Men watch a miner pan for gold in Cripple Creek stream near Cripple Creek (Teller County), Colorado.

As miners started working in Colorado, they began establishing towns and learning more about how to mine in Colorado. In the beginning years of mining in Colorado, most miners were mainly working in placer mining. 

 is mining on the surface, searching for minerals that have already eroded into streams. 

using gold pans separating minerals were placer miners. That means that the terms 

 are used to talk about the earlier years of mining. At this stage it was less likely that people would create established towns because people were constantly on the move searching for their fortune!

View of Colonel Sellers Mine in Summit County, Colorado. Shows mines with tailings, frame buildings, tipples, and apparatus.

Negative, The Col. Seller Mine, Leadville

History Colorado

As time passed, miners realized they could not rely on placer deposits so they started to do 

, which means to extract ore from its original source, or lode. This required more complex technology to perform and also led to the creation of mining companies rather than individual prospectors. 

 in order to separate the minerals. Since this was a much more involved process, mining towns would become much more established and populated. In the early years of mining after the initial rush in 1859, most mines revolved around gold, but by the late 1870s miners learned of the prevalence of silver in Colorado’s mountains, shifting the industry.

Interior view of an extensive timbering in a mine shaft in Colorado. Miners stand inside the frame support.

Negative, Timbering of a slope

Turn and tell a partner - what are the similarities and differences between 

Standards for Types of Mining: Placer Mining and Hard-Rock Mining

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework