Climax, Colorado
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Climax is a ghost town located in Lake County, Colorado. On the continental divide at 11,360 feet above sea level, it is the highest settlement in the United States – it holds the record for having the nation's highest post office and railroad station.
Climax's primary claim to fame is its rich deposits of molybdenum. During the early 1900s, the Climax Molybdenum Company operated the largest molybdenum mine in the world here, supplying three-fourths of the world's total supply of the mineral. The mine has been shuttered since the 1980s awaiting better global market conditions for its ore. As of 2004 the mine's current owner, Phelps Dodge Corporation, continues to spends millions of dollars annually mitigating the environmental effects of past mining.
References
Voynick, Steve (July, 2004). Climax, Two Decades Later (http://www.cozine.com/archive/cc2004/01250161.html). Colorado Central Magazine 125. p. 16.