The Carissa Gold Mine at South Pass City was one of the Cowboy State’s most productive gold mines, drawing thousands of hopeful miners to South Pass City in 1867. The miners never found their mother lode, though, and the Carissa petered out within just a couple years.
The town — which, along with the mine, is a state historic site today — remains remote and all but deserted.
But a new gold explorer has been digging around in that area, and believes the old historic strike wasn’t far off the mark, after all. The old miners just lacked the technology to go deep enough. Past that level where water starts pouring into the mine.
Canada-based Relevant Gold, founded by geologists Rob Bergmann and Brian Lentz, say they have already found several promising metal belts in Wyoming, including one near the old Carissa Mine. And, unlike those historic miners, they do not lack the technology to go after it.
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They are gearing up for what they believe is going to be a transformational summer this year in Wyoming.
“When you look at historic mining projects, the reason they shut down is always economic,” Bergmann, Relevant Gold co-founder and CEO, told Cowboy State Daily. “That doesn’t mean the resource has necessarily run out, though. And that’s exactly what we see in South Pass.”
The Abitibi What?
The data Relevant Gold has collected includes both drilling samples, as well as new magnetic surveys, performed in partnership with Wyoming Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey. But it also includes historical geological information, which University of Wyoming scientists have known about for a while.
In fact, it was that research that led Bergmann to think that the area that is today Wyoming has been sitting on an immense gold belt deep below the surface of the earth. Maybe even Abitibi gold belt immense — a formation that spans Ontario and Quebec and is well-known in mining circles for producing tremendous amounts of gold.
The Abitibi belt formed between 2.6 to 2.8 billion years ago, a timeframe geologist have linked to volcanic activity that led to precious metal deposits like silver, gold, copper and nickel. The extension of the Abitibi formation into Wyoming was documented by University of Wyoming researcher Kevin Chamberlain.
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“His work is one of the reasons we were so attracted to Wyoming,” Bergmann said. “He has published the science showing there’s this connection to these old rocks from Canada in Wyoming.”
Other Gold Belts Exist
The Carissa Mine area isn’t the only place in Wyoming that Relevant Gold is exploring. In fact, this summer, the company plans to drill at its Bradley Peak project, which is located in the Seminoe Mountains near Rawlins.
“There was historic mining there, similar to South Pass City, and it’s never been drilled before,” Bergmann said. “We are the first to go test the rocks below the surface, to see if there are opportunities there to unlock value.”
Bergmann said the company will also be looking at several other areas throughout Wyoming, to find and flag the areas where it believes there’s the highest potential.
“We will put it through our systematic exploration process,” he said. “We start by looking at all the data to analyze an area, and then we’ll put a plan together for boots on the ground.”
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Bergmann said he and his partner, Lentz, have built a number of successful companies in the natural resource space, including one called Big Rock Exploration.
The success of that company allowed the duo to capitalize this new venture, Relevant Gold, in 2020, with a mission focused on following Canada’s Abitibi formation in Wyoming to map out its metal belts.
So far, they believe they’ve identified five, large-scale projects in Wyoming.
Children and adults gathered by the sides of Willow Creek during Gold Rush Days at South Pass City to try their hand at panning for gold. (Renée Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
Home and office of Esther Hobart Morris. (Renée Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
CK Project Near Cheyenne Still Going
While Relevant Gold’s headquarters is in Vancouver, Canada, the company does have a field office in Riverton, Wyoming, as well as an operational office in Minnesota. They listed on the Canadian exchange starting out because that venue is friendlier to a more speculative enterprise like a gold prospecting company.
Relevant Gold has been gaining steam, lately, though, with the data its team has put together on likely gold belts in Wyoming. That data attracted some high-powered investors, Bergmann said.
Among them is major gold producer Kinross Gold Corp., which has purchased a significant number of shares in the company, as well as prominent mining industry figure, William G. Bollinger, who has also placed a significant, multi-million dollar bet on the future of Relevant Gold.
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Bollinger, in a news release about his investment, said he believes Relevant Gold is on the cusp of a huge gold breakthrough, a breakthrough that’s happening in Wyoming.
“This substantial common share purchase is a mark of my confidence in this talented team and the highly prospective potential of this under explored and untapped resource,” he said in the statement.
Relevant Gold is now the second gold prospector to land in Wyoming. The other project, CK Gold Project, is located near Cheyenne at the site of the historic Copper King Mine, developed in 1881, in Wyoming’s Silver Crown Mining District.
That project ceased mining just before World War II, but mineable quantities of gold, copper, and other metals remain in the area.
That project is still underway, Cowboy State Daily has confirmed with the company that owns it, U.S. Gold Corp. They just released a study in January, exploring feasibility of the mine, and expect to begin production in 2027.
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Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
This month, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, is a fitting time for reflection. Our focus turns toward family and community, and the changing weather causes us to slow down. It is a good time to take stock of the society around us. The Thanksgiving holiday naturally turns our minds to what we are grateful for — what already exists that we cherish. Christmas is a holiday of hope, focused on the promise of what is yet to come. With these holidays in mind, let us reflect on what parts of our state we are thankful for and hopeful about.
