Off-road.com has a beautiful photo essay of road accessible mines in Southwestern Colorado.
“What you see in Colorado is not from the advanced pit and power mining that rapes entire counties, but a residue of men with picks and scary machinery, who burrowed into mountains in the worst of conditions, bent on recovering elemental things – gold, silver, gemstones, plus specialized materials like marble, talc and lead (to name a few). This is the strength of the American, and a trip through this state’s backcountry is a testament to the power of men’s will.”