Colorado: the beautiful home of the SME

Coronavirus permitting, my next venture out of Cornwall will be next February for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) in Denver. The "mile-high city" is the home of the SME, its headquarters being in the suburb of Littleton.

Denver

I first attended an SME Meeting in 1987, held in Denver, and over the years the SME Annual Meeting has become a regular fixture in my diary, and because of it I have had the opportunity of visiting many American cities, but none better than Denver, where the meeting is now held every other year.

Barbara accompanied me to Denver for the first time in 1991, and this was perhaps our most memorable visit, as it gave us the chance to explore beautiful Colorado, and particularly the old mining towns in the Rocky Mountains. It is a magical area and my only regret is that our many visits have been only in winter, as I am sure that summer in Colorado would be equally as stunning.

We arrived at Denver International Airport in February 1991 totally exhausted!  In the previous week we had been in Singapore for Minerals Engineering '91 (MEI Blog 20 February 2011). After a 14 hour flight to Heathrow, we transferred to Gatwick Airport for the 10 hour flight to Denver, a total of 15 time zones.

We were with Phil Newall, of CSM Associates, the organisers of Minerals Engineering '91, and in Denver we met up with Nigel Powell and Connor Spollen, of Camborne School of Mines. Nigel was a lecturer in mathematics and Connor a final year student. Connor's final year project, supervised by me and Nigel had led to a paper which Nigel would present at the SME Meeting.

At the Paramount Cafe, Denver, with Nigel, Connor and Phil

As this was the first time that Barbara, Phil, Nigel and Connor had visited USA, we had set aside a week after the meeting to explore the Rocky Mountains area close to Denver.

A visit to Golden gave us the chance to see the "other CSM", the Colorado School of Mines, and to spend a memorable evening with Errol and Jan Kelly. Errol was a visiting Professor from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and a co-author with David Spottiswood, of Colorado SoM, of the text-book Introduction to Mineral Processing, which had been published 9 years earlier.

Golden, and the Colorado School of Mines

In Golden with Errol Kelly (centre) and his wife Jan

From Golden we travelled to Colorado Springs to the Garden of the Gods, with its towering red sandstone rock formations against a background of snow-capped 4,302 m high Pikes Peak.

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs

In the background is Pikes Peak

Then on to Central City, a historic mining settlement founded in 1859 during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush, and which came to be known as the "richest square mile on earth" a soubriquet shared by the Gwennap copper mining district of Cornwall (MEI Blog 27 October 2018).

Central City

Stamp Mills- a reminder of the mining legacy

Crossing the Continental Divide we spent our last few days in the Summit County ski resort of Copper Mountain, debut skiing for Barbara, Nigel and Connor, and only my 2nd venture on skis.

With Connor, Nigel and Phil at Copper Mountain

1990s ski fashions on display at Copper Mountain

So impressed were we with the snow, lifts and people at Copper Mountain that in all our subsequent travels to Denver for the SME Meeting we have always found time to take the Colorado Express shuttle from the airport into the Rockies, and have based ourselves in the lovely old Victorian town of Breckenridge. The town was founded in the mid 19th century to serve the miners working rich placer gold deposits along the Blue River, hard rock mining soon following as the prospectors followed the gold source to its veins in the hills.

Breckenridge main street

One of the old alluvial gold dredges, now converted into a restaurant

The skiing at Breckenridge is superb and for those of you who might visit I published my favourite route in the posting of 27 February 2015.

Barbara skiing down to Breckenridge with the Continental Divide in the background

So for those of you who are thinking of attending the next SME Meeting, if you love the mountains, mining history and beautiful scenery I would strongly recommend you plan to stay a few days in Colorado. It is magnificent- I just wish that we could see it in summer!

@barrywills

Preparing for the descent to Denver

Barbara and I are in Breckenridge, USA all this week. This is our 9th visit to this 19th century gold mining town, set at an altitude of 9,600 ft in the Colorado Rocky Mountains  (see also posting of 12th February 2015). Just west of the Continental Divide, it is one the the largest and most visited ski areas in the world (see also posting of 27th February 2015), and one of the main reasons why Colorado is my favourite SME Meeting location!

On Saturday we descend to the mile-high city of Denver, and I will be reporting on news of mineral processing innovation and people for my annual SME report, which is scheduled for the blog on Friday 24th February.

So if you are at the meeting, and have news that you think may be of interest, please try to catch up with me. There will also be regular updates on the meeting, from me and others, on Twitter: #SME2017ACE

Twitter @barrywills

Skiing Breckenridge's five peaks

Apologies for this posting if you are not a skier, or if you have no intention of ever visiting Breckenridge in Colorado, where Barbara and I spent 10 nights prior to the SME in Denver.

If you are a skier then put Brecks on your list. It has something for everyone, very demanding double-black runs in steep bowls, and acres of well groomed blue and green runs for the intermediates and beginners. We have been eight times now, and although it can be very cold due to the high altitude (the town is at 9600 ft), the snow is as good as it gets, better in my opinion than in the much-hyped Utah, and much more reliable than in Europe.

Jon at 13000 ft in the demanding back-bowls

Barbara and friends at the top of N. America's highest chairlift

Amanda and Barbara 'cruising the blues'

Grandson William (5th from left) on the nursery slopes

The huge area consists of 187 trails on five interlinked peaks, and for the benefit of newcomers to the area, I have put together an easy itinerary which covers each peak, uses only 8 lifts, and never the same lift twice.

