The mountains above Idaho Springs and the nearby communities of Black Hawk, Central City and Georgetown show the abandoned mine openings and remnants of a romantic past: the "Rush to the Rockies" and feverish mining for silver and gold.

The Edgar mine, known as Colorado School of Mines' Experimental Mine, is a footnote to that era.

In the 1870s, it produced high-grade silver, gold, lead and copper.

Today, as an underground laboratory for future engineers, it produces valuable experience for those who are being trained to find, develop and process the world’s natural resources.

The Edgar mine was named after the Edgar mineral vein that runs along the hillside above the mine. CSM acquired the mine in 1921, when officers of the then bankrupt Big Five Mining Company agreed to lease the mine to the school.

CSM has since acquired additional workings and land to form the present experimental mine holdings, which are now the property of the school.

The mine is considered to have the safest rock formations and best underground workings of any comparable facility in the area.