Perhaps the thing Wyomingites hold most dear is our heritage. Culturally, we are descended from pioneers and settlers — or from those who came before — and we take that frontier heritage to heart. We value independence, community and overcoming challenges. We are willing to endure hardship to build a life that we want, and we are closely attuned to the natural world and the benefits that it provides. Above all else, we know that our perch in this place is still precarious. These are perspectives that are hard to find elsewhere. They set us apart. By embracing these values, we create a society that fits our circumstances. These ideas would not fit in other places, but they fit here, and for that I am grateful.
I am also thankful for the good stewardship of our forefathers. Wyoming is a harsh place and it’s challenging to thrive here. Most of our land is arid and inhospitable, our physical conditions are difficult, and we are remote from most modern conveniences and luxuries. With poor planning or shortsighted leadership, this place could easily fall into decline.
Fortunately, we have been blessed with the opposite. The state’s early settlers understood the importance of building the infrastructure that would allow for growth. When it became clear that natural resources would power our economy, our leaders decided to set aside large portions of the state’s mineral revenue to support us in perpetuity. The easy decision — the short-sighted decision — would have been to spend those dollars on the needs of the day. They certainly could have built some nice things, and those projects would have been popular. They also would have been fleeting. Because of wise leadership and decisions that focused on the long-term, we all benefit from our state’s bounty.
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Just as we are grateful for the good decisions of the past, we should be hopeful for the future. Despite our state’s challenges, there are many good reasons to have hope. First, our state is full of opportunity. We have space, natural resources, and the ability to be nimble when it comes to building regulatory structures that can support new industries. Our people are hard-working and determined. We have existing expertise in manufacturing and mining that is missing in many other parts of the country. Our climate and location give Wyoming an advantage in attracting computing facilities to locate here. If we take advantage of the opportunities in front of us, Wyoming is poised to thrive, and that gives me hope.
I am also hopeful because there appears to be a growing consensus on the issues we face, which allows us to better meet these challenges. In surveys and conversations about Wyoming’s future, the challenges of economic diversification and talent retention quickly rise to the top. We recognize where our weaknesses are, which is a significant part of the battle. Once we agree on the problem, we can work to find solutions.
Finding a fix is often an easier undertaking than identifying the problem itself. Already, drilling into these challenges has helped us recognize the underlying problems connected to affordable housing, livable spaces, health care access and education. Understanding how these fit together and how improvements in one area can lead to improvements in others puts us on a much more manageable path. It will still not be easy to overcome our hurdles, but the fact that we must wrestle with difficult problems is not unusual or unique. We have answered big questions before. Now that we have a growing consensus on what those problems are, I am far more hopeful about our ability to move forward.
In this holiday season, we should take the time to contemplate the world around us. Self-reflection is important. We should look both behind us and ahead of us, toward the past and gratitude and the future and hope. Our state gives us plenty to consider on both accounts.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Department of Transportation has reported that the ongoing high wind speeds throughout the state have caused 39 vehicles to crash on Wyoming highways so far this week, primarily between Dec. 9 and Dec. 11.
According to a report from WYDOT, most of the crashes occurred on Interstate 80 near Cooper Cove west of Laramie, on I-25 on Wyo Hill south of Cheyenne and along I-25 near Wheatland at Bordeaux. Many blown-over vehicles were underweight, and some trailers were even empty.
WYDOT updates the minimum weights listed on overhead digital messaging signs based on real-time wind speeds. Drivers are encouraged to check weight-based wind closure information often to ensure travel is permitted.
It’s not just commercial vehicles that are at risk, either; the department reports that campers, toy-haulers and other large trailers are also susceptible to blowing over in strong winds.
June skiing and pond-skimming at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado
Skiers and snowboarders soak in the sun and attempt to make it across a pond on a June day at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado
Snowy Range ski area is scheduled to open for the season on Dec. 12.
Daily lift ticket prices range from $40 for children to $69 for adults.
Snowy Range, one of the closest ski areas to Fort Collins, is scheduled to open for the season Dec. 12 and remain open through April 12, 2026.
The ski area had a snow depth of about 30 inches on Dec. 9, spokesperson Kate Lessman told the Coloradoan in an email.
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Daily lift tickets range in price from $59-$69 purchased onsite for adults, $52-$62 for teenagers ages 13-17 and $40-$50 for children ages 5-12. Children age 4 and younger and senior citizens age 70 and older can ski for free. Tickets purchased in advance online are discounted $5.
More: Complete Colorado ski resort guide
Snowy Range Ski and Recreation Area is located about 100 miles northwest of Fort Collins and 36 miles west of Laramie, Wyoming.
For additional information, visit the ski area’s website.
Coloradoan reporter Kelly Lyell can be reached at KellyLyell@coloradoan.com. Follow him on x.com/KellyLyell, threads.net/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.
