lebanon mine tour georgetown

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Lebanon Silver Mine Tour & Everett Mine Tour – Georgetown Loop Railroad

Add some adventure to your day by extending your train ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad with a tour of Lebanon Silver Mine or Everett Mine. These dated, authentic mines give visitors a sneak peek into history during the era when Georgetown was nicknamed the “Silver Queen of the Rockies.”

Dug in 1870, Lebanon was lonely one of 50 mines in the Georgetown region still producing ore by 1885. Reaching its deepest point of 1,200 feet in 1886, the demand for silver decreased, which resulted in its closure. Today, the mine acts as a tourist destination, offering tours, and gold panning.

Open from April through mid-September, reservations are highly recommended and fill up last. Adding an additional 1.25 hours to your train ride, exploring these tunnels requires sturdy footwear and a jacket since the temperature inside hovers around 44℉.

Kids ages four and under aren’t allowed on the tours for safety reasons, and an adult must accompany children throughout. All tours include at least a ¾ trek into a dark underground mine. Everyone is required to wear a helmet provided on-site, and no strollers or wheelchairs are allowed inside. Be aware that the last train departure of the day doesn’t allow for time at the mines.

There are three mine tour options to add to your train ride experience: the Lebanon Silver Mine Tour with Gold Panning, the Lebanon Extension Mine Tour, and the Everett Mine Tour.

The Lebanon Silver Mine Tour with Gold Panning

The Lebanon mine is located at about the halfway mark of the Georgetown Loop Railroad . Taking guests over 500ft inside and over a century old, guests can experience a slice of history and hear stories about the lives of its miners. Guides will point out silver veins, talk about labor in the tunnels, and at the end of the tour, everyone gets to pan for gold and keep what they find.

The Lebanon Extension Mine Tour

The extended tour takes visitors 1,000 feet inside Leavenworth Mountain and into the southwest Lebanon access tunnel. Guests also get to see and explore the section underground that connects the Silver Plume and Silver Queen mines. Seeing historical markers like boot prints and naturally occurring stalactites, calcite dams, and silver pearls make the tour even more interesting.

Everett Mine Tour

Experience another mine from the 1880s and see the many exhibits in this dimly-lit, authentic attraction. Guests can see displays of how miners worked in low light conditions and how drilling techniques shifted from hand-held to mechanical.

Visitors also learn all about ore removal, blasting, tunnel construction, and timbering. Gold panning is a part of the experience, and each ticket comes with a hot dog meal and lemonade.

Address: 646 Loop Drive, Devil’s Gate Depot, Georgetown 80444

Phone: 1-888-456-6777

Season: Year-round

Hours: Seasonal | April – Mid-September

Website: georgetownlooprr.com…

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• Mining Heritage: Lebanon + Everett Mines

Colorado’s Rich Veins of Silver

The history of lebanon & everett mines.

In 1885, Lebanon was one of only 50 mines in the Georgetown area still producing ore. The tunnel reached its greatest length of 1,200 feet in 1886, the Lebanon Mining Company struck the Hise Lode 1,100 feet from the portal. But, drastic silver prices declined ending further work. By the end of the decade, the mine was silent.

Experience the Mine Walking Tour

Enhance your Georgetown Loop train ride with an optional walking tour of the Lebanon or Everett Silver Mine, located at the halfway point on the railroad. The tours take you from 500 – 1,200 feet into a mine tunnel bored in the 1870s. Your guide will point out rich veins of silver and tell you about early-day mining.

This is a walking tour lasting approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes so comfortable walking shoes are recommended. The tour also includes visits to the manager’s office, the miners’ change room and the tool shed with optional panning for gold. The temperature inside the mine is a constant 44 degrees Fahrenheit, so be sure to bring a jacket!

For More Information

Contact The Georgetown Loop Railroad for silver mine tour information.

