1.
Colorado
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Colorado is a state in the United States encompassing most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is part of the Western United States, the Southwestern United States, Colorado is the 8th most extensive and the 21st most populous of the 50 United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Colorado was 5,540,545 on July 1,2016, the state was named for the Colorado River, which Spanish travelers named the Río Colorado for the ruddy silt the river carried from the mountains. The Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28,1861, Colorado is nicknamed the Centennial State because it became a state in the same year as the centennial of the United States Declaration of Independence. Colorado is noted for its landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers. Denver is the capital and the most populous city of Colorado, residents of the state are properly known as Coloradans, although the term Coloradoan has been used archaically and lives on in the title of Fort Collins newspaper, the Coloradoan. Colorado, Wyoming and Utah are the states which have boundaries defined solely by lines of latitude and longitude. The summit of Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet elevation in Lake County is the highest point in Colorado, Colorado is the only U. S. state that lies entirely above 1,000 meters elevation. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Yuma County, Colorado and this point, which holds the distinction of being the highest low elevation point of any state, is higher than the high elevation points of 18 states and the District of Columbia. A little less than one half of the area of Colorado is flat, East of the Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains of the High Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Nebraska at elevations ranging from roughly 3,350 to 7,500 feet. The Colorado plains were mostly prairies, but they have many patches of forests, buttes. Eastern Colorado is presently covered in farmland and rangeland, along with small farming villages. Precipitation is fair, averaging from 15 to 25 inches annually, corn, wheat, hay, soybeans, and oats are all typical crops, and most of the villages and towns in this region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator. Irrigation water is available from the South Platte, the Arkansas River, and a few other streams, however, heavy use of ground water from wells for irrigation has caused underground water reserves to decline. As well as agriculture, eastern Colorado hosts considerable livestock, such as cattle ranches. Roughly 70% of Colorados population resides along the edge of the Rocky Mountains in the Front Range Urban Corridor between Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Pueblo, Colorado. This region is protected from prevailing storms that blow in from the Pacific Ocean region by the high Rockies in the middle of Colorado. The Front Range includes Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Greeley and other townships, on the other side of the Rockies, the significant population centers in Western Colorado are the cities of Grand Junction, Durango, and Montrose
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
Thomas Jefferson
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Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Previously, he was elected the second Vice President of the United States, Jefferson was primarily of English ancestry, born and educated in colonial Virginia. He graduated from the College of William & Mary and briefly practiced law and he became the United States Minister to France in May 1785, and subsequently the nations first Secretary of State in 1790–1793 under President George Washington. Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the First Party System, as President, Jefferson pursued the nations shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies. He also organized the Louisiana Purchase, almost doubling the countrys territory, as a result of peace negotiations with France, his administration reduced military forces. Jeffersons second term was beset with difficulties at home, including the trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr, American foreign trade was diminished when Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act of 1807, responding to British threats to U. S. shipping. In 1803, Jefferson began a process of Indian tribe removal to the newly organized Louisiana Territory. Jefferson mastered many disciplines, which ranged from surveying and mathematics to horticulture and he was a proven architect in the classical tradition. Jeffersons keen interest in religion and philosophy earned him the presidency of the American Philosophical Society and he shunned organized religion, but was influenced by both Christianity and deism. He was well versed in linguistics and spoke several languages and he founded the University of Virginia after retiring from public office. He was a letter writer and corresponded with many prominent and important people throughout his adult life. His only full-length book is Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson owned several plantations which were worked by hundreds of slaves. Most historians now believe that, after the death of his wife in 1782, he had a relationship with his slave Sally Hemings and fathered at least one of her children. Various modern scholars are more critical of Jeffersons private life, pointing out the discrepancy between his ownership of slaves and his political principles, for example. Presidential scholars, however, consistently rank Jefferson among the greatest presidents, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13,1743, at the family home in Shadwell in the Colony of Virginia, the third of ten children. He was of English and possibly Welsh descent and was born a British subject and his father Peter Jefferson was a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen, his mother was Jane Randolph. Peter Jefferson moved his family to Tuckahoe Plantation in 1745 upon the death of a friend who had named him guardian of his children, the Jeffersons returned to Shadwell in 1752, where Peter died in 1757, his estate was divided between his sons Thomas and Randolph. Thomas inherited approximately 5,000 acres of land, including Monticello and he assumed full authority over his property at age 21
4.
