Silverton, Colorado, in is southwest one of three major mountain towns surrounded by old gold and silver mines that became popular tourist towns after the mines shut down. In Part One of this series, I discussed 9,000 foot high Silverton at the terminus of the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, the Old May flower Mill Museum, and the Old Hundred Underground Mine tour.
With the reopening of the American Tunnel-Sunnyside mine in the 1950s, the American Tunnel, Gladstone near Silverton, became a favorite of mineral collectors. The Tunnel extended through Gold King mine property and cut through mineralized quartz veins. This path produced huge quantities of pink to red rhodochrosite crystals on quartz, along with fluorite and other species. The bonanza of rhodochrosite continued until 1978 when Lake Emma burst into the mine and completely tore everything loose.
Mountain view along the “Million Dollar Highway” in Ouray County, between Silverton and Ouray, high in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.
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