A few miles southwest of Idaho Springs, another mining area had a
similar, though less productive, history. In 1859, placer and lode gold
were discovered near what is now Georgetown. Placer mining dominated
here between 1859 and 1863. Gravel and crushed rock from decomposed
quartz and sulfide veins were washed through sluiceboxes in the same way
as placer gravel, gold being caught in riffles or gunny sacking on the
bottoms of the troughs. The veins were found to be decomposed to depths
of about 40 feet; below this the gold occurred closely associated with
sulfides such as pyrite, sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite, from
which it could not easily be separated. However, smelters were developed
in 1866 for treatment of these sulfides, and gold, silver, lead, and
copper were recovered. Gradually, as the gold was worked out, silver and
lead became the important products of the mines.
[Illustration: Sluicebox mining was a common sight near the early gold
camps, where primary recovery was from placer deposits or decomposed
quartz and sulfide veins. (State Historical Society of Colorado photo)]