SUMMITVILLE- It was 45 years ago when a local equipment operator working with a group of geologists completing a survey of Summitville’s southernmost mountain found what was hailed to be the largest gold specimen found on the site in years.

In 1975, while working the roads surrounding the area, the equipment operator found the 141-pound specimen lying in the ditch on the side of a road. According to records, it took two men to lift the heavy boulder into a pickup for further inspection and as it turned out, the boulder ended up being the richest gold specimen to be found at Summitville since the mine’s closure.

The specimen found by the operator ended up being a 141-pound chunk of almost pure gold. Records indicate that the boulder came from the Little Annie Vein through natural process. After testing, it was determined that the boulder contained 350 troy ounces of gold as well as silicified quartz latite, fine grained crystalline quartz and crystalized gold.

The operator that found the boulder was promised originally to be awarded half of the specimen but it was later determined that because it was found on a patented mining claim that he would receive a finder’s fee which amounted to about $21,000 or 10 percent of the full worth of the specimen. The boulder was later determined to be worth about $500,000 and was donated by the Reynolds Mining Co. to the Denver Museum of Natural History where is resides today.