Cripple Creek

Cripple Creek, Colorado, is a famous gold district notable among collectors for its gold-telluride minerals, formed within an ancient volcanic centre.

Gold in a volcanic diatreme

The Cripple Creek deposit sits in a Tertiary volcanic diatreme, where hydrothermal fluids deposited gold not as the native metal but largely combined with tellurium — an unusual and prized style of gold mineralisation.

Signature minerals

The district is known for the gold tellurides calaverite and sylvanite, along with native gold, fluorite and quartz. Telluride specimens from Cripple Creek are classic American gold-district minerals.