Inside Silverton’s Old Hundred mine tour
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SILVERTON, Colo. — The moment the train entered the mine, the temperature dropped. Tourists yelped as water dripped from the ceiling onto their yellow ponchos. In the pitch-black darkness, the train rumbled, its noise echoing off the walls.
Mining in the San Juan Mountains began in the 1860s. During the late 19th-century boom, San Juan County alone had 102 active gold and silver mines. By the 1990s, the industry had shut down, leaving about 400 abandoned or inactive mine sites.
But not every mine can be turned into a tourist attraction where visitors ride a train deep inside a mountain.
Video: Ziyi Xu, Rocky Mountain PBS
The Old Hundred Gold Mine, located on Galena Mountain 15 minutes from Silverton, is the only mine tour in the region that takes visitors 1,600 feet underground. Three brothers from Germany originally staked the claim in 1872. Over the next century, the mine was sold to two companies, but it never turned a profit. The “rich veins” of gold were never found.
The mine shut down in the mid-1970s and reopened to the public as an attraction in 1992.
“You can’t take any old tunnel or mine and do a successful tour. It has to have certain characteristics,” said Bill Jones, owner and manager of the Old Hundred Gold Mine Tour.
The first is stable rock. The opening stretch of the tunnel is made of loose rock, so when the Dixilyn Corporation drilled into the mountain in 1969, workers installed steel I-beams and supports to hold it up. Further inside, the tunnel cuts through solid volcanic rock.
Ventilation is another key factor. The Old Hundred has several tunnels and shafts connected to create natural airflow.
The mine also must be free of pollution, such as acid mine drainage that can contaminate creeks and streams. And it must be in a location the public can access without a high-clearance four-wheel drive vehicle.
Every day, a miner checks oxygen levels and monitors the air inside. Once a week, a lead miner inspects and maintains the equipment and locomotive.
The tour runs May through October, with six to seven trips a day. Each lasts about an hour, costs $30 per adult and is led by a veteran miner.
“There’s always been a fascination with gold and mining in the American West,” Jones said.
“There’s a romanticized version of the mining. But when you do a tour of a mine, you’ll learn that mining was a lot of hard work.”
“There’s a romanticized version of the mining. But when you do a tour of a mine, you’ll learn that mining was a lot of hard work.”
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.