Clear Creek County is the gateway to the Rocky Mountains. Located just west of Denver along Interstate 70, Clear Creek has 396 square miles of public lands to explore, as well as four mountain peaks above 14,000 feet. Clear Creek is comprised of charming mountains towns Idaho Springs, Downieville, Lawson, Empire, Georgetown, and Silver Plume, which are all along the I-70 corridor. Learn more about Clear Creek County here.

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LEBANON MINE TOUR AND GEORGETOWN LOOP RAILROAD (GEORGETOWN, COLORADO)

“Trained tour guides will lead you through the mine, show you the mine manager”s office, the change room, and the blacksmith shop and tool shed. This is a walking tour lasting 1 hour and 15 minutes so comfortable walking shoes are recommended.  The mine is a constant 44 degrees Fahrenheit, and a jacket or sweater is a must.”

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Lebanon Mine Extended Tour: Must See! - Georgetown Loop Railroad

• United States    
• Colorado (CO)    
• Georgetown    
• Georgetown - Things to Do    
• Georgetown Loop Railroad

Georgetown Loop Tour along with Lebanon Mine Tour and Gold Panning. Rocky Mountain Railroad was a... read more

Always a wonderful excursion. No matter the season don't forget a jacket, it's cold up there. And... read more

Lebanon Mine Extended Tour: Must See!

A wonderful man named Jimbo will delight you with the best historic tour you can experience in a mining tunnel. The train ride was good, but the mine tour is unforgettable.

Kudos to this company! Took the train ride and mining tour which was lead by Josh. What a wonderful and knowledgeable young man. Very impressed with his knowledge and the organization of our entire tour. Highly recommend!

A very enjoyable afternoon with the train ride and mine tour. Exceptional tour guides and staff with wonderful, friendly attitudes. We will do this one sgain.

Live some of the old west mining life. amazing what they were able to accomplish way back then with out a computer !

I could not figure out how to purchase a ticket on their website for the parlor car and a mine tour, so I called them and asked. They assured me I was doing it correctly, the cost was $34/per person. So I bought them, went there, took the train ride, and then found out that I had not in fact purchased the mine tour. If you click on their website link for Purchase Tickets, the only options were all "daily round trip train", so I assumed the mine tour was part of it. Now, looking at different days, it appears that if there are still tickets available for the tours, they show up. When the tours are filled, all you see is Daily Round Trip Train, so you have no idea that you can't get the tour. If you go to the Mine Tours page and then click "Ride and Mine", the same thing happens. Annoying, since I bought 6 tickets for my family expecting to take a train ride to a mine and do some gold panning, and instead I just took a train ride.

We were lucky to get the train with the old style engine. Beautiful scenery and interesting historical experience.

Star Spirit Adventures

The Georgetown Loop Railroad And Lebanon Silver Mine Tour

This past July while visiting Keystone, Colorado with family, we decided take the whole group over to Georgetown. Several of us felt it would be fun to check out the Georgetown Loop Railroad. We were able to easily buy our tickets ahead of time online. We chose a package deal which included the train ride as well as a tour of the Lebanon Silver Mine.

To get to the silver mine you must ride the train a short distance from Silver Plume. Once there you are given hard hats and flashlights and then given safety information. The tour guide does a wonderful job explaining everything in regard to the history of the mine. She took us down into the mine which is generally in the forties at all times. It was definitely cooler inside than the hot July air, so you may want a sweatshirt for this tour.

Inside the mine we took a bunch of fun pictures. We learned what a day would be like in the life of a miner. We saw some small stalactites and a few different spots with calcification. The information that our guide relayed was very much like a story that drew you in and made you feel like you were a part of the mining camp.

After we finished the mine tour we got back on the train and rode the distance to the Devil’s Gate Depot in Georgetown. The ride is very scenic and relaxing. Most of the cars on the train are open so you get to feel the breeze as you go. At Devil’s Gate we got to watch as they moved the engine to the opposite end of the train so that we could turn around and head back to Silver Plume.

I greatly enjoyed this tour and would absolutely do it again. The views from the train were enough to make me want to come back. If you love train rides and the mountains, I would highly recommend this experience.

