Welcome to Colorado School of Mines

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Kafadar Commons

Tour stop audio transcript

We're right next to *Kafadar* Commons, the main outdoor gathering space on campus where you can soak up Colorado's 300+ days of sunshine. This is the perfect spot for slacklining, frisbee or just lounging in hammocks or in the grass – you might even hear the Mines fight song as the marching band preps for the next football game. But don't let this space fool you – there's an underground lab beneath it! Items such as pipes, archaeological walls, coffins and even a full keg of Coors beer are buried below so geophysics students can learn how to use ground-penetrating radar equipment. In case this is your first visit, here are some tips to help you get started: -To jump to the next destination, select the "Next" button on the right side of your screen. -Or, if you already know where you want to go, simply select that location from the list on the sidebar OR directly on the map below. -And remember to explore each destination in more detail by clicking the interactive icons included throughout each location.

Ben H. Parker Student Center

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The Ben H. Parker Student Center is in the heart of campus and home to our Student Activities, Involvement and Leadership Office that oversees more than 250 student organizations and is home to many of their offices, including our student newspaper, The Oredigger, and the Mines Activities Council, the student group that organizes one our favorite annual traditions - E-Days! The Student Center also features many other student-focused offices and resources, such as the Mines Bookstore, Career Center, Office of Financial Aid, Disability Services, our grab-and-go shop called Elements and our food court called the Periodic Table.

Student Recreation Center and IM Fields

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The Student Recreation Center, known as the SRC, is a major hub on the Mines campus for athletics, fitness, recreation and more. Lockridge Arena is located on the second floor and serves as the home for Mines' basketball and volleyball teams. The SRC also houses a rec gym with an elevated jogging track, the campus' main fitness center, and a competition-quality rock climbing wall. The Outdoor Recreation Center is also found in the SRC. The ORC coordinates amazing adventures, like trips to the Colorado ski resorts. If you don't have your own equipment, don't worry--the ORC has tents, snowshoes, fishing rods and more for rent!

Brown Hall (Blaster Design Factory)

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Mines is known for its hands-on, collaborative curriculum and innovative spaces. Brown Hall is home to a number of our makerspaces and workshops for students across campus. In addition to the Design Factory, you'll find spaces like the Outlet, a makerspace primarily for electrical engineering students; a machine shop; the Capstone Design Lab; and the Brown Garage, home to the Mines Hyperloop Team and many other student projects. On the roof of Brown is a ground station, built in support of the Mines Cube Satellite Program. You'll also find study spaces and Blaster's Brew if you're in need of some caffeine.

CoorsTek Center for Applied Science & Engineering

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The CoorsTek Center for Applied Science and Engineering is a significant milestone in a partnership between Mines, the Coors family and CoorsTek, Inc., the world's leading engineered ceramics manufacturer. A $27 million donation allowed us to purchase a range of high-tech equipment, including one of the most advanced electron microscopes in the United States, and enabled Mines to establish the CoorsTek Research Fellows Program. In addition to being home to the physics department, CoorsTek also houses the Alliance for the Development of Additive Processing Technologies (or ADAPT), the Quantum Theory Lab, the Advanced Characterization Lab and the Robotics Lab.

The Foundry

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The Mines community loves hands-on projects, so of course we have our very own foundry! All students are welcome to participate in Free Pour Fridays to learn about metallurgy and casting objects with molten metal, such as your own Mines "M." There's also a glass-blowing studio, a welding station and a blade smithing workshop on the upper floor. Students can enroll in courses to learn these skills or participate in workshops.

Arthur Lakes Library

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At Arthur Lakes Library, you can find millions of print and electronic materials including books, journals, maps, and government documents. Find yourself stuck? You can book a consultation with a librarian, get reference assistance and research help with your paper, and attend workshops. From Scholarly Communications to Gadgets to Go, the library is a resource you will find indispensable. There are a variety of study spaces for individual or group collaboration, quiet study with no distractions, and reservable study rooms. Enjoy a cup of coffee from the student-run Book and Brew while getting help from a librarian, working in the computer lab or studying in the library.

Edgar Mine

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Mines would not be complete without our very own mine! Located in Idaho Springs, about 30 minutes from campus, the Edgar Mine serves as an underground laboratory for future engineers, scientists and mathematicians to gain hands-on experience. Research subjects include underground mine surveying, geological mapping, rock fragmentation and blasting, mine ventilation field studies, rock mechanics instrumentation practice and, of course, underground mine unit operations and safety. This is also the perfect place to test out Mars rover prototypes!

The M

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Constructed in 1908, the "M" on Mount Zion is one of the most recognizable features in Golden. The "M Climb" is one of our most treasured traditions, and is held every August when we welcome all new Orediggers into the Mines family. Students bring a 10-pound rock from their hometown, put on their Mines hardhat and hike up to the M while singing the Mines fight song. Our whole community comes out to cheer them on! Once at the top, new students add their rock to the M. The M is maintained by the Mines student honor society, Blue Key.

Marv Kay Stadium

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Sitting at the base of Mount Zion with a stunning view of Golden, you'll find our recently renovated Clear Creek Athletic Complex. This complex is home to Mines' NCAA Division II varsity athletic teams and includes the 4,000-seat Marv Kay Stadium and the Korell Athletic Center – a state-of-the-art workout facility that includes the McKee weight room. Mines has 18 Division II teams that regularly earn athletic, academic and sportsmanship awards, including a 2019 NCAA National Championship and five Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference all-sport competition cups. Our athletic community also supports 20 competitive club sports teams and dozens of intramural leagues.

