BIGGER - BETTER & SIMPLY THE BEST MINE TOUR ANYWHERE!!
MOLLIE KATHLEEN GOLD MINE
OFFERS ALL NEW MINE TOUR
After over fifty years of conducting public mine tours, this country's only 1,000 foot vertical shaft gold mine tour just got bigger and better as an adventure never to be forgotten by visitors descending the earth to explore the underground mine workings of the 1890’s hard rock gold miner.
Visitors can expect to encounter many new improvements as they explore the overlapping evolution of all four mining phases used to extract gold from the Mollie Kathleen Mine. They will witness the operation of numerous pieces of air powered gold mining equipment from drifter drills, tuggers, slushers, stoper drills, jack leg drills, rocker shovel mucking machines, and even an early 1900’s air powered steam hoist that is believed to be the smallest steam hoist ever manufactured.
In a newly opened tour area of the mine, visitors will stand on the 1,000 foot level and gaze upward into the Queen Bess stope that extends 700 feet to the Mollie Kathleen 400 foot level, as they learn the life of the stope-rat miner.
This coming season, visitors will ride aboard the last air powered Tram-Air Locomotive manufactured in Cripple Creek, Colorado, traveling the same century old mine rail that miners rode with shipments of gold ore, as they explore several gold vein structures of the Mollie Kathleen Mine that reveal how gold veins appear in their natural state.
For the rock hound, all new this year and worth the price of admission alone, is a 1,000 foot underground mineral display that showcases telluride of gold ore specimens. This life long collection of Melvin Anderson offers many rare samples of the Cripple Creek area geology. Specimens include a sample of the original outcropping discovered by Mollie Kathleen Gortner in September of 1891, large sylvanite and calaverite nuggets rarely seen by man, that were prospected by Melvin Anderson, samples of the first discovery mine that started the Cripple Creek Gold Rush, Bob Womack’s Gold King Mine of 1890, and a sample of the famous C.O.D. Mine that resulted in the massive spontaneous wealth of Charles Tutt and Spencer Penrose.
The crowning jewel of this two generation Anderson collection, is a spectacular calaverite cluster from the original Vug discovered by Melvin’s father, “Johnny the Miner” Anderson, in 1903. His finding marked the true discovery of the Cresson Mine Blowout System that would then be mined from 1903 through 1930 to a depth of 2,398 feet, still in pay dirt.
The Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine was discovered on September 9th, 1891 by Mollie Kathleen Gortner and has been maintained to date as a minable property. There is simply no better mine tour than the Mollie Kathleen, to better relate this countries mining history and the fascinating legacies of those who became millionaires after striking-it-rich in this, “The World’s Greatest Gold Camp” called the Cripple Creek Gold Mining District, Colorado U.S.A.
Underground mine tour expansion has been a seven year ongoing project that will be unveiled to the public during the upcoming tour season. Years were spent by mine owners, along with employee crews to refurbish and restore antique air powered mining equipment.
Mine owners and long time associates traveled the country in search of just the right pieces of equipment, and or, replacement parts needed to meet the demands of the new tour requirements. Countless hours of research were needed to provide factual data on mining equipment and area history along with generous donations of used mining equipment from Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mining Company, guarantee a fascinating and educational mine Tour
Two large early 1900’s era mine air compressors were restored to operating condition as well as replacement and repairs to several thousand feet of underground air line. Thousands of feet of mine rail were reset on new rail ties, and all new lighting has been installed for brightly illuminate all tour areas.
During the past few seasons, Mollie Kathleen mining crews worked diligently to blast several hundred feet of new crosscut tunnel to create shortcuts to early day mine workings that will be visited by the public for the first time ever.
Some of the new displays of antique air powered mining equipment were put in place and operated during the past season as the project continued. Many regular returning customers are giving a big-thumbs-up to the new improvements.