Climax Mine - Leadville Today

HistoryThe roots of Climax Mine run deep, tracing its name and origin to the early mining days in the highmountains of Colorado. The name “Climax” derives from the Climax railroad station which was built at thetop of the Continental Divide as a place to uncouple helper locomotives after the long climb from Denverto the mining town of Leadville.1778 Swedish scientist, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, positivelyidentifies molybdenum.1879 A large, gray, mineralized outcropping was discoveredby Charles Senter on the western slope of BartlettMountain.1891 French company first uses molybdenum as an alloyingelement in the production of armor plate; with adensity of half that of tungsten, molybdenum is aneffective replacement for tungsten in numerous steelalloy applications.1895 Colorado School of Mines Professor Rudolph George identified the Bartlett Mountain samples asmolybdenite (molybdenum disulfide).1916 Max Schott, a miner and businessman, formed Climax Molybdenum Company to recover and processthe metal.1917 World War I caused tungsten demand to soar and severely strain its supply, and as a result,molybdenum was substituted for tungsten in many hard and impact resistant steels; developmentbegins at Climax in response.1918 Climax mine begins production; on April 2, Climax ships first concentrate totaling 21,000 pounds witha market value of $100,000; Climax is a major contributor to the allied war effort; Climax ceasesoperations after World War I because of the reduction in molybdenum demand; decrease in demandtriggers research and development program to develop civilian applications for molybdenum.1924 Climax reopens and runs almost continuously through 1982.1941 Climax supplies the Allied molybdenum throughout World War II.1945 Climax becomes the world’s largest underground mine.Climax Management, 1917Climax Mine, ~194041957 Climax and American Metal TradingCompany merge to become AMAX.1961 Climax Molybdenum Companyoptions the URAD Mine on RedMountain, which ceased productionin 19451962 Feasibility study commences on theURAD deposit.1963 Development begins at the URADMine.1964 Through deep exploratory drillingfrom the URAD mine, RobertHenderson discovers the Hendersonore body.