Large 700-series Caterpillar mine hauling trucks at the Holcim Portland Cement plant in Florence Energy, General, Minerals, Publications April 13, 2023 IS-85 Colorado Mineral and Energy Industry Activities 2021-2022 The current annual Colorado Mineral and Energy Industry Activities report for 2021-22 is now available. Following up on the 2020-21 report, this report is based on 2021 production data with additional reported news from 2022. It provides a comprehensive snapshot of Colorado’s mineral resource…
North Table Mountain stands between Golden and the wider Denver metro area in the background. Photo credit: Vince Matthews for the CGS. Geology, Publications May 11, 2022 Golden Rocks: The Geology and Mining History of Golden, Colorado We’ve received the go ahead to help distribute this marvelous (and FREE!) 100+ page digital publication from the talented and insightful Donna Anderson and Paul Haseman. Their passion for geology and for communicating the fascinating and often surprising facts about Golden and its geologic history show through every page…
Munroe Quarry near Livermore Geology, Hazards April 11, 2022 Case Study: Lykins Formation Small but significant areas of Colorado are underlain by bedrock that is composed of evaporative minerals. These are salts and sulfates that precipitate out of salt-concentrated surface waters. In the geologic past these minerals were deposited in shallow seas within closed or restricted basins where…
Pierre Shale (gray) exposed along St. Vrain Creek in Weld County General, Geology, Publications March 16, 2022 Recent reports published OF-20-11 Alkaline Complexes of the Wet Mountains Area, Colorado: A Geological Summary, Bibliography, and Data Compilation of Critical Mineral Laboratory Results — With renewed interest in critical minerals driven by global demand and consequent shortages, the CGS funded a compilation of historical sample results and a…
Aggregate quarry near Durango Energy, Minerals, Publications February 4, 2022 IS-84 Colorado Mineral and Energy Industry Activities 2020-2021 – bibliography Every year, the CGS Minerals section prepares a comprehensive survey of the mineral and energy industries across the state. The 2020-2021 report isn’t finished quite yet, but the comprehensive bibliographic list that it is based on is. This list includes state, local and federal government sources, as well as private…
Mining town, Eureka, San Juan County, Colorado, circa 1900. Photo credit: William Henry Jackson. CGS media archive. Geology, Minerals, Publications November 24, 2020 Re-introducing: Historic Metal Mining Districts As the reconstruction of our website continues, we recently redeployed a popular package of information that was compiled and made available by former CGS Senior Minerals Geologist, Mr. James Burnell, during the 2010s. Referencing a variety of sources, Burnell researched most of the major districts around the state. Each district…
A uranium-rich zone in a sandstone of the Morrison Formation, Carnation Mine, San Miguel County, CO, January 2007. Photo credit: Chris Carroll (CGS). Energy, Minerals February 19, 2020 Colorado’s Uranium Deposits [Ed: this document, written in 2011 by Jim Burnell, Ph.D., P.G. (former Senior Minerals Geologist, Colorado Geological Survey), provides an excellent narrative on the sources of uranium deposits on the Western Slope of Colorado. However, it’s not the whole story—there is fascinating new science research implicating biological/organismic activity underground that…
Downtown Creede in 2010. Photo credit: Vince Matthews for the CGS. Geology, Minerals October 16, 2019 Creede: The Last Boom Town This RMPBS/Colorado Experience video explores the vibrant mining history of Creede, Colorado. In so many ways, the story of Colorado is the story of mining. The town of Creede in the south-central Rockies of Colorado stands as one of the last mining…
Uranium roll front hosted in Dakota Sandstone Energy, Minerals August 14, 2018 Geology of Uranium Deposits in Colorado Uranium is a widespread and ubiquitous element. It has a crustal abundance of 2.8 parts per million, slightly more than tin. Primary deposits of uranium tend to concentrate in granitic or alkalic volcanic rocks, hydrothermal veins, marine black shales, and early Precambrian age placer deposits. Secondary (or epigenetic) deposits of…
IS-79 Colorado Mineral and Energy Industry Activities 2015-2016 Energy, Minerals, Publications February 18, 2017 IS-79 Colorado Mineral and Energy Industry Activities 2015-16 The current annual Colorado Mineral and Energy Industry Activities report 2015-16 is now available. Following up on the 2014 report, this report, based on 2015 production data, sketches a comprehensive overview of Colorado’s mineral resource production. Of note is the fact that total value of…
Hazards June 16, 2011 Mine Subsidence Hazards in Colorado This video, produced by the CGS in 2011, examines the significant geo-hazards related to the long history of underground coal mining in Colorado.
Retaining wall settlement at the center of the image with the sorority houses in the background and the IM field in the foreground. Photo credit: T. C. Wait for the CGS.|The Rockwell clay mine area immediately south of the CSM campus along US 6 in 1977 before more recent reclamation as a golf course. The green area to the top left is part of the IM field where the subsidence occurred. Photo credit: Colorado Geological Survey.|DC resistivity survey crew from the engineering firm Zapata/Blackhawk laying out the multicore switch cables across the IM field area in 2008. Photo credit: T. C. Wait for the CGS.|Subsidence road damage near one of the sorority houses at CSM in August 2005. Photo credit: T. C. Wait for the CGS.|A drill-rig preparing boreholes for subsurface grouting under the IM field in August 2005. Photo credit: T. C. Wait for the CGS.|One of the several subsidence features in the IM field at the Colorado School of Mines in 2005. Photo credit: T. C. Wait for the CGS.|Figure from DC resistivity report from 2009 detailing some of the infrastructure Geology, Hazards April 26, 2005 Case Study: mine subsidence, CSM For decades, the west side of the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) main campus had subsidence issues related to historical mining activities. At one point, in the 1990s, one of the married student housing units in that area was so badly damaged that it was condemned. In the early…