Golden, Colorado
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Golden is the Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, founded during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush on 16 June 1859, the mining camp was originally named Golden City in honor of Thomas L. Golden. Golden City served as the capital of the provisional Territory of Jefferson from 1860 to 1861, in 1867, the territorial capital was moved about 12 miles east to Denver City. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 18,867 in 2010, the Colorado School of Mines, offering programs in engineering and science, is located in Golden. It is the birthplace of the Jolly Rancher, a candy bought out by the Hershey Foods Corporation, Buffalo Bill Cody is buried nearby on Lookout Mountain. Golden City was established on 16 June 1859 along Clear Creek west of Denver, important businessmen and prospectors such as William A. H. Loveland and George West were among the first to settle in Golden. By the end of 1860, Golden City had been elected the seat of Jefferson County and was capital of the provisional Jefferson Territory. Golden City was temporarily removed from the status of capital as a result of an act passed on 5 November 1861 by the territorial government. Colorado City, a town to the south of Denver became the new temporary territorial capital. This status was revoked, however, as on 4 August 1862. It was the period between 1862 and the early 1870s that a fierce railroad competition developed between Denver, ten miles to the east, and Golden. By the mid-1860s, Golden held only a status as territorial capital rather than serve as the legitimate source of territorial power. Loveland founded the Colorado Central Railroad on 9 February 1865 to do just this, with Golden beginning talk of creating a railroad, prominent Denver residents raced to do the same. If we defeat those bonds, all hope of a railroad for the two years is gone… Gentlemen of Denver, what will you do. The fate of city is in your own hands. ”The residents of Denver voted for the bonds. By 1869, the race to Cheyenne was becoming less and less of a race. Golden, having then sidetracked into servicing various close-by mountain communities, continued to fall behind the set by the Denver railroad. However, The Colorado Central Railroad connected directly with Cheyenne seven years later, in 1877, but by that point, during the 1870s, it became home to three institutions of higher education, the Colorado University Schools, of which the Colorado School of Mines remains today
5.
Colorado's 1st congressional district
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Colorados 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U. S. state of Colorado based primarily in the City and County of Denver in the central part of the state. The district includes all of the City and County of Denver and the suburbs of Glendale, Englewood, Sheridan. The district has been represented by Democrat Diana DeGette since 1997, based in the heart of Metropolitan Denver, this district is by far the most liberal district in the non-coastal parts of the American West. While there is some GOP strength in the areas, it remains overwhelmingly Democratic. Following the census the 1st district took in additional area in the suburbs which included parts of Jefferson County and parts or all of the cities of Columbine. As with most urban districts, Colorados 1st Congressional District is racially diverse and has proven to be friendly territory for Democrats, only two Republicans have been elected to the districts Congressional seat since the Great Depression. Dean M. Gillespie was the representative from 1944 to 1947. As of April 2015, there is one member of the U. S. House of Representatives from Colorados 1st congressional district who is currently living at this time. Colorados congressional districts List of United States congressional districts Martis, Kenneth C, the Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts, Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
6.
Colorado's 2nd congressional district
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Colorados 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U. S. state of Colorado. The district is located in the part of the state and encompasses the northwestern suburbs of Denver including Boulder, Northglenn, Thornton. The district also includes the towns of Vail, Grand Lake. Redistricting in 2011 has moved Larimer County, including the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland, the district is currently represented by Democrat Jared Polis, who is one of seven openly gay members of the House of Representatives. Polis succeeded fellow Democrat Mark Udall who subsequently served in the U. S. Senate from 2009 to 2015. While there are towns in the rural parts of the district that tilt Republican. Following the census, the 2nd district stretched further north to the Wyoming border while losing the western portion of Eagle County and this district is anchored in Boulder and Adams counties which have the bulk of population in the district. A liberal base around the city of Boulder, coupled with a sizable Latino population in the Adams County portion of district, usually bodes well for Democrats. As of April 2015, there are three members of the U. S. House of Representatives from Colorados 2nd congressional district who are currently living at this time. Colorados congressional districts List of United States congressional districts Martis, Kenneth C, the Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts, Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
7.
Denver
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Denver, officially the City and County of Denver, is the capital and most populous municipality of the U. S. state of Colorado. Denver is in the South Platte River Valley on the edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The Denver downtown district is immediately east of the confluence of Cherry Creek with the South Platte River, Denver is nicknamed the Mile-High City because its official elevation is exactly one mile above sea level, making it the highest major city in the United States. The 105th meridian west of Greenwich, the reference for the Mountain Time Zone. Denver is ranked as a Beta- world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. With a 2015 estimated population of 682,545, Denver ranks as the 19th-most populous U. S. city, and with a 2. 8% increase in 2015, the city is also the fastest-growing major city in the United States. The 10-county Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated 2015 population of 2,814,330 and ranked as the 19th most populous U. S. metropolitan statistical area. The 12-city Denver-Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area had an estimated 2015 population of 3,418,876, which ranks as the 16th most populous U. S. metropolitan area. Denver is the most populous city of the 18-county Front Range Urban Corridor, Denver is the most populous city within a 500-mile radius and the second-most populous city in the Mountain West after Phoenix, Arizona. In 2016, Denver was named the best place to live in the USA by U. S. News & World Report and this was the first historical settlement in what was later to become the city of Denver. The site faded quickly, however, and by the summer of 1859 it was abandoned in favor of Auraria, Larimer named the townsite Denver City to curry favor with Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver. Larimer hoped the name would help make it the county seat of Arapaho County but, unbeknownst to him. The location was accessible to existing trails and was across the South Platte River from the site of seasonal encampments of the Cheyenne, the site of these first towns is now the site of Confluence Park near downtown Denver. Larimer, along with associates in the St. Charles City Land Company, sold parcels in the town to merchants and miners, Denver City was a frontier town, with an economy based on servicing local miners with gambling, saloons, livestock and goods trading. In the early years, land parcels were often traded for grubstakes or gambled away by miners in Auraria, in May 1859, Denver City residents donated 53 lots to the Leavenworth & Pikes Peak Express in order to secure the regions first overland wagon route. Offering daily service for passengers, mail, freight, and gold, in 1863, Western Union furthered Denvers dominance of the region by choosing the city for its regional terminus. The Colorado Territory was created on February 28,1861, Arapahoe County was formed on November 1,1861, Denver City served as the Arapahoe County Seat from 1861 until consolidation in 1902. In 1867, Denver City became the territorial capital, with its newfound importance, Denver City shortened its name to Denver
8.
Front Range
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It is the first mountain range encountered moving west along the 40th parallel north across the Great Plains of North America. The Front Range runs north-south between Casper, Wyoming and Pueblo, Colorado and rises nearly 10,000 feet above the Great Plains, Longs Peak, Mount Evans, and Pikes Peak are its most prominent peaks, visible from the Interstate 25 corridor. The area is a destination for mountain biking, hiking, climbing. Millions of years ago the present-day Front Range was home to ancient mountain ranges, deserts, beaches and this urban corridor benefits from the weather-moderating effect of the Front Range mountains, which help block prevailing storms. About 1 billion years ago, the earth was producing massive amounts of rock that would one day amalgamate, drift together and combine. In the Colorado region, this molten rock spewed and cooled, over the next 500 million years, little is known about changes in the sedimentation after the granite was produced. However, at about 500 –300 million years ago, the region began to sink, eroded granite produced sand particles that began to form strata, layers of sediment, in the sinking basin. Sedimentation would continue to place until about 300 million years ago. Around 300 million years ago, the sinking suddenly reversed, over the next 150 million years, during uplift the mountains would continue to erode and cover themselves in their own sediment. Wind, gravity, rainwater, snow, and ice-melt supplied rivers that ultimately carved through the granite mountains, the sediment from these mountains lies in the Fountain Formation today. Red Rocks Amphitheater outside of Denver, Colorado, is set into the Fountain Formation. At 280 million years ago, sea levels were low and present-day Colorado was part of the super-continent Pangaea, sand deserts covered most of the area spreading as dunes seen in the rock record, known today as the Lyons Sandstone. These dunes appear to be cross-bedded and show various fossil footprints,30 million years later, the sediment deposition was still taking place with the introduction of the Lykins Formation. This formation can be best attributed to its layers of muddy limestone. 250 million years ago, the Ancestral Rockies were burying themselves while the shoreline was present during the break-up of Pangaea and this formation began right after Earth’s largest extinction 251 million years ago at the Permian-Triassic Boundary. Ninety percent of the marine life was destroyed and a great deal on land as well. After 100 million years of deposition, a new environment brought rise to a new formation, the Morrison Formation contains some of the best fossils of the Late Jurassic. It is especially known for its tracks and sauropod bones among other dinosaur fossils
9.
Rocky Mountains
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The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 miles from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the Southwestern United States. Within the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are somewhat distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges, the Rocky Mountains were initially formed from 80 million to 55 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny, in which a number of plates began to slide underneath the North American plate. The angle of subduction was shallow, resulting in a belt of mountains running down western North America. Since then, further tectonic activity and erosion by glaciers have sculpted the Rockies into dramatic peaks, at the end of the last ice age, humans started to inhabit the mountain range. The first mention of their present name by a European was in the journal of Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre in 1752, the Rocky Mountains are commonly defined as stretching from the Liard River in British Columbia south to the Rio Grande in New Mexico. The United States definition of the Rockies includes the Cabinet and Salish Mountains of Idaho and their counterparts north of the Kootenai River, the Columbia Mountains, are considered a separate system in Canada, lying to the west of the huge Rocky Mountain Trench. This runs the length of British Columbia from its beginnings in the middle Flathead River valley in western Montana to the bank of the Liard River. The Rockies vary in width from 70 to 300 miles, also west of the Rocky Mountain Trench, farther north and facing the Muskwa Range across the trench, are the Stikine Ranges and Omineca Mountains of the Interior Mountains system of British Columbia. A small area east of Prince George, British Columbia on the side of the Trench. In Canada geographers define three main groups of ranges, the Continental Ranges, Hart Ranges and Muskwa Ranges, the Muskwa and Hart Ranges together comprise what is known as the Northern Rockies. The western edge of the Rockies includes ranges such as the Wasatch near Salt Lake City, the Great Basin and Columbia River Plateau separate these sub-ranges from distinct ranges further to the west, most prominent among which are the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range and Coast Mountains. The Rocky Mountain System within the United States is a United States physiographic region, the Rocky Mountains are notable for containing the highest peaks in central North America. The ranges highest peak is Mount Elbert located in Colorado at 14,440 feet above sea level, Mount Robson in British Columbia, at 12,972 feet, is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. The Continental Divide of the Americas is located in the Rocky Mountains, triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park is so named because water that falls on the mountain reaches not only the Atlantic and Pacific, but Hudson Bay as well. Farther north in Alberta, the Athabasca and other rivers feed the basin of the Mackenzie River, see Rivers of the Rocky Mountains for a list of rivers. Human population is not very dense in the Rocky Mountains, with an average of four people per square kilometer, however, the human population grew rapidly in the Rocky Mountain states between 1950 and 1990. The 40-year statewide increases in range from 35% in Montana to about 150% in Utah
10.
Coors Brewing Company
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The Coors Brewing Company is a regional division of the worlds third-largest brewing company, the Molson Coors Brewing Company. Until October 11,2016, the operations in the United States were a joint venture with SABMiller called MillerCoors, Coors operates a brewery in Golden, Colorado, that is the largest single brewery facility in the world. Since that time, Coors is a division of Molson Coors, Coors invested $2,000 in the operation, and Schueler invested $18,000. In 1880, Coors bought out his partner and became owner of the brewery. The Coors Brewing Company managed to survive Prohibition relatively intact, the brewery itself was converted into a malted milk and near beer production facility. Coors sold much of the milk to the Mars candy company for the production of sweets. Manna, the companys non-alcoholic beer replacement, was a beer similar to current non-alcoholic beverages. However, Coors and his sons relied heavily on the company as well as a cement. By 1933, after the end of Prohibition, the Coors brewery was one of only a handful of breweries that had survived, all of the non-brewery assets of the Adolph Coors Company were spun off between 1989 and 1992. The descendant of the original Herold Porcelain ceramics business continues to operate as CoorsTek, for much of its history, Coors beer was a regional product and its marketing area was confined to the American West. While California and Texas were part of the 11-state distribution area, Washington and this gave it mystique and made it a novelty, particularly on the East Coast, and visitors returning from the western states often brought back a case. This iconic status was reflected in the 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit, the company finally established nationwide distribution in the United States in the mid-1980s. In 1959, Coors became the first American brewer to use an all-aluminum two-piece beverage can, also in 1959, the company abandoned pasteurization and began to use sterile filtration to stabilize its beer. Coors currently operates the largest aluminum can producing plant in the world, known as the Rocky Mountain Metal Container, RMMC is a joint venture between Ball Metal and Coors, having been founded in 2003. In the 1970s, Coors invented the litter-free push tab can, however, consumers disliked the top and it was discontinued soon afterward. Coors Light was introduced in 1978, the longtime slogan of Silver Bullet to describe it does not describe the beer, but rather the silver-colored can in which the beer is packaged. Coors Light was once produced in yellow-bellied cans like the full-strength Coors, but when the yellow coloring was removed and the can was left mostly silver, many dubbed the beer the Silver Bullet. In 2005, Coors was rated the third largest producer of beer in the United States, on July 22,2004, the company announced it would be merging with Canadian brewer Molson
11.