To book tickets or look up more information on the Georgetown Loop Railroad, please visit: https://www.georgetownlooprr.com/

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Call Today! 970-468-7777 -

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The Georgetown Loop RR Tour

The Georgetown Loop RR opens on March 23rd for the 2024 season and will run on weekends only throughout March and April. After May 4th, we will be doing morning and afternoon train tours daily. Please call 970.468.7777 for details.

No one combines an authentic Wild West train ride, an actual working silver mine tour and a scenic drive to the top of the world quite like Alpenglow Adventures Train Tours! Add a delicious picnic lunch in an amazingly serene mountain park setting plus FREE ice cream treats in a Wild West frontier town and you've got more fun in a single day than most folks find in a whole week!

…Oh, and did we mention FREE digital photos and videos of the whole family sent privately to your email address over the internet? That's right... FREE!

The historic georgetown loop.

Our most popular mountain railroad adventure is the historic Georgetown Loop Railroad tour. From late April to early January, we feature daily excursions to the “Silver Queen of the Rockies,”… Georgetown, CO. This railroad traces its heritage all the way back to the booming silver rush days of the 1880’s, when tons of rich minerals were freighted down the tracks through Clear Creek Canyon to the smelters of Denver.

Just getting to Georgetown's Devil's Gate train station (named after a very intriguing rock formation that your driver will point out) is a unique adventure. Your tour guide will feature a brief intermission high atop the snowy peaks of Loveland Pass at 11,990 feet above sea level. You can even have a mid-July snowball fight! The splendor of the Continental Divide is on full display as we present a photographic opportunity for all of you shutterbugs that bankrupts the English language with its raw beauty.

Devil's Gate Train Station

Spectacular Views of Clear Creek

With three blasts from the steam whistle, your journey begins. Ride in comfort and style as the powerful turn-of-the-century locomotive chugs through lush forests of blue spruce and lodgepole pine. And keep your camera ready as the railroad crosses the thunderous waters of Clear Creek eight times!

From its birth at the top of the Continental Divide to the majestic waterfalls beneath the High Bridge, Clear Creek is what inspired treasure seekers to "go west, young man, go west and grow up with the country." Chock full of gold flakes and nuggets, this vibrant waterway runs cold and clear all year long and enthralls rail passengers with its sparkling vistas and thunderous acoustics.

1880’s-era Silver Mine

95-foot High Bridge

Entertainment & Mountain Picnic

Scooter's Smokehouse BBQ

Downtown Historic Georgetown

After filling your bellies with great food, your driver then performs an impromptu magic show, featuring some of the younger guests on the tour as the magician's apprentices… complete with prizes for all the youngsters! Before leaving the park, we commemorate the fun with a relaxing photo opportunity at the recently restored frontier gazebo, for one of the most endearing family settings in America. So don’t forget to bring your video camera and be ready to capture some once-in-a-lifetime footage.

Next, we take our guests to Downtown Historic Georgetown, where we feature a leisurely stroll through the fascinating old-time curio shops in the frontier downtown promenade. How does fabulous discounts on a wide variety of souvenir merchandise and FREE ice cream treats sound?

4 & 6 Hour Georgetown Loop Tours

Perhaps, you’re up for the train ride but don’t have a full eight hours to spend. Then call us at 970.468.7777 and ask about our 4 & 6 Hour Train Tours.

4 Hour Georgetown Loop Economy Excursion

New for 2024 by popular demand, Alpenglow Adventures is introducing the 4 Hour Georgetown Loop RR Economy excursion! If your time and budget is somewhat limited, we can still make the best outdoor adventure in the Rockies part of your agenda. In a compact 4 hour timeframe, your family can get direct door-to-door van service, take a round-trip ride on the train and, sure enough, still manage to stop in downtown Georgetown long enough to slurp those delicious FREE ice cream treats! With this tour, there are morning and afternoon departure times available to fit your personal schedule. Give us four hours and we'll pay you back with never-ending smiles!

