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Cripple Creek Mining District History
The current CC&V mining operation is called the "Cresson Mine". The site of the Cresson Mine, located north of Highway 67 between Victor and Cripple Creek, had been mined using underground methods since the late 1890s and into the 1950s. The Cresson Mine is named for the historic underground mining operation of the same name. The Cresson is famous for the great gold find of the District, the “Cresson Vug.” A vug is a cavity in the rock, lined with crystals somewhat like a geode. The Cresson Vug produced 60,000 troy ounces of gold that was essentially picked from the walls of a room sized void encountered about 1,200 feet below the surface in 1914.
Engineering for the modern Cresson Mine began in 1993. Obtaining the various permits necessary to mine, ensuring compliance with applicable federal, State, and local requirements was completed in 1994. Construction began in 1994 and required an investment over three years of about $100 million. State and local agencies approved expansion of the operation in 1998, 2000, and 2004.
On October 4, 2002, CC&V celebrated the completion of a major expansion project with the local community and dignitaries from throughout Colorado and the world. The expansion included the following components:
Euclid-Hitachi EH 4500 haul trucks. These are the largest haul trucks being used in Colorado, with a capacity of 300+tons. Nine trucks were purchased at a cost of $2.5 million each.
Hitachi 5500 Shovels. The shovels have a bucket capacity of 40 cubic yards, and have the ability to load the 300-ton trucks with 6-7 passes. The shovels cost $5 million each.
Realignment of Highway 67. In one of the largest public-private ventures in the state, CC&V realigned nearly two miles of Colorado Highway 67 and built a 250’ high bridge spanning 1,218 feet. The bridge is the tallest on the state highway system. The construction cost was $13.4 million, replacing the original highway built in 1938 with a highway meeting today's standards..
Truck Maintenance Facility and Fueling Station Expansion. The new maintenance facility is designed to accommodate the new hail trucks as well as the drill rigs with mast in vertical position. The facility includes an in-floor heating system powered by 14 waste oil fueled boilers. The fuel station was expanded to include a new 100,000-gallon capacity fuel storage tank. Cost of this portion of the expansion was $9.1 million.
Crushing Facility Expansion. The new crushing circuit includes a 450 live ton capacity primary crusher feed pocket. The secondary crushers are three cone crushers, the largest cone crushers manufactured in the world, each with a 300 live ton capacity. Along with the screening and conveying system, the expected throughput of the crushing system is 20 million tons per year or 2890 tons per hour.
Expansion of the Valley Leach Facility. Expansion of the leach facility was completed in 2004. The additional capacity is required to recover gold and silver from the currently defined ore reserves within the zero discharge facility.
Expansion of the Adsorption, Desorption and Recovery plant. An additional carbon column adsorption train was added to the recovery facility. Other additions include a second gold elution vessel, to remove gold from the activated carbon, a larger activated carbon regeneration kiln to recycle the carbon, and additional gold electrowinning capacity. Process solution flows through the recovery facility and back onto the leach pad at a rate of 13,500 gallons per minute.
In 2004, CC&V celebrated another milestone in the Cresson mine operation, 10 years in operation, and pouring of the 2 millionth ounce of gold from the Cresson Project.
PO Box 191, Victor, CO 80860 719-689-4022 info@ccvgoldmining.com