Dip your pan into Clear Creek history at Phoenix Gold Mine

owned since 1968, still has the permits and abilities to mine. ough Mosch explained his long lineage of prospectors fell more in love with the educational aspect of the mine.

BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE OLOVE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

If you fancy yourself a modernday prospector or just want to get in touch with the rich history in Clear Creek County, you could strike gold at the Phoenix Gold Mine in Idaho Springs.

Phoenix Gold Mine Tours and Panning o ers year-round tours of the underground mine and lessons on how to pan for gold. In the spring, participants can pan for gold in the Rocky Mountain Creek on site and keep what they nd; it’s naturally stocked with gold and minerals, according to owner David Mosch. “People actually have over the years found substantial pieces,” Mosch said.

By substantial, he estimated pieces of gold that could fetch around $500. e mine, which has been family- e method has long been one of the cheapest and most accessible ways to nd gold, and at the Phoenix Mine, you can still do it today.

“One thing led to another, and we started making more money showing people the mine than actually mining,” he said.

Phoenix Gold Mine estimates that it has produced over 100,000 troy ounces — the system of weights for precious metals and gems — of gold.

Mosch estimated that Idaho Springs has produced a million troy ounces of gold, but not much since the 1950s.

According to Mosch, the old folk story of how panning for gold came to be comes from a man camping along a creekside. e story goes that he was scouring his pan with gravel from the creek, and as the rocks fell away, he was left with pieces of gold.