6 Hour Georgetown Loop, Shopping & Lunch Tour

You still get the breath-taking Loveland Pass photo op, the round-trip railroad adventure, the self-guided Georgetown stroll, with 10% discount offers at several of the historic downtown Georgetown shops for all of our Alpenglow Adventures guests, plus of course, the FREE ice cream treats all in a compact 6 hour setting. Best of all, enjoy an All-You-Can-Eat picnic lunch in a beautiful park setting with an amazing playground for the youngsters.

 6 hour Georgetown Loop Train & Silver Mine Excursion

Want to go deep into an ancient silver mine from the 1870's? You know you'd look awesome in a hard hat! Consider the Georgetown Loop/Silver Mine Tour option. In the middle of your narrow-gauge steam engine train ride, you stop at the Lebanon Silver Mine and take a fascinating underground adventure in a well lit, well ventilated silver mine from the 1880's. As an added bonus, you can combine these two different 6 hour options for your family so that Mom can get some extra time to check out all of the fascinating shops in historic Georgetown while Dad and the kids don their hardhats and explore the deep underground world of the mythical Tommyknockers!

See Pricing Below

Tour Prices and Booking Below

Please note.

All prices quoted refer to all public and private customer pick-up locations in Summit County (Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Frisco, Dillon, Keystone and Silverthorne). For door-to-door service in Eagle County (Vail, Avon, Beaver Creek and Edwards) add $100 per person.

4 Hour Georgetown Loop RR Economy Excursion

This tour takes approximately 4 hours from all Summit County pick-up locations and return.

CLICK HERE TO REQUEST A RESERVATION DATE

6 hour georgetown loop, shopping & lunch excursion.

This tour takes approximately 6 hours from all Summit County pick-up locations and return.

6hr Georgetown Loop Train & Silver Mine Excursion

8hr georgetown loop railroad deluxe excursion.

This tour includes all of the features and activities of the 6hr G-Loop Tours, PLUS a delicious all-you-can-eat picnic lunch, magic show for the youngsters and a bonus scenic ride to the Top of the World! This tour takes approximately 8 to 8 1/2 hours from all Summit County pick-up locations and return.

GROUP Discount Coupon

25% off group railroad tour promo.

25% Group Discount Coupons are valid for all groups with two or more paid fares booking directly with Alpenglow Adventures Train Tours at (970) 468-7777. Print this page and cut this coupon out and present this coupon to your driver upon boarding, or simply mention you saw it on our site. Some restrictions apply. Call for details.

Provided by: AlpenglowAdventuresTours.com

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Phone: (970) 468-7777

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2125 Frisco, CO 80443

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Great trail ride/lebanon mine tour - Georgetown Loop Railroad

• United States    
• Colorado (CO)    
• Georgetown    
• Georgetown - Things to Do    
• Georgetown Loop Railroad

Georgetown Loop Tour along with Lebanon Mine Tour and Gold Panning. Rocky Mountain Railroad was a... read more

Always a wonderful excursion. No matter the season don't forget a jacket, it's cold up there. And... read more

Great trail ride/lebanon mine tour

Great time! Nice relaxing train ride with excellent scenery. Very informative guide on the mine tour. Lots of fun.

We took a train ride with an Everette mine tour. The entire trip took about 2.5-3 hr. It was FANTASTIC and I highly recommend it. The scenery of the ride was very impressive. I recommend sitting in the open top car in order to take advantage of 360 deg view. We went on a noon trip and didn't find it too hot at all. and the mine tour was interesting. The Everette mine tour came with silver mine tour, lunch and gold panning. It was an excellent. Our boys (11y, 9y and 4y), dad and mom all enjoy it. We even get gold 'nuggets' from the panning. Everyone returned with lots of smile and good memory.

This was a very pleasant way to spend a few hours. It is about 45 minutes from Denver. We ride at 10am. We got to pan for gold which was challenging. We got a hot dog, chips and drink with our ticket. The mine tour is new. It was interesting and not too strenuous. We only went a short distance into the mine. It was good for my teenagers to see how easy their lives are. The train ride was very pretty and not too long. The whole train, lunch, gold panning, and mine tour lasted about 3 hours. There is a small museum to kill time in before train ride. The town of Georgetown is charming. Great place to get a coffee and ice cream. I would recommend it for families, especially if you have a train obsessed son like I do. My teenage daughter and elderly father-in-law enjoyed it and I was fine even though I am afraid of heights. It goes slow and is not scary.

