Old Hundred Gold Mine Tour

Useful Information

Location:	Silverton. Follow CR2 to the northeast, after 6.5 km turn right on CR4, after 400 m take left branch CR4A, 1.2 km to the mine. Signposted from Silverton.
Open:	10-MAY to 15-OCT daily 10-16, tour every hour onth hour. [2007]
Fee:	Adults USD 16.95, Children (5-12) USD 7.95, Children (0-4) free, Seniors (60+) USD 14.95. Groups (20+): Adults USD 14, Children (5-12) USD 6. [2007]
Classification:	Gold Mine
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	T=9 °C, A=3,048 m asl.
Guided tours:	D=50min
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:	Scott Fetchenhier: Ghosts and Gold
Address:	Old Hundred Gold Mine Tour, PO Box 430, Silverton, CO 81433, Tel: 1-800-872-3009, +1-970-387-5444, Fax: +1-970-387-5579. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1872	Neigold brothers arrived from Germany and staked their claim.
1898	One of the claims named the Old Hundred.
1904	purchased by the Old Hundred Mining Company organized in Maine.
1905	start of mining at No.7 level tunnel at 3650 m asl, 600 m above the valley floor.
1908	after two good years the vein is mined out.
1967	Dixilyn Corporation, a Texas oil company, took a lease on the property.
1973	mine closed.

Description

Old Hundred Gold Mine Tour starts with a train ride, the electric mine train takes visitors 490 m deep into Galena Mountain, the spacious main level station. There ar many pieces of machinery which still work and are demonstarted on the tour. The development of drills during the 2oth century is shown with single-jacking drills (~1900), drifter air drills (~1930), and jack-leg drills (~1960). The latter were mounted on a leg, thus the operator does not have to carry its weight, nor does he feel much of the vibration of the drilling itself. And there is other machinery, like a tugger hoist, an air slusher and a mucking machine. All machinery is still working and demonstarted by the tour guide.

The mining in the area is based on the work of the Neigold brothers, who arrived from Germany in spring 1872 and staked their claim on the Number Seven vein. The three brothers Reinhard, Gustav, and Otto Neigold spent 30 years prospecting and mining the veins on Galena Mountain. There was the plan to create a long tunnel at the base of Galena Mountain for the rich gold veins, but the Midland Mining Company the brothers had formed was not able to finance it. As a result they sold to a new company, the Old Hundred Mining Company organized in Maine. They mined the No.7 level about 600 m above the valley floor. It worked well for two years, but the the vein was exhausted. The time was bad and the company collapsed. Unable to pay the debt to the Neigolds, they got the abandoned property back. But hey were to old to reactivate mining and finally lost the mine to back taxes.

It took until 1967 to reactivate the mine, when the Dixilyn Corporation, a Texas oil company, took a lease on the property. With modern equipment they drove the Mill Level tunnel 1,500 m into the mountain, as originally planned by the Neigolds. The hope was to find large tonnages of low grade ore, which could be processed by modern efficient and cheap milling methods. But the rich veins did not exist, nor did the huge amounts of low grade ore. After driving more than eight kilometers of tunnels and spending over $6,000,000 the mine was finally closed.