Open all year; admission is free. Guides can be arranged by calling the CDRI at 505-364-2499.
Constructed by a group of Mining Engineers and Geologists who were classmates at Texas Western College (now UTEP) 1957-1961, the idea is to show how small-scale mining would have been carried out in the Chihuahua Desert, which includes West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico in the old days.
In addition to an 18-ft. high head frame and 50 ft. of track for small ore cars, a pavilion houses many exhibits like drills, carbide lamps, old mine maps and photos, and relics used with explosives. There are also piles of boulders of several ores which have been mined in the region.
It is a great education exhibit for school children and senior groups, and admission is free.