The mountains of Georgetown are beautiful, and before or after you poke around the town- nice shops and restaurants- take the Georgetown Loop and Silver Mine Tour. The train ride was nice, with several cars to choose from- exposed or sheltered. Going over the bridge and looking at the rushing water below was especially cool. We also toured the silver mine, and our guide was informative and entertaining. We enjoyed panning for gold with the provided bag of sand, and thrilled to find a few flakes to take home. The pace is nice, with half the group touring while the other half enjoyed a grilled hot dog, drink and chips. We chose this activity because one of our party has difficulty walking, and could not have strolled the town. However, doing this tour was too difficult as well, with stairs and uneven surfaces and darkness at the mine, too far to the restrooms, and climbing in and out of the train cars. I did think it would be a good idea to mention that it is not handicap accessible on the website.

The Georgetown Loop Railroad is a fun trip back into history when Gold and Silver were the reason that Colorado was on the map. With its close proximity to Denver it is just a short 45 mile westbound drive up Interstate 70 to Georgetown or Silver Plume. Georgetown is on the east end of the railroad line and Silver Plume is on the west end. When you start your ride in Georgetown the train will travel 3.1 miles, and climb over 640 feet on its way to Silver Plume. There are a number of engines that operate the trains and depending on maintenance schedules the train is pulled by either a steam locomotive or a diesel electric locomotive. You can ride in an open gondola car or enclosed parlor coach. The scenery for the short ride is very pretty. There is even a mine tour to be taken if you want to experience how miners worked back at the turn of the last century. Silver mining is the reason the train was built in the first place. Snacks are available at both stations. Water is added to the locomotive in Silver Plume and you can stand right next to the engine and tanker as that happens. During the high season the train is very popular and crowded on the weekends, so call ahead to see what is going on and if you can purchase tickets by phone or online in advance of your arrival. Check into the special trips that cost extra and include different dining activities. After the train ride you may want to check out the historic Silver Plume cemetery that is located on the hill just above the engine maintenance barn. It is just a short walk and the train can be seen from the south east corner. There are some very old graves and you can try and piece together the stories about who was laid to rest there. So if you have the time take a trip back to the 1800’s and enjoy the Georgetown Loop Railroad.

We boarded in Georgetown and watched the black smoke as the steam engine pulled us up the mountain with fantastic views. Our Everett Mine tour guide was fabulous as she demonstrated the working conditions and skills of 19th century miners. All the guides were helpful in teaching us how to pan for gold. We didn't strike it rich, but we each got a few flakes. We are admittedly history buffs and train enthusiasts, but even our high school senior and 20 year old engineering major thought this was a great way to spend half a day. We thoroughly enjoyed this experience.

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Discover the best of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains by visiting the Georgetown Loop Railroad and Mining Park for gold panning & historically immersive experiences.

Loop us into your calendar throughout the year. Special events are happening every season:

Opening Day 2024

March 23, 2024

Bunny Train

March 23-24, 30-31

Mother’s Day Weekend

May 11-12, 18-19

Wild West Days

June 1-2, 8-9 | August 17-18, 24-25

Father’s Day Weekend

Sasquatch Adventure Days

July 13-14, 20-21, 27-28

Grandparents’ Weekend

September 7-8

Fall Colors Train

September 20-22, 27-29

Pumpkin Fest Train

October 4-6

Located just off I-70 and only 45 miles west of Denver, the Georgetown Loop Railroad and Mining Park is one of Colorado’s most authentic living museums and historically immersive experiences. Bring your family and friends for a narrow gauge train ride, book a real silver mine tour, or learn how to pan for gold. Discover the rugged romance of the Colorado Rockies in the 1880s. Climb aboard and travel back in time. We may just become part of the colorful history and traditions of your family too!

