| 11/10/2009 9:18:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
|
| The upper camp of Climax Molybdenum Company on the west side of Bartlett Mountain as it appeared about 1918. Photo courtesy of National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum |
|
Museum designs exhibit regarding Climax story
by Steve Voynick Special to the Herald Democrat
During the next four weeks, the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum and author Steve Voynick will provide a brief history of the Climax mine.
The mining museum is designing an exhibit regarding the story of the mine.
This history is intended to prompt readers to think about and be willing to share personal stories and historical events, artifacts and documents that have been collecting dust in addition to suggesting exhibit design ideas.
The Climax story:
1890-1918
The story of the Climax mine began 130 years ago when prospector Charles Senter discovered an enormous low-grade deposit of an unknown mineral in Bartlett Mountain near Fremont Pass
Fifteen years passed before mineralogists correctly identified the mineral as molybdenite, a disulfide of molybdenum and the only known ore of that metal. Then, however, molybdenum was a laboratory curiosity with no uses and no value.
But by the early 1900s, French and German metallurgists determined molybdenum had a high melting point and remarkable ability to enhance durability, toughness, corrosion-resistance and thermal performance of steel alloys.
When war erupted in Europe in 1914, Germany unexpectedly unveiled an arsenal of molybdenum-steel gun barrels and armor far superior to those of the Allies.
As wartime demand sent molybdenum prices soaring, prospectors and speculators rushed to the tiny railroad water stop named Climax atop Fremont Pass.
Of three companies that battled for control of Bartlett Mountain, Climax Molybdenum Company emerged victorious and began mining and milling molybdenite ore in February 1918, at about 250 tons per day.
Molybdenum alloys proved invaluable for the Allies in weapons-grade steel, armor, and aircraft engines.
Production at Climax lasted only 10 months and the mine closed when the molybdenum market collapsed after the Armistice of November 1918. - Steve Voynick
Next week Voynick will recount The Climax story: 1919-1945.
Readers may e-mail the National Mining Museum at climaxexhibit10@yahoo.com with anything they are willing to share. More information is available by calling 486-1229 or stopping at 120 W. Ninth St., Leadville.
|
Article Comment Submission Form
|
