Climax District

Location: Colorado, United States (39.755, -105.884 approx.)

Commodities: molybdenum; tungsten; rhenium; platinum-group elements; tin; rare earth elements

Exploration and site history

• History: “The molybdenite, however, was at first mistaken for galena and later for graphite, even as late as 1890. Its yellow oxidation product, molybdenite, was also mistaken first for a silver mineral and later for Sulphur, as assays showed no silver. Just when these minerals were correctly identified is not known, but they were certainly recognized by one man in 1895 and by the Colorado School of Mines in 1900. The district, like the surrounding region, was prospected for gold, and in 1902 an adit was started by H. Leal to explore a supposed gold-bearing fissure. Molybdenite was recognized during the driving of the last several hundred feet. The adit, still known as the Leal tunnel, passed through several hundred feet of molybdenite ore that carried about 1 percent of MoS2, which with the talus slopes of ore was so striking and indicated so large a tonnage that it naturally interested miners.” (Henderson (1933))

Record imported from USGS USMIN ver. 4.0 (June 2019). Developments after that date appear on facility records, not here; see the methodology.