Visit History Colorado’s Other Regional Museums and Sites

Click below for more information.

Lebanon Silver Mine

Useful information, description.

Lebanon Silver Mine is located at the halfway point on the Georgetown Loop Railroad . The only way to visit it is as a stop on a train ride from Silver Plume Depot. The train was once built to help the silver mining by providing transport for equipment, people and of course the ore.

The tour starts at the dry , the original miners locker room. Then the tour enters the mine and sees mining history about 130 years old. The miners were working under very bad conditions, but they were also the best payed workers in the country.

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• Doing History, Keeping the Past

Virtual Field Trip: The Lebanon Silver Mine

• Hewit Institute
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• The Lebanon Silver Mine

The Lebanon Silver Mine 

The mine portal.

These photos show the area just inside the portal (or entrance) to the Lebanon silver mine. The photos also show two other things. First, the top photo shows the result of a process known as spiling. When making a portal into a mine, rails would be jacked (or sledgehammered) into a mountain side. Then the rock and dirt were cleaned out underneath the rails. As the rock was removed, 12" by 12" timbers (bottom photo) were set in place. Finally, 3" planks were put on the sides (ribs).

More About This Topic

The Lebanon Mine's portal required some timbering. The mine as a whole, though, needed very little timbering to hold up the roof or sides of the tunnels. That is so because most of the mine is drilled through Silver Plume granite. This granite is very dense and uniform. A mine requiring little timbering is called a baldheaded or baldfaced mine.

The ore cars seen in this photo are of a now standard size. The track was 24" gauge and each car could carry a ton of ore. A previous photo of the mine's portal, however, shows that the tracks in the Lebanon Mine were not always this gauge. The mine used an unusual 13" gauge track and smaller ore cars. In fact, 18" was the standard gauge at the time. Even so, the smaller gauge allowed the Lebanon miners to move their ore cars more easily in cramped quarters.

The "Lunch Room"

Miners needed a place to get together for lunch during their ten hour shifts underground. Most mines of any size had a "lunch room." The actual lunch room in this mine was probably not this close to the portal. (The barrier at the end of the lunch room in the photo is only 464 feet from the portal.) The lunch room is also 340 feet below the surface of the mountain above. This adit (tunnel) went back 1200 feet into the mountain. It has been reopened to about 900 feet.

Photo: N/A

Mine historian Lee Behrens holds a double jack (sledge) hammer. The double jack hammer weighed eight pounds. A single jack hammer weighed four pounds. Two miners worked together when double jacking. One miner worked by himself when single jacking. In both cases, the miners were drilling holes in the mine. The hammers were used to hit steel drills. One drill was good for boring about six inches of rock. The resulting holes were filled with dynamite.

When the Lebanon Mine operated in the late 1800s, there was no electricity in the mine. Just beyond the electric light in the photo is a candlestick. The candle holder is stuck into the timber of the lunch room. Each miner was given three candles, about enough for one ten hour shift. The metal object to the right in the photo is a miner's lunch bucket. This is also known as a pie pan and Cornishman's lunch bucket. Cornish miners made up about 60 percent of all miners working in Rocky Mountain mines.

In The Tunnels

The photo on the right shows a part of the Lebanon "adit." An adit differs from a tunnel in that the former has only one portal. Miners drilled an adit to get to the veins of silver ore. Veins of ore were usually discovered on the surface. The angles of the vein were then determined as best as possible. An adit is then drilled at the base of the mountain. The miners hoped the adit will run into the vein inside the mountain. The Lebanon adit ran through ten different veins of silver ore.

The photo on the right shows another part of the Lebanon "adit." The angle of vision is toward the mine's entrance. The mine portal is the light spot in the left center of the photo. Notice the track on the bottom and the water running down the left hand side of the track. Think, too, that the original mine adit did not have electric light in it. This mine would have been dark (even with candles), damp, and cold.

