Lebanon Mine Tour

Started in 1870, Lebanon was only one of 50 mines in the Georgetown region still producing ore by 1885. The mine reached its longest point of 1,200 feet in 1886. The silver crash in 1893 resulted in its closure. Today, the mine is a tourist destination that is accessed via the Georgetown Loop Railroad. There are a couple of mine tour options: the Lebanon Silver Mine Tour with Gold Panning, and the Lebanon Extension Mine Tour. The Lebanon Silver Mine Tour takes visitors 500 feet into the mine, and after the tour everyone gets to pan for gold. The Extension Mine Tour takes guests 1000 feet into Leavenworth Mountain via the Lebanon Tunnel. Mine tour guides provide a wealth of mining information on each of the tours. Exploring these tunnels requires sturdy footwear and a jacket since temperatures in the mines stay around 44° F.

Everette Tunnel Portal

Lebanon Tunnel Portal and Connor's Head (our tour guide)

Water filled Winze
(interior vertical shaft leading to lower levels)

Drift (interior tunnel only open at one end)

Silver Vein

Ore Cart Rails
(triple rails allowed use of different size ore carts)

Connor, our tour guide

Another Drift

Possibly iron mineral mixed with calcite

The stope in the photo to the right was cut into the Morning Star Lode, one of ten different veins of silver ore the Lebanon Tunnel intersected. The stope rises about 150 feet. The steam-driven hoist (far right photo) raised and lowered men and ore through a winz in the stope.

Stope containing old mining equipment

Mine hoist (winch)

Pulley or Belt Wheel
Heart cutouts for good luck

Calcite Flowstone

Drifter (Rock) Drill and support

Another Drift

Petrified Hobnail Boot Print

There was no electricity in the Lebanon Mine and the miners worked by candlelight. The candles used produced very little smoke and burned down at the rate of about one inch per hour. Each miner was issued 3 candles which was about enough for a ten hour shift. The tin can in the photo served as a kind of lampshade to direct the candlelight out the hole in the bottom of the can. The candle was inserted in a hole in the side of the can.

Miner's Candle

Information for this photoessay was obained from University of Northern Colorado virtual-field-trips-lebanon-mine and uncovercolorado.com
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