through 1925. A deposit discovered in 1926 in the
Little Annie group of mines produced, by 1930, about $500,000 in gold from 864
tons of sorted ore. This ore shoot was mined out by the end of 1930, and during
1931-33 the total metal production from the district was only slightly more
than $5,000.
CLAIM INFO: