Old U.S Silver Mining Town Jumps Back to Life

By Joel ScanlonMar 21 2011

The Rio Grande Mining Co which was acquired by Aurcana Corp. in 2008 is now hoping to give a new lease of life to a mine located in what is considered a ghost town.

The original mine was opened in 1880 and the town used to be home to about 1,500 people back in 1943. The West Texas mine was closed in 1942 due to the declining price of silver. However the mine had been the most reliable source of silver for the United States during the time of its operations.

The Canadian company has seen the rising price of silver as good incentive to get the mine up and running again. They are currently building roads and installing underground mining equipment on site. Sandy McVey, the project manager said that the price of silver makes it a viable project and they needed to get the mine up before the window of opportunity closes.

The town which has barely 60 residents has suddenly seem more action around it than in half a century. The Rio Grande Mining Co hopes to produce 800 pound silver bars from what will be Texas’ solo silver mine by the end of next year. The mine is to produce half the silver that the current largest silver mine in Alaska produces.