History of the Hopemore Mine
High on the east side of Leadville Colorado lies Breece Hill and the remains of the Ibex mining complex. This complex, which includes the famous Little Jonny mine, once partially owned by the wealthy J.J. Brown and his wife Margaret 'Molly' Brown is situated in what is referred to as the Leadville Gold Belt.
Although Leadville is most known for the copious amounts of silver it produced, it can be said that the Ibex group was, at one time, the richest producer of gold in the world. The prime mover and general manager of the Ibex was a man named John Campion. He mastered the geology of the Leadville district and systematically supervised the exploration and subsequent mining of the area through the creation of a number of mines deiignated by animal names. Among these were the Bison, Reindeer, Elk and, the most famous, the lbex.
A total of five shafts, 150 acres and some 40 miles of drifts made up the Ibex complex that methodically followed the deposit of gold bearing ore. It is said that within the first year of operation the Little Jonny/Ibex was paying its investors $1 million per year.
As reported by the Leadville newspaper in 1895:
"Some 860 were on the payroll. There are several stores there, a number of boarding houses, the highest Denver and Rio Grande train station, and the place has quite a thrifty and enterprising appearance. Directly and indirectly the Ibex group fumishes a livelihood for probably 4,000 people".
The Hopemore and Hunter shafts were not part of the original complex but were annexed and patented at a later date by Mr. Campion. At the 600-foot level of the Hopemore mine, one can look into the drift that connected the Hopemore to the number 4 shaft of the Ibex.
It is here, some 600 feet below the surface, in the drifts of the Hopemore Mine, that our visitors view portions of the ore body that yielded millions of dollars worth of gold in the 1890's, and experience firsthand what it was like to work underground.