By the time Charles Senter staked his claims on Bartlett Mountain in 1879, the trout were gone from Ten Mile Creek. It had been altered by smelting and mining that took place long before Climax began operations. Today, the trout are back.
Nearly a century of mining at Climax included the placement of nearly half a billion tons of tailings in the Ten Mile Creek drainage. Climax Molybdenum Company has spent tens of millions of dollars to develop a state-of-the-art treatment operation that has improved water quality to a point where anglers are regularly seen catching fish along the Ten Mile's banks.
A lime-precipitation process is used to treat mine wastewater in the tailings ponds. Ten Mile Creek is the only stream significantly affected by mining, even though the headwaters of both the Arkansas and Eagle rivers lie on Fremont Pass. The acidic mine water contains heavy metals like zinc and manganese. Treatment with lime causes the metals to precipitate into a solid form so they don't run downstream.
Colorado Highway 91 has been moved five times, at Climax expense, to expand the tailings ponds. Tens of thousands of trees have been planted to stabilize the re-contoured slopes.

Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.

Show me all markers in:  Leadville, CO  |  Lake County  |  80461  |  Colorado  |  United States of America

The Highest Compost Pile in the World
The Big Shot
More Than Just a Mine
Skiing on Top of the World
Top Secret
Welcome to Climax!
Climax
Highway in the Sky
Life on the High Line
Fremont Pass

• GPX
• KML
• LOC

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.