Georgetown, Empire, and Silver Plume
A few miles southwest of Idaho Springs, another mining area had a similar, though less productive, history. In 1859, [placer] and [lode] gold were discovered near what is now Georgetown. Placer mining dominated here between 1859 and 1863. Gravel and crushed rock from decomposed quartz and sulfide [veins] were washed through sluiceboxes in the same way as placer gravel, gold being caught in riffles or gunny sacking on the bottoms of the troughs. The veins were found to be decomposed to depths of about 40 feet; below this the gold occurred closely associated with sulfides such as [pyrite], [sphalerite], [galena], and [chalcopyrite], from which it could not easily be separated. However, smelters were developed in 1866 for treatment of these sulfides, and gold, silver, lead, and copper were recovered. Gradually, as the gold was worked out, silver and lead became the important products of the mines.
Sluicebox mining was a common sight near the early gold camps, where primary recovery was from [placer] deposits or decomposed quartz and sulfide [veins]. (State Historical Society of Colorado photo)