The photo on the right shows the timbered portion of the mine "adit." The mine portal is now in view. By the time the miners got here at the end of a ten-hour work shift, they would have been wet and cold. They would have been ready to be warm and dry. They would also have been in a bit of a hurry, since they had just set dynamite charges in the adit. These would explode, loosening rock. Cleaning up the rock and carting it out of the mine was the first job on every shift.

Stopes And Drifts

The photo below shows a portion of a "stope." A stope is a cut that goes upward from the mine tunnel or adit. This specific cut is part of the so-called Morning Star Lode. The Lebanon adit was drilled to find this silver ore vein. At any rate, the stope went up into the mountain about 150 feet. A steam-driven hoist (previous photo) also raised and lowered men and ore from a downward "shaft" in the Morning Star Lode. This downward cut or shaft was called a winz.

This photo shows a part of a "drift." Miners drilled into the base of a mountain to find veins of ore. When miners found a vein, they cut a drift to follow the vein. The Lebanon Mine was originally cut to find two other veins. This first one was an added bonus. The reason these cuts are called drifts is that they just drift along, following the veins where ever they may go.

The photo above shows a "shaft" that goes downward. Shafts cut down are called "winzes." (Shafts cut upwards are called raises). You may be able to see that this portion of the Lebanon Mine is filled with water. There are actually two levels of the mine below the main adit. All these levels are now filled with water. They would have been filled with water when this was an operating mine without large pumps to remove water from the mine.

Change Room

The term hard rock miners used for this shack was "the dry". (Coal miners called it a change room). Miners came to work in every day clothes. They hung those clothes on pegs and changed into their mining gear. At the end of a shift, the miner changed from his wet mining clothes. Since a fire burned in the stove constantly, the miner's clothes would be dry when he came back to work the next day.

Dry clothes were important items for miners. First, the Lebanon Mine is 8860 feet above sea level. There is much snow and cold weather at that elevation. Second, it was both damp and cold inside the mine. Third, the miners generally had bad lungs. Drilling in quartz or granite produces a fine silica dust. Under a microscope, these dust particles are very sharp. Over the years, this dust would make tiny cuts in a miner's lungs. Acid in the dust would start to petrify (or make very hard) the tissue in the miners' lungs.

Concern about miners' health was not the only reason there was a dry room. Miners sometime took pieces of ore when they went off shift. They would sell these to ore merchants. This practice was known as "highgrading." Since miners always felt they were underpaid, they felt they had a right to highgrade. In the mid-1870s, a laborer made $3.00 a day, a technical miner $3.50, and a blacksmith $4.00. By changing in "the dry", it was more difficult for miners to highgrading ore from the mine.

Mine Office

This building was probably the mine manager's office. (It is the only building to have a sky light). It was a place the manager could keep track of the payroll, ore production, and mill records. The furnishings are not original to the site. It has been set up with furniture thought to be appropriate for the time and place. It includes such items as desk, spittoon, leather mail pouch, ledger books, assayer's scale (an example in the office at the Hamill House) and so forth.

The photo above shows an outside view of the mine manager's office. It is located between the dry (or change) room (just behind) and the tool shed to the left and out of sight. Note that the rails between the mine portal (to the right) and the mill (down the track toward the left) run right by the office. Notice, too that a sky light is on the roof of the mine office.

These two photos show the stove and display case in the mine office. The display case, in turn, shows silver-lead ore like the ores mined in the Lebanon. The Lebanon always had a reputation for being a mine with modest, but real, value. The silver contents of the ten veins the mine crossed varied in value. In all, the Lebanon produced ore worth about five hundred thousand dollars. At the time, an ounce of silver was worth about $1.25. The whole Clear Creek Valley produced $200 million in silver.

The photo below shows the inside of the tool shed. As you might expect, mining required many different kinds of tools. These, in turn, varied depending on the time during which the mining took place. The "rifle-like" tool in the center of the photo is called a steam drifter. A drifter was used to drill holes into the face of a drift or of an adit. The vertical pipe was mounted between the back (ceiling) and floor of the mine. Using tools like these, miner could drill holes much more quickly and easily than with hand tools.

