Geology and ore deposits of the Rico District, Colorado

The Rico district is in the Dolores River valley at the east end of Dolores County in southwestern Colorado. Mining has been actively carried on in the district since 1879. In the early days, silver was the chief product and was mined largely from Newman Hill southeast of the town of Rico. After 1900, the base metals, particularly lead and zinc, mined in other parts of the district, became the major products, though silver remained an important byproduct. The production of the Rico district from 1879 to 1968 has been about 83,000 ounces gold, 14,500,000 ounces silver, 5,600 tons copper, 84,000 tons lead, and 83,000 tons zinc.