“Eye Candy” of the Victor-Cripple Creek Mining District

Besides being a world-class gold deposit, the Victor-Cripple Creek district has produced fine examples of dozens of minerals that grace major private and museum collections world-wide. This talk will briefly cover the geologic history and major geologic features of the district and how these relate to its mineral riches. Bob will show photos of “mineral eye candy” from his own and other private collections and from that of the Cripple Creek District Museum. The talk will be non-technical and is designed to give viewers a greater appreciation for one of Teller County’s premier, world famous geologic wonders. Questions will be encouraged, and you are welcome to bring specimens to “show and tell.”

C.R. (Bob) Carnein received degrees in geology and glaciology from Ohio State before returning to his native Pennsylvania, where he taught geology for 37 years at Waynesburg College and Lock Haven University. While at Waynesburg, Bob took charge of the Waynesburg College Geology Field Station, in Florissant, Colorado, where he taught geology field methods during most summers from 1971 through 1988. Bob and his wife Nell lived in Pennsylvania until both retired from teaching in 2007, at which point they moved to their current address near Divide.

Bob has collected minerals since 1954 and, thanks to the Teller County connection, has amassed a representative selection of Cripple Creek minerals. He has published articles about Cripple Creek in the “Mineralogical Record”, a mineral periodical, and in a Colorado School of Mines symposium volume from 2017. Between 2012 and 2017, he worked with Steven Veatch and John Rakowski to photograph and catalog the minerals in the collection of the Cripple Creek District Museum.