This photo shows the tool shed (the left-most building), the mine office (center), and the dry shed. It also shows the ore car tracks running between the mine portal and the mill to the left. All aspects of the Lebanon Mine and Mill operation were set close together. On the right is a part of Republican mountain. This mountain contained all the veins struck by the Lebanon Mine.

Blacksmith Tools

The photo below still shows items contained in the tool shed. Many of the items in this shed were used by the blacksmith. The blacksmith, in fact, may have been the most important worker at the mine. The bellows (the reddish object with two round tan holes in it) was an important part of the blacksmith's forge. The bellows forced air into the forge to make its fire hotter. The blacksmith used the forge to heat and then sharpen drill bits.

Process Of Milling Ore

The first three steps on the left side of the diagram:

Step 1: ore-bearing rock is taken to the part of the building (on the left) where ore is to be received.

Step 2: ore is shoveled on a grizzly where it is sized in a broad sense. From here on, the ore moves as a slurry. This means it travels in water.

Step 3: ore then goes through a rock crushing machine. Ore first passes through the machine's jaws, and then is further crushed by its rollers.

The three steps in the middle of the diagram:

Step 4: ore slurry is lifted to a higher level in the mill by a bucket elevator.

Step 5: ore slurry is dumped onto sizing screens. These are rotating mesh drums, each with mesh of a different size opening.

Step 6: rock sorted by size, then passes down a wooden chute onto jigs. The jigs are shaken much like a gold pan. Lighter waste rock washes away; heavier metal-bearing rocks fall to bottom.

The last step in the ore-processing sequence:

Step 7: the remaining silver-lead concentrate is then sacked for shipment by wagon or railroad to a smelter for final refining. The Lebanon Mill, like others of the period, was crude and very inefficient by today's standards. Less than 50 percent of the lead and silver were recovered. The rest ended up on the tailings pile below the mill. Some of the tailings pile has been washed away in the one hundred plus years since the mill operated.

Outside The Mill

The mill is the only building that is partly original to the site. Currently the mill is not part of the tours operated by the Colorado Historical Society. The Society has future plans for this building. However, the portion of the mill building in the photo is the end closest to the mine portal. It was here that ore from the mine first arrived at the mill. A trestle with track for the ore cars once ran into this wall of the mill.

The chief purpose of the mill was to dress, concentrate, and sample the ores from the mine. Dress means to clean or remove waste rock (called gangue) from ore bearing rock. Concentrate means to separate ore from its containing rock. Sample is the process of taking a portion of the ore to represent the entire bulk of ore. This was important because the Lebanon Mine often was digging in more than one vein at once. Different veins often had different proportions of silver content compared to waste rock.

Inside The Mill

This photograph shows the lower part of the Lebanon Mill. Mills, as well as mines, generally put gravity to work for the miners. The raw ore was received in the upper parts of the mill. Each successive stage proceeded down-hill. The single exception was the bucket elevator which raised the slurry. The final processed ore came out at the bottom of the mill. There, the ore was then bagged and loaded onto wagons for shipment down the mountain.

The photograph shows the highest part of the mill. The photo was taken from the receiving part of the mill. You may notice that the beams shown in the photo are of different colors. The darker beams are actually original parts of the Lebanon Mill building. The lighter color beams are made of new wood, part of the reconstruction of the mill building.

Powering The Mill

The photo below shows the jaw crusher used in the Lebanon Mill. Power was provided by water power. Using a series of large belts, the water power was delivered to such machines as this crusher. The belt went around the round wheels on the right. When miners wanted power, they slipped the belt on this pulley. Gears inside the flywheel on the left moved the jaw and the rollers. Miners fed ore into the top of the device.

The Lebanon Mill ran on water power. Clear Creek itself ran fast enough during some times of the year to power the machines. But the machines could not be placed too close to the stream. As a result, the miners built dams on Clear Creek. In the bottom part of the photo, you may see some logs. These were set in the water and then miners filled in around the logs with waste rocks. Eventually a dam was built in this fashion. The water could then be routed to power a water turbine.

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