The first mining towns were those in proximity to the Front Range, including Central City, Blackhawk, Leadville, Georgetown and Idaho Springs. At the height of silver mining in 1893, Aspen was producing one-sixth of the nation’s silver and one-sixteenth of the world’s silver, according to Hancock. ‘Mining always reinvented itself’Not every mining town’s story was the same. Agriculture and mining were also intrinsically linked in non-coal communities across the Western Slope, as ranchers saw an opportunity to feed mining towns once the gold rush began in 1859. “If agriculture wouldn’t have come hand in hand with mining in 1859, there wouldn’t have been a mining boom in Colorado,” Storm said.