Abandoned Copper, Gold & Silver Mine

We went for a ride heading west of Truth or Consequences (TrC) on the Lake Valley Scenic Byway. It goes to the old mining town of Hillsboro which is now full of artists and antiques. We stopped at a cafe that was in a very old building full of old mining, horse and logging gear. This little cafe is very popular and known for their bumbleberry pie a la mode. Yummy -- all kinds of berries go into the pie. The scenic byway goes south from here to an old ghost town but we turned back east.

We wanted to check out an abandoned copper mine that has a lake at the bottom of it. Its about 5 miles east of Hillsboro. We got to the open pit mine after following about 5 miles of gravel road. You wouldn't want to drive a car the last 1/2 mile or so of the road as it goes down to the lake. It's worth the drive once you get there. The water in the lake is the brightest blue we've ever seen. It must be because of the minerals in the rock bottom of the lake. The shore of the lake is full of rock coated with delicate white and brown crystalline formations. I tried to get a picture of the crystal stuff and a piece of copper ore. This mine also had some gold and silver mined out of it. The mining operation shut down in the 1980's but according to the sign might be reopened if copper prices go high enough. Hmmm -- I thought copper prices were pretty high now.

On the way back to the highway we stopped at an old mine shaft. Jim had to go check it out -- there was still machinery around it that was just abandoned. It was hard to tell if it was part of the bigger mining operation or not. It looked like someone had staked their own little mining claim after the big mine shut down but then eventually gave up. These old mines are dangerous to say the least, unstable, noxious gases, critters, etc. We would never go in one but it would be fun to at least shine a light inside it.