The Jumbo Mine Site is located in the White River National Forest in central Colorado, approximately 8 miles east of Keystone just on the west side of the Continental Divide. The Site is located on private land and consists of a relatively small set of mine workings. The Jumbo Mine operated from 1915 to 1918 and produced gold, copper, lead, silver, and zinc.
Peru Creek, the Snake River, and several of its other tributaries are located near the mine site. The streams have high concentrations of dissolved cadmium, copper, lead and zinc. Work has been done to study the problems in the watershed, beginning at least in the early 1970s. Most of this work has focused in the tributary Peru Creek, which is home to the largest, longest serving mine in the watershed, the Pennsylvania Mine. The Pennsylvania Mine has been addressed by the EPA and the Jumbo Mine time-critical removal action involves the diversion of mine drainage away from and around waste rock piles.
The diversion will be accomplished with the construction of a membrane and lime stone lined channel from the front of the adit to the edge of the waste rock pile and back into the original water channel. A membrane and lime stone lined channel will also be constructed along the base of the waste rock pile to collect leachate from the waste rock pile and then it will be connected to the other channel.