The route starts at Beaver Run near the base of Peak 9, which can be accessed by one of the many free ski buses from town. Take the Beaver Run Superchair, then drop down to the Mercury Superchair, where you follow the signs to the Falcon Superchair, which takes you up Peak 10.

One of the challenging Peak 10 double-black diamond runs

The runs down Peak 10 are fairly easy blacks, and a few challenging double-blacks, and lead down to the Peak 8 SuperConnect Chair, from where you take the long traverse to Peak 7 and then follow the signs to Peak 6 for the Zendo Chair and the Kensho Superchair, which takes you up to the highest point on this route, just over 12,300 ft on Peak 6 for some great bowl skiing.

The Peak 6 bowl

From here it is a long and glorious descent to the base of Peak 7 and the Independence Superchair, from where you take one of the many trails down to the Peak 8 base. From here take the Colorado Superchair  up Peak 8, and then descend all the way to Main Street in town via the Four O'Clock run.

You will have covered 23 miles of terrain with a vertical descent of around 10,500 ft, and will be ready to explore all the other options that Breckenridge has to offer. Enjoy!

Preparing for the descent to Colorado's mile high city

Acclimatising for the SME Meeting in Denver at 1600 m, Barbara and I are in our favourite American town, Breckenridge, Colorado, at an altitude of 2926 m (9600 ft).

Famous now as an alpine ski resort, Breckenridge was founded in 1859 to serve the miners working rich placer gold deposits discovered along the Blue River, a tributary of the Colorado River. Placer gold mining was soon joined by hard rock mining, as prospectors followed the gold to its source veins in the hills. Gold production decreased in the late 1800s, but revived in 1908 by gold dredging operations along the Blue River and Swan River. The Breckenridge mining district is credited with production of about 31,000 kg of gold.

The Dredge Restaurant, a reminder of the town's gold mining past

Just west of the Continental Divide in Summit County, Breckenridge is one of the most visited ski resorts in the western hemisphere, and its Main Street still has the atmosphere of an old mining town, with its buildings which have stood for over 100 years. And it has great restaurants with, unheard of in America, not a McDonalds in sight!

Main Street, Breckenridge

Blue River at dusk

International ice sculpture competition

We had perfect skiing conditions during our 10 nights in 'Brecks', and our 8th visit to this great town.

Peak 8 base

Solitude on one of the 187 trails

2500ft above Breckenridge with a great view of the Continental Divide

Acclimatisation in Colorado's Rocky Mountains

Barbara and I are in our favourite American town, the Victorian gold mining town of Breckenridge, 9600 ft (2900m) high in the Colorado Rockies. We are here for nine days before descending to Denver, the "mile-high city" for next week's SME Annual meeting.


My first SME was in Denver in 1987, and I have missed very few since then, attending meetings not only in Denver but also in Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Reno, Albuquerque and Cincinnati.

But Denver is my favourite venue, not only for the pre-conference skiing in the nearby mountains, but also because Denver has one of the best Downtown areas in any American city, with great restaurants and amenities.

Barbara and I leave Breckenridge on Sunday for registration and the opening of the exhibition.

My report on the event is scheduled for publication on the blog on March 1st, so if you are at the meeting next week, and have any innovative mineral processing news, please try to let me know in advance.

There will be regular updates on the SME on Twitter (@barrywills), the latest of which can be seen in the right-hand column of the blog.

SME '09- relaxing after a hard day

Jon and I relaxing on the 16th Street Mall, Denver, after a hard day at the SME exhibit.

I would say that the number of booths was about the same as in previous years, but fewer people were present to man them. For instance we talked to one major manufacturer who normally has a 40-man presence, this year cut to 20.

I cannot comment on the technical presentations at the conference, but I look forward to receiving Fathi Habashi's report in due course.

It will be interesting to see how the economy affects next year's event, which will be held in Phoenix, Arizona.

Eric Forssberg in Denver

Arrived in Denver mid-day and had a quick walk down 16th Street mall, hunting for mineral processors. Spotted a very eminent one, Prof. Eric Forssberg, of Lulea University, Sweden, and his wife Ebba, pictured here with Jon at Starbuck's coffee.

As most people will know, Eric is a former chairman of the IMPC.

Farewell to Breckenridge

Our ski holiday in Breckenridge is now at an end, and tomorrow we travel to Denver for the SME Annual Meeting.

I have to say that skiing in USA is always a pleasure. Apart from excellent snow, the lift attendants are friendly, people talk to you on the lifts, and on the rare occasion when there is a long lift queue (line), everyone behaves in a disciplined fashion. Anyone wanting to experience the opposite should try skiing in France!

Breckenridge

Breckenridge really is a very pleasant Victorian gold mining town, with some fine restaurants and shops. At an altitude of 2926 metres, it does literally take your breath away!!

I would definitely recommend Breckenridge to anyone visiting Denver, and who has a few days to spare. Also highly recommended are the Pine Ridge Condominiums, where we have stayed during our last two visits. Five minutes walk from Main Street, they are also 50 metres from the ski bus stop, and you can ski directly to your door in the evening, the condos being situated on the side of the 'Four O'Clock' run.

Breckenridge

Another very cold (-10C) day, and snowing heavily on the mountain. Slept in a little later this morning- checking email at 5am! Nothing in of real interest.