Re: Montrose-Ouray ore service

Concentrate, or cons as they are called, are typically lead and zinc, and in those cons will be found some gold and silver, plus other metals depending on the source. Shipping of cons continued long after the narrow gauge was abandoned. Standard gauge concentrate hauling was from Ridgway until the Ridgway dam was built, then cons were hauled by truck to Montrose for trans loading to standard gauge cars. This lasted until 1991 when the Sunnyside Mine in Silverton closed. The Idarado also shipped by rail from Montrose until that operation closed in Telluride in 1978. Because cons have significant value, and they were carried in open gondolas in later years, each load was sprayed with a sealant to keep the wind from blowing the dry cons on top of the load out to the surrounding countryside. Most of the gold is removed at the mill through the use of concentrating tables (Wilfley type) or other means and in Silverton, was melted into what was called a sponge, poured into steel cans much like a paint can, and then mailed at the post office to the refinery in New Jersey. It was not at all uncommon to see the mine's secretary hauling the can, painted black and welded shut, into the post office with the rest of the out going mail.

At the mill in Silverton, there are separate bins for cons of either lead or zinc, and they are transported separately. We rent one of those bins now for storage and they are large enough to get a fair sized front end loader in to scoop up the dried cons as they finish the milling cycle. The yearly production from the Sunnyside in later years was in the millions of pounds of concentrates.