Marble - Colorado Geological Survey

night can be more pronounced in winter due to
solar warming of air and thermal inversion.
Tree cover in the Conundrum Valley is
restricted to elevations below about 10,800 feet.
Mature stands of coniferous trees are few but
do occur in certain areas. Large aspen groves
thrive on the valley floor and up either valley
slope. Due to the number of avalanche chutes,
a large percentage of the lower valley supports
ground vegetation only. Much of the terrain is
above timberline and is sparsely vegetated.
Area History
Pitkin County and the Aspen area were originally
developed as a mining center in the 1880s
when rich silver-lead-zinc ore was discovered
nearby. The mines of Aspen flourished for a
time until the demonetization of silver in 1893
caused a gradual decline in activity.
Other areas in and around the Elk Mountains
were also being settled to exploit the rich
mineral wealth which was becoming evident. In
the Crystal River valley to the west, potentially
economic deposits of copper, iron, gold, sulphur,
coal, slate, and marble were being recognized,
in addition to silver-lead-zinc. By 1897, two smelters
were processing the variety of ores being
mined in the valley. This rejuvenated the crippled
economy in the aftermath of the silver panic
for a time. The revival of metal mining was
to be short lived, prompting the local inhabitants
to look to the deposits of white marble
known to occur in the valley for the next "boom''.
The first claims located on the white marble
deposits of Yule Creek were staked in 1886, with
some minor development commencing immediately
(Vandenbusche and Myers, 1970). Production
was hampered by harsh working and transportation
conditions and by a lack of capital to
develop the quarries properly. It would be another
seven years before any substantial capital
was attracted to the marble operations and
another 15 years before they were fully developed
(Vandenbusche and Myers, 1970). Yule
Creek marble proved to be of a superior quality,
rivaling that of any marble found in the world.
Its extreme strength and aesthetic quality placed
a high demand on Yule Creek stone, and it was
eventually used in numerous constructions in
the United States and abroad, including the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.
The blue-gray marble of Conundrum Creek,
which is subject of this report, was slated for
development in the years 1911-1912. The
placer claims: Edith M, Vera, and Vermont, all
patented in February 1899, were laid out adjacent
to and contiguous with the California
placer, patented April 1891. These four claims,
comprising 472 acres, were the major holding of
the Colorado-Highland Marble Corporation,
incorporated in 1912 under the laws of Colorado
with a capital stock of $10,000,000 (Rocky
Mountain News, 1912). The company did manage
to receive and install equipment at the site
including a boiler, two hoists, and two channeling
machines. Production was limited to two
small quarry benches and no record exists of
marble being shipped from the property (see
Figure 2). The property has remained idle
except for some minor attempts at gold placering
on the California claim.
INVESTIGATIONS SUMMARY
Project Objectives
The Colorado Geological Survey (CGS) was
contracted by the U.S. Forest Service through
the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct a
mineral appraisal of privately held mineral
rights located in the Snowmass Wilderness
Area. The contract calls for an economic
analysis to determine the Net Present Value
(NPV) using the Discounted Cash Flow Rate of
Return (DCFROR). The objective of this study
was to arrive at a valuation for the U.S. Forest
Service of this mineral estate or to identify and
recommend courses of action which would lead
to the completion of such a valuation. The CGS
understood that time is of the essence, and that
the project must be completed immediately
following the 1989 field season. No motorized
equipment would be used to collect samples by
rotary drilling, core drilling, trenching, mining,
or any other methods generally used when
conducting a mineral appraisal.
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