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United States

Cripple Creek & Victor Mine

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Summary

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
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SnapshotCripple Creek & Victor (CC&V) mine is modern, high-tech operations allow for responsible surface mining of various ore types with heap leaching facilities and a mill located on-site. The mill is currently idled. In 2021, operations were transitioned to leach-only production.

Mining in the Cripple Creek district dates back to the 1890’s, with large-scale surface mining commencing in 1994. CC&V is an epithermal gold deposit associated with alkalic intrusive rocks mined via conventional open pit mining methods. All of the current Mineral Reserves are oxides, which are stacked on valley leach facilities as either run-of-mine material or after a two-stage crush.

Ore is currently sourced from the Globe Hill, Schist Island, and South Cresson areas. Currently permitted and available leach pad capacity is more than 125M short tons; in 2024, Newmont applied for a permit amendment with the scope to add another 189M short tons of leach pad capacity.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
SSR Mining Inc. 100 % Indirect
The project was 100% owned by Newmont through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company LLC.

SSR Mining Inc. is announced that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine (“CC&V”) in Colorado from Newmont Corporation in an all-cash deal for $100 million in upfront consideration and up to $175 million in additional milestone-based payments.

On March 3, 2025, Newmont Corporation announced that it had completed the previously disclosed sales of Éléonore operations in Canada.

Deposit type

  • Epithermal
  • Vein / narrow vein

Summary:

Cripple Creek & Victor is an epithermal alkalic deposit.

The Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mine lies within an alkaline diatreme, or a volcanic pipe formed by an a gas explosion, that measures approximately 18 square kilometers, or 7 square miles (Thompson et al., 1985, Kelly et al., 1998, and Leichliter and Larson, 2011). The basement units are granodiorite, gneisss, monzonite, and granite. Inside the diatreme, there are many different lithologies: breccia, phonolites (porphyritic and aphanitic), phonotephrite, tephriphonolite, syenite, and lamprophyres (Thompson, 1992, Jensen, 2003, Jensen and Barton, 2007, and Leichliter and Larson, 2011). The main rock type in the diatreme is the breccia, which is composed of pieces of both the basement and intrusive rocks.

The upper portion of the ore body is oxidized (jarosite, goethite, hematite, limonite, and other iron and manganese oxides) (Leichliter and Larson, 2011). As mining progresses downward, the ore body becomes less oxidized and more sulfidic. Pyrite is the most common sulfide, but molybdenite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite, sphalerite, and galena are present (Leichliter and Larson, 2011).

The gold mineralization occurs in every rock type and is mostly controlled by structure. It can occur as native gold, electrum, gold tellurides, gold-silver tellurides, and with sulfides (Leichliter and Larson, 2011). Silver is also present, but to a lesser degree than gold. There are also many different types of tellurides in the district, beside the gold and silver (Leichliter and Larson, 2011).

The gold mineralization is related to potassic alteration (potassic feldspar (adularia), pyrite (sulfide) and quartz). There are minor amounts of argillic alteration (sericite, illite, kaolinite, smectite, and montmorillonite). Gold is mainly located in the veins (1- 10 cm wide) or in the potassic alteration halo of those veins. The veins usually contain quartz, sulfides, and/or tellurides and fluorite. When altered, these veins contain gold, oxides, and clay. The small, fine-grained gold is widespread with the sulfides (Leichliter and Larson, 2011).

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

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EV - Electric

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Commodity Production

A reduction in 2022 full-year production due to the transition to a higher-value, longer-life leach-only operation in the second quarter of 2022.
CommodityUnits2024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Gold koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe322360451396198
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.

Operational metrics

Metrics20242023202220212020
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Production Costs

CommodityUnits20242023202220212020201920182017
Credits (by-product) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Cash costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Total cash costs Gold USD
Total cash costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 911 / oz **   727 / oz **   624 / oz **  
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold USD
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1,071 / oz **   840 / oz **   729 / oz **  
** Net of By-Product.

Mine Financials

Units20242023202220212020201920182017
Capital expenditures M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 35   29   33  
Sustaining costs M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 29   33  
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 445  
Pre-tax Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 39   89   153  

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 20, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 20, 2025

Workforce

EmployeesTotal WorkforceYear
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Aerial view:

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