Residence Halls – Traditional Halls, Cheuvront Commons

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At Mines, all first-year students spend their first year on campus in the residence halls. When you live on campus, there's a lot more to do than eat, sleep and study. The Residence Life Association coordinates over 450 programs per semester, from a Welcome Picnic to De-Stress with Dogs events during finals week. Mines has six residence halls that feature traditional-style living and house nearly 800 first-year students. Options include co-ed buildings with single-gendered floors and feature single, double and triple rooms with community restroom and shower facilities. These halls also have social lounges, community kitchens, laundry rooms and are conveniently located in the heart of campus.

Residence Halls – First-Year Suite-Style Halls

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Mines has three suite-style residence halls centrally located on campus: Elm, Maple and Weaver. These halls feature single, double and triple suites with shared restroom facilities and community kitchens, lounges and laundry rooms. Elm Hall also offers gender-inclusive housing. Mines also offers Signature Learning Communities where you can live with students who have similar academic or lifestyle interests. In addition to our traditional and suite-style residences, Mines also has seven fraternities and four sororities—about 17 percent of Mines students are involved in Greek Life. Greek Row sits above our intramural fields and is home to nine of our eleven chapters, offering another housing option for sophomores and upper-class students.

Residence Halls – Sophomore & Above Apartments

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Sophomore and above students have two apartment-style accommodations to choose from – Mines Park and 1750 Jackson. Mines Park offers unfurnished units with fully equipped kitchens. There are two community centers with laundry facilities, study areas and kitchens. Mines Park is just a short, five-minute walk from campus. 1750 Jackson features 107 fully furnished apartments, located within one block from campus, along the main bus line and across the street from a grocery store and other retail businesses. This residence has a fitness area, outdoor courtyards, on-site laundry facility and common areas on each floor that include social lounges and study areas, bike and locker storage, and covered parking.

Mines Market Dining Hall

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Mines Market is our main on-campus dining facility and features seven distinctive stations for a one-stop, all-you-can-eat dining experience. Swing by the Brick Oven for pizzas and calzones, or stop at the Global Chef for serves cuisines from around the world. You can also check out Blaster's Pasture, an extensive soup and salad bar. If you are in a rush, you can grab a to-go meal or stop by one of the other fast-food options across campus, all of which accept Munch Money, included in every on-campus dining meal plan.

Pedestrian Plaza

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The Pedestrian Plaza is the heart of the Mines campus. On any given day, you will find students raising awareness about an important issue, hosting fundraisers, or just zipping through on their way to classes, meetings or meals. You will see students walking, running, cycling, skateboarding, scootering or even unicycling their way around! You will also notice is the large statue between our rec center and student center. This statue titled "The Greeting," depicts an elder of the Northern Plains Indians with his arms spread in a universal greeting. This statue truly symbolizes the warm, welcoming and collaborative spirit of the Oredigger community.

Labriola Innovation Complex

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The Labriola Innovation Hub or "InnoHub" is a place for Mines faculty, students, industry partners and alumni to work together in an inspiring, collaborative and hands-on environment. Inside, you'll find a machine shop, prototype lab, capstone and cornerstone project lab, 3D printing lab, and a software makerspace. The hub gives students a space to create, prototype, test, and innovate projects from the start to the end of the design process. The complex fosters an entrepreneurial, solutions-oriented mindset and help develop young, visionary leaders who can design and implement solutions to society's greatest challenges.

Beck Venture Center

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The Beck Venture Center is one of our newest buildings and is a part of the innovation ecosystem on campus. At the venture center students and alumni have the opportunity to develop business ideas, receive funding for their business, and build a network of industry and academic mentors. The building has a variety of meeting rooms, classrooms, an "idea pitch stage", and an Einstein Bagel.

Mines Museum of Earth Science

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A Goodwill moon rock from the Apollo 17 mission, triceratops tracks and more than 15,000 square feet of rocks, minerals, fossils and other fascinating earth-science-related objects—this is what you will find in the Mines Museum of Earth Science. This two-story museum serves as a state repository for Colorado's mineral heritage and historic mining treasures. You'll even find an exhibit filled with phosphorescent minerals . Just outside the museum, you'll find the start to the Mines Geology Trail, where you can follow numbered stations to dinosaur tracks and other fossils undisturbed from the rockface where they were originally found.

Clear Creek Trail

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Howdy folks! Welcome to Golden. Founded during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush of 1859, Golden was once the capitol of the Colorado Territory. Now home to more than 20,000 residents, this small, unique mountain- and college-town is hard to beat. Surrounded by mesas, mountains, bike paths and the chilly waters of Clear Creek, there's no shortage of outdoor activities. If you swing by in summer, see if you can spot rafters and kayakers on the creek!

Downtown Golden

Tour stop audio transcript

The heart of downtown Golden is two blocks from the Mines campus and boasts a variety of restaurants, shops, grocery stores, art galleries, churches and music venues, including the world-renowned Red Rocks Ampitheatre, which is just a short drive away. And if you hop on the light rail with your free RTD pass, you can be in downtown Denver within 15 minutes. Connections are also available to Denver international Airport for out-of-state students. We hope to see you in Golden and on the Mines campus for a visit soon. Until then, Go Orediggers!

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