MInerals of Creede, Colorado
Minerals of Creede, Colorado showcases the Geology Museum's collections of specimens from the Creede District, one of Colorado's most distinctive mining districts. To see the full collection, visit Minerals of Creede, Colorado, in Mines Geology Museum's digital Mineral Specimens community, Digital Collections of Colorado.
Located in the San Juan Mountains, the Creede District in Mineral County is in the Outer Zone of the Colorado Mineral Belt (COMB). Discovered in 1899, it is the last of the state's great silver bonanzas.
See Minerals of Creede, Colorado (full collection)
Examples of Specimens in this Collection
Barite with micropyromorphite crystals
Intergrowth of colorless blades of barite with a few scattered microcrystals of pyromorphite. Mineral specimen is from Bulldog mine, Bulldog vein, Creede mining district, Colorado. Raines, Ed. Colorado School of Mines, Geology Museum.
Silver
Branching arborescent growth of silver crystals. Bulldog mine, Creede mining district, Colorado. Raines, Ed; Colorado School of Mines, Geology Museum
Quartz (variety amethyst)
Quartz, variety amethyst from the Amethyst vein, Creede mining district, Colorado, forming a vug in amethyst vein material. Raines, Ed. Colorado School of Mines, Geology Museum
Sphalerite with galena, quartz variety amethyst, and minor hematite
Specimen, Commodore Mine, Amethyst vein system, Creede mining district, Colorado. Raines, Ed. Colorado School of Mines, Geology Museum.
Cerussite
Intergrowth of white cyclically twinned crystals, Bulldog Mine, Bulldog vein, Creede mining district, Colorado. Raines, Ed. Colorado School of Mines, Geology Museum.
Silver minerals in petrified wood
Petrified wood found in the Monkeymeyer standstone unit of the Creede formation, with sufficient mineralization to be ore. Monkeymeyer Mine, Creede mining district, Colorado. Raines, Ed. Colorado School of Mines, Geology Museum.
More on Creede
A Silver Camp Called Creede by Call Number: F784.C795 H87 2005ISBN: 193273886XPublication Date: 2005-07-01- History, geology, and environmental setting of selected mines near Creede, Rio Grande National Forest, Mineral County, Colorado byPublication Date: 2000Colorado Geological Survey Open File Report 99-18
- Geology, vein petrography and mineral chemistry of the North Amethyst deposit, Creede mining district, Creede, Colorado byPublication Date: 2016Thesis, Colorado School of Mines
The Beginning of Creede
Following several relatively insignificant discoveries in the area, Nicholas C. Creede (real name‑William Harvey) located the Holy Moses Mine on East Willow Creek in 1889. Prominent Denver banker, mining-magnate, and railroad-man David Moffat financed successful exploration efforts that resulted in several productive claims being staked, and personally financed a spur rail line into Creede. This assured a steady stream of prospectors, entrepreneurs, business men and women, along with a wide assortment of the ner-do-wells that joined each new mining boom town. And Creede BOOMED. Loudly. The stories of the boom are among the state’s most colorful.
Mineral Deposits
The Creede District's mineral deposits are tied directly to the geology of the San Juan Mountains. The precious metal bearing veins are located along a major fault system formed during the collapse of a volcano in what must have been a spectacular fireworks show and just one of a series of massive volcanic eruptions nested in the huge LaGarita Volcanic Caldera, one of the largest such features known.
The CSM Geology Museum is home to several collections of specimens from Creede’s deposits. (Courtesy, Ed Raines, Mines Geology Museum, 2018.)
Map of the Creede District