Colorado School of Mines
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CSM placed 88th in the 2017 US News & World Report Best National Universities ranking. In the 2016–17 QS World University Rankings by subject, the university was ranked as the top institution in the world for mineral, Golden, Colorado, established in 1859 as Golden City, served as a supply center for miners and settlers in the area. Tuition was originally free to residents of Colorado, the schools logo was designed by prominent architect Jacques Benedict. The first building on the current site of the school was built in 1880 with additions completed in 1882 and 1890, the building, known as Chemistry Hall, stood where Hill Hall is now located. The next building to be added to the campus was Engineering Hall, built in 1894, in 1879, there was some discussion about merging School of Mines and the State University in Boulder. Apparently, because of the focus of School of Mines. During the early years of the institution, the administrator was the Professor in Charge. The designation President was first used in 1880, the M on Mt. Zion, a prominent feature in the Golden area, was constructed in 1908 and lighted in 1932. Early academic departments were drafting, physics, metallurgy, chemistry, in the 1920s, departments formed in geology, petroleum engineering and geophysics. Petroleum refining was added in 1946, the Division of Liberal Arts and International Studies and the Department of Physical Education and Athletics provide nontechnical educational opportunities for Mines students. Other facilities include, Ben Parker Student Center, Arthur Lakes Library, Green Center, the Colorado School of Mines is a public research university devoted to engineering and applied science. In August 2007, a new student recreation center was completed, in 2008, the school finished expanding its main computer center, the Center for Technology and Learning Media. The school operates the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum, which displays rock, Mines is the host of the annual Colorado State Science Olympiad, which draws teams from both the northern regional and southern regional competitions. One or two teams advance to the national finals, depending on the number of teams registered to compete. Mines also hosts the Colorado Regional Science Bowl, and shares hosting of the Colorado State MathCounts Competition with University of Denver, since 1964, the Colorado School of Mines has hosted the annual oil shale symposium, one of the most important international oil shale conferences. Although the series of symposia stopped after 1992, the tradition was restored in 2006, roeschlaub, Jacques Benedict, and Temple Hoyne Buell. To date two main buildings are gone, while the present campus includes, Major open-air athletic facilities of the Colorado School of Mines include historic Campbell Field. The honorary named Colorado School of Mines buildings commemorate Dr. Victor C, 38th in U. S. News & World Reports 2015 Top Public Schools
12.
Mining
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Mining is extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually from an orebody, lode, vein, seam, reef or placer deposits. These deposits form a mineralized package that is of economic interest to the miner, ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, chalk, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. Mining is required to obtain any material that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water. Mining of stones and metal has been a human activity since pre-historic times, Mining operations usually create a negative environmental impact, both during the mining activity and after the mine has closed. Hence, most of the nations have passed regulations to decrease the impact. Work safety has long been a concern as well, and modern practices have significantly improved safety in mines, levels of metals recycling are generally low. Unless future end-of-life recycling rates are stepped up, some rare metals may become unavailable for use in a variety of consumer products, due to the low recycling rates, some landfills now contain higher concentrations of metal than mines themselves. Since the beginning of civilization, people have used stone, ceramics and, later and these were used to make early tools and weapons, for example, high quality flint found in northern France, southern England and Poland was used to create flint tools. Flint mines have been found in areas where seams of the stone were followed underground by shafts. The mines at Grimes Graves and Krzemionki are especially famous, other hard rocks mined or collected for axes included the greenstone of the Langdale axe industry based in the English Lake District. The oldest-known mine on archaeological record is the Lion Cave in Swaziland, at this site Paleolithic humans mined hematite to make the red pigment ochre. Mines of an age in Hungary are believed to be sites where Neanderthals may have mined flint for weapons. Ancient Egyptians mined malachite at Maadi, at first, Egyptians used the bright green malachite stones for ornamentations and pottery. Later, between 2613 and 2494 BC, large building projects required expeditions abroad to the area of Wadi Maghareh in order to secure minerals and other resources not available in Egypt itself. Quarries for turquoise and copper were found at Wadi Hammamat, Tura, Aswan and various other Nubian sites on the Sinai Peninsula. Mining in Egypt occurred in the earliest dynasties, the gold mines of Nubia were among the largest and most extensive of any in Ancient Egypt. These mines are described by the Greek author Diodorus Siculus, who mentions fire-setting as one used to break down the hard rock holding the gold. One of the complexes is shown in one of the earliest known maps, the miners crushed the ore and ground it to a fine powder before washing the powder for the gold dust
Jefferson County, Colorado
