Last Chance Mine

Useful Information

Location:	504 Last Chance Mine Rd, Creede, CO 81130. (37.883917, -106.936644)
Open:	Memorial Day weekend to OCT (or first snow) Mon, Tue, Thu-Sun 10-17. First tour 10:30, last tour 16:30. [2023]
Fee:	free, donations welcome. [2023]
Classification:	Silver Mine
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	L=65 km.
Guided tours:	Short Tour: D=45 min. Normal Tour: D=1 h. Long Tour: L=3,100 m.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	William H. Emmons, Esper S. Larsen Jr. (1923): Geology And Ore Deposits Of The Creede District, Colorado USGS Bull. 718, 198 P. online Thomas August Steven, James Clifford Ratte (1965): Geology and structural control of ore deposition in the Creede district, San Juan Mountains, Colorado USGS Professional Paper 487, 90 P. online J.W. Lindemann et al. Eds. (1981): Field Trip Notes, Creede Mining District, San Juan Volcanic Province, Colorado Denver Regional Exploration Geologists Society Guidebook, 63 pp
Address:	Last Chance Mine, 504 Last Chance Mine Rd, Creede, CO 81130, Tel: +1-719-238-7959. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1890	Holy Moses Mine opened.
1891	Last Chance Mine opened.
1976	mine closed.
1998	mine bought by Jack Morris.
2005	Last Chance Mine opened as a show mine.
2023	three more tours and mineral museum opened to the public.

Geology

The Wheeler Geologic Area was formed by one of the largest volcanic eruptions in the earth’s history, a so-called supervolcano. Around 25 million years ago, a volcano exploded in the southern Colorado Rockies. It ejected approximately 5,000 km³ of material into the atmosphere, the resulting ash fall covered most of Colorado with a 100 m thick layer called Fish Canyon Tuff. The magma chamber collapse forming a caldera named La Garita Caldera which is 35 km wide and 75 km long. Volcanism went on for about 2 Ma, with numerous eruptions, producing more layers of ash and brecczia.

The area was explored from 1873 to 1884 by George M. Wheeler, United States Army Corp of Topographical Engineers. The type locale is located 12 km east of Creede, with spectacular strange rock formations, but actually the whole state has mineral veins which formed in the layers of volcanic debris. The San Juan Volcanic Field has other volcanoes and other calderas, the La Garita, Creede, and Bachelor Calderas. The hydrothermal convection in the rock caused by the cooling rock, collected minerals and ores in the veins. The Amethyst Fault Zone was formed by the Creede Graben. The ores are mostly galena, a lead ore with a high silver content, the minerals are amethyst, jasper, and other varieties of quartz. Today not only the ores but also the minerals are of great value.

Description

Last Chance Mine was named after the personal story of Theodore Renninger, who prospected in the area in 1890. After a year he was down to his last $5, and having breakfast in Creede one last time he told his friends he was leaving on the evening train. When he left, he said, “See y’all later. This is my Last Chance to strike it rich”, and went up the canyon one last time to finish his prospecting. His burro got loose and went further up the mountain, when he found it about 500 m higher, it was standing by a large rock outcrop. Theodore sat on that rock and began to strike it with his hammer, and he found the apex of an Amethyst vein with silver. The mine was named after his "last chance" comment in the morning.

The town Creede was named after Nicholas C. Creede, who was the first to stake a claim in the area causing a silver rush. When he found the silver vein he cried "Holy Moses, I found it", and so his mine was named Holy Moses Mine. The town grew to 10,000 inhabitants in a few weeks, became the last big boom town of the Wild West. This was in 1890, and one of the prospectors who flocked to the town was Theodore Renninger. In Del Norte he had walked into a butcher shop meeting the two butchers Ralph Granger and Eric Von Buddenbrock. It is unclear why they decided to finance his prospecting, which was called a grubstake, but they gave him $125, which was about a years salary.

After his discovery he went to Creed, and Nicholas C. Creede analyzed his ore samples. It was galena, a lead ore, with a high silver content. Theodore Renninger staked the Last Chance Mine, and Nicholas C. Creede staked a mine right below, which became known as Amethyst Mine. Last Chance Mine was one of the area’s richest mines, producing as much as 150 metric tons of ore during the boom days. It was finally closed in 1976, with 13 levels and almost 65 km of tunnels. The whole mountain has three mines, one above the other, and today there are about 320 km of abandoned mine tunnels.

The mines in the area were quite successful, in 1892, after only two years, over a million dollars in silver had already been shipped down-valley. A railroad was immediately built to the town, for transporting people, machines and ore. The Last Chance Mine had 75 employees and an inclined shaft, which finally reached a length of 430 m and accessed all 13 underground levels. It was named Last Chance Shaft and is inclined about 70° near surface, flattens to 55° at 50 m and then continues at 50° to 55°. The mine closed in the 1970s, although a survey of the mine found additional silver reserves. But the low silver price and the high costs made mining unprofitable and the mine closed. Silver mining at Creede continued for a century, but when the price of silver dropped again in 1985, the Homestake Mining Company closed down the Bulldog Mine, the last mine in the area.

Today Mineral County has 850 full-time residents, who live more or less on tourism. One of the rather new tourist venues is Last Chance Mine, which is owned and operated by Jack Morris and his wife Margaret. The abandoned mine was owned by the Granger family, you remember the butchers we mentioned above? But when Jack Morris planned to restore it and open it to the public in order to preserve the historical integrity of the area, Nancy Granger Schallen, his granddaughter, sold it to him for the assessed property tax value. He spent years getting it ready to open, restoring mine tunnel, buildings, and machinery. He started with one underground tour on level two, a passage which is about 5 km long. The tour is electrically lit. Visitors get hard hats, and good walking shoes are recommended although the floor is mostly level. The highlight is the Amethyst vein with its deep purple crystals, the passage follows the vein and the vein was removed creating the passage, there are still many remains of the vein at the wall, at the far end, and in the ceiling. The levels are numbered from the top to the bottom, level one is actually the original vein. Today there are four different tours available, and currently he works on the fifth.

The underground tour is completed by a mineral and ore museum which is located in one of the restored mine buildings. It shows only local minerals and rocks. There is also an exhibition on local geology and mining technology and a small gift shop, where the couple sells the gems and jewellery which are produced by Jack Morris from the amethyst and sowbelly agate he mines as a side product of the renovation works. Three rustic cabins on site can accommodate up to 12 people. Mineral collecting is allowed, the findings must be purchased for USD 2 per pound, which is quite cheap. The site is said to be the best spot for mineral collecting in an area of more than 300 km, which is quite a feat as the whole area has lots of abandoned mines with slag heaps.