Highway of Legends
New Elk Mine, CO

As far as mines in this area go, the New Elk Mine is one of the relatively new ones to be developed. The mine was first called Apache Prospect when it opened in 1946, and subsequently changed ownership and name to Allen Mine. Another mine, Maxwell Mine, was established and these two mines are the only active ones in recent years. In 1991 the Allen Mine became the New Elk, and Maxwell became the Golden Eagle.

Today, underground mining is done only at the Golden Eagle. The New Elk site is a processing plant, where the coal is washed and prepared for shipping. The large pipe crossing above Highway 12 at Milepost 29.4 carries refuse from the washed coal to a dumpsite.

Annual production at the Golden Eagle is 1.2 million tons of coal, which is shipped by train out of the Valley.