National and State Register

Valley View Leasing & Mining Company Mill

San Miguel County

The 1920 Valley View Leasing and Mining Company Mill, commonly known as the Matterhorn Mill, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A in the area of industry at the local level of significance for its contribution to the 20th-century silver mining in Colorado's San Juan Mountains where it related directly to mining within San Bernardo Mountain.  When constructed the Matterhorn Mill was a state-of-the-art flotation mill that utilized new technology to produce a higher grade concentrate than could be accomplished by the old-style stamp mill with concentration (shaker) tables.

A black and white photo of the wooden mill with gabled roof and slightly lower down on the left is a pitched section.

Valley View Leasing & Mining Company Mill (2009 photograph.) 

Matterhorn Mill remains as nearly complete an example of a concentration mill using the first generation of the flotation system extant in the American West.  Matterhorn Mill is further eligible under Criterion C in the area of engineering at the local level of significance. The mill is listed under the National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form The Mining Industry in Colorado: Mining Technology, Methods, and Equipment in Colorado: 1858-2005, representing the Ore-Concentration Facility—Concentration Mill property type.