Minerals

Colorado contains an abundance of mineral resources. The state has a long history of mining that started during the 1858 Colorado Gold Rush (also known as the Pikes Peak Gold Rush) before the area was established as a territory. As several southern states left the Union in the early 1860s, the Territory of Colorado was established in 1861. The initial gold rush only lasted until the early 1860s and focused on gold concentrated in placers (modern river sediments). As mining practices evolved and surface rocks containing gold were discovered, gold and other metal mining activities shifted to hardrock mining. Some of the first hardrock gold mining in the state included the areas around Clear Creek especially at Black Hawk and Central City.

As gold mining expanded in other areas, Colorado was admitted into the Union in 1876. Other mineral deposits were discovered by the late 19th and early 20th century that contained other metals including silver, lead, zinc, copper, and tungsten. World-class deposits containing those metals along with molybdenum and other commodities were mined in the state. Currently, deposits of gold and molybdenum make up most current metal production. Other minerals and commodities currently mined across the state include oil, natural gas, coal, carbon dioxide, helium, sand, gravel, quarry aggregate, clay, limestone, gypsum, nahcolite (sodium bicarbonate), and dimension and decorative stone (e.g., marble, sandstone).