| Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine | |
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Cripple Creek & Victor open-pit |
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Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine
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| Location | Cripple Creek |
| State | Colorado |
| Country | United States |
| Owner | |
| Company | AngloGold Ashanti |
| Website | AngloGold Ashanti website |
| Year of acquisition | 1999 |
| JSE | ANG |
| Production | |
| Financial year | 2009 |
| Ounces of Gold | 218,000 |
| History | |
| Opened | 1892 |
The Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine, formerly and historically Cresson Mine, is a gold mine located near the town of Victor, in the Cripple Creek mining district in the US state of Colorado. It is the largest current producer of gold in Colorado.[1][2] It is fully owned and operated by AngloGold Ashanti through its subsidiary, the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company, CC&V.[3]
The mine is an open pit operation. The gold is recovered from the ore by heap leaching. CC&V's heap leach pad is one of the biggest in the world.[4]
Contents |
The ore is in altered and brecciated volcanic and volcanoclastic rocks of Oligocene age and predominantly quartz latite composition. The Cripple Creek volcanic complex is surrounded by Precambrian gneiss, granite, and quartz monzonite. The gold occurs as disseminated micrometre-size free gold and as gold-silver tellurides. Gangue minerals include pyrite, quartz, and fluorite.
Gold mining in the district begun in the 1890s, mostly as underground operations, chasing high grade veins. Over 23 million ounces of gold have been recovered from the district since 1890.[3]
Warren, Harry & Frank Woods entered the Victor mining scene in when they purchased the Mount Rosa Placer and incorporated the Mt. Rosa Mining, Milling and Land Company Jan. 9, 1892. This would later become known as the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine.[5]
The current open cut operation dates back to 1995.[3] The operation became part of AngloGold in March 1999, when the company acquired the Independence Mining Company and thereby 66% of the mine. AngloGold merged with junior partner Golden Cycle Gold Corporation in 2008 and thereby acquired the remaining 33% of the project.[4][6]
The mine is a low-cost, low-yield open pit operation, with grades well below one gram of gold per tonne of ore. In recent years, 2008 and 2009, the mine accounted for 5% of AngloGold Ashanti's world wide production. It is the company's only active operation in the United States.[4] In 2008, the State of Colorado and Teller County granted the mine a mine-life extension.[7]
Production and grade of the mine have steadily declined over the last few years, while the total production costs have risen from US$ 372 an ounce in 2007 to US$ 475 in 2009. The mine employed 562 people in 2009, of which 367 were permanent employees.[7]
Past production figures since 1995 were:
| Year | Production | Grade | Cost per ounce | |
| 1995 | 76,587 ounces | |||
| 1996 | 174,600 ounces | |||
| 1997 | 228,164 ounces | |||
| 1998 | 230,300 ounces | |||
| 1999 | 231,000 ounces | |||
| 2000 | 248,000 ounces | |||
| 2001 | 214,010 ounces | |||
| 2002 | 224,988 ounces | |||
| 2003 [8] | 283,866 ounces | 0.67 g/t | US$ 199 | |
| 2004 [8] | 329,030 ounces | 0.61 g/t | US$ 220 | |
| 2005 [8] | 329,625 ounces | 0.62 g/t | US$ 230 | |
| 2006 [9] | 283,486 ounces | 0.54 g/t | US$ 248 | |
| 2007 [10] | 282,000 ounces | 0.53 g/t | US$ 269 | |
| 2008 [10] | 258,000 ounces | 0.49 g/t | US$ 309 | |
| 2009 [10] | 218,000 ounces | 0.46 g/t | US$ 376 | |
| 2010 | 235,000 ounces |
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