Summitville, Colorado - Summitville: The Discovery of a Solfataric Gold Ore Body

Over the past 14 years, the efforts of 2 companies and several individuals have outlined a major solfataric gold ore body in the Summitville district in the southeast San Juan Mountains of Colorado. The hard work of these years could not have flowered without a dedication to modern exploration methods, an intense interest in new theories of ore genesis, and a relentless discontent with the accepted geology of the Summitville area. To set the stage for this discovery period, it must be noted that it began 100 years after gold was first found at Summitville. It was the height of the "porphyry copper" era and gold was still not a part of the explorationists' portfolio. It was also a time of great intellectual stimulation. Theories were rapidly developing to relate different types of ore deposition and to place ore genesis within the fabric of plate tectonics. Summitville itself had just been linked to the newly discovered Platoro caldera complex and the Platoro lineament. This in turn related Summitville to the other San Juan volcanic field caldera ore deposits.