Gilman Mine, Gilman, Colorado
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Ed Koch starting the repair and reconditioning of a rocker dump mine car. This mine car has become unserviceable since the bottom and end are worn through. The car will receive new steel section plates and be completely reconditioned.
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Standing above the cavern in the Gilman mine where the ball and rod mills are housed. The mills are on an incline for gravity feed down to the loading docks.
At the center right of the photo, steel rods are stacked for use in the rod mill.
3) Repair shop
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Beth McIlnay, Lucille Riggle and Everett Limatta (far right) are standing in the repair shop in the Gilman mine.
4) Repair area
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From far left: Chuck Colby, Berniece Chadwick and Davy Burnett. Jean Flaherty is at far right.
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The loading tipple is at far left where products would be transferred to railroad cars for shipment. The "Bull Gang" managed loading and maintenance in the Eagle River canyon. Robert E. Riggle was Bull Gang chief at one point.
The stairway at center goes into a mine entrance at about the 17 level. There are 80 feet between levels in the Gilman mine.
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The lathes were for working steel. They could straighten bent drill steel, put new ends on the rods and send them back for reuse. The Gilman shop reused as much equipment and supplies as was possible.
9) Drilling
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Miner using a compressed air rock drill at the Gilman Mine. A battery operated miner's light is attached to his helmet, with the cord running to the light.
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At 16 level, the ore train would dump rock into the large pit (Grizzly) at the bottom of which was located a jaw crusher. The crusher would send the ore into the ball mill and rod mill where the ore was pulverized to a fine powder.
Inside the ball mill, there would be ore and steel balls, approximately 10 in. in diameter. As the mill rotated, the ore was crushed by the balls. Eventually, the balls would wear down and Bob Riggle remembers his dad...
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Frank Jones using one of the lathes to cut centers on the shaft of a bucket elevator tail pulley used in the Milling Department.
12) Flotation area
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Floation area for the zinc ore at Gilman. Flotation tables were used to seperate the zinc and lead from the waste in the mining process. Further processing separated the lead and the zinc.
13) Repair shop
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More steel milling machiner in the repair shop. The lathe at center is approximately 20 feet long.
14) Zinc dryer
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The dryer building for zinc is at the far right. The zinc slurry would be heated and dried, leaving a very fine zinc powder. The powder was shipped in sealed box cars as it was so fine it would blow away in an open car. The rail line for shipping runs through the Eagle River Canyon (Belden area) so the final products for shipping were finished at this level.
15) Soda ash machine
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Platform leading to the soda ash machine at the Gilman Mine. Soda ash (also called washing soda, sodium carbonate Na2CO3) was one of the chemicals used to clean the ore. The large pipe on the left is for ventilation of the soda ash work area.
16) Tamping dynamite
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Tamping in dynamite prior to blasting a section at Gilman. Holes that have been prepared are shown with electrical connections to the blasting caps and the dynamite. Joe Fear prepared the blasting caps on the surface. Bottom series of holes were detonated first to keep the miners from having to work so much loose debris - a true demonstration of the principle of gravity.
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Belden as seen from Gilman. On the left are the loading tippel, steam room and dryer. Loading tippel is extended over the railroad cars to be filled with ore. A surface tram carrying ore ready for loading is visible behind the loading tippel.
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Ed Koch welding a repair on a "yellow car", a rocker dump car, which dumped ore to the side. The frame and wheels can be seen in the lower front foreground.
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At right is the ball mill. At left is the rod mill. The mills are on an incline for gravity feed down to the loading docks.
At the center right of the photo, steel rods are stacked for use in the rod mill.
20) Surface tram
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The surface tram from Belden to the top of the mine complex at Gilman during a tour of the Gilman mine. The Grass Mountain Nightrider Snowmobile Club organized the tour. Durbin McIlnay would have been mine superintendent at that time.
There are 28 photos in this series taken by Bob Riggle, the only color series of which I'm aware. Should you question the captions or have further information, please let us know.
