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y Small -mine owner .finds By $arbara Lawlor IDAHO SPRINGS-Rising out of ashes, a beautiful, lone bird reaches for the sky to embark on another long life until; once again, it consumes itself in fve. An Egyptian myth. It is no wonder that this bird, the Phoenix, symbol of immortality, was chosen as the name and symbol Cor a small mine outside Idaho Springs. Three times the mine was pur- chased for $5,000, and twice it was consumed in economic infer- nos of the times. But present owner AI Mosch is persistent enough to keep the dream going for as long as he is able to spin a yam. The Phoenix Minc has recently hit a vein that contains up to six ounces of gold per ton, and Mosch plans fn hang in there to enjoy the riches. But rather than relying on banks to provide his grubstake, the financial means to mine the ore, he has chosen to sell a little piece of the Phoenix to the pub- lic, a few chunks per person will- ing to pay for the tour. AL MOSCH-The'Clint Eastwood' of small miners, AI conducts tours through his mine, the Phoenix, to raise funds to go aHer a rich vein he discovered this summer. veao M eaiw„ ta•+or Each day, Mosch works in the mine with pick and shovel and ore cart from 6:30 to 10 a.m. After that he puts on a charming grin, dusts off his pane and greets the group that waits eagerly for its adventure w begin. They come Crom all over the grubstake in tours world, sent w the mine by the Idaho Springs Chamber of Com- merce or by following the signs pointing the way. They see a man who looks as iC he's about 40 years old and as if he just woke up that morning [o the mast exciting day in his life and he Can't wait to tell someone about it On Sunday, asophisticated- looking woman Crom Maryland done a hazd hat as she prepares (or the tour. A couple Crom Wisconsin has just finished the tour in the mint. John Studnicka is on vacation. When he is not on vacation he invests in mine stock and, as he is about to Icavc, he says, "This tour is more than I could have ever hoped for, informative, technical and entertaining:' He shakes hands with Mosch and carries away a small bag of ore, holding it as if it were pure gold rather than ore chunks. Mosch waves goodbye and ex- plains to the new group that Studnicka's donation just bought him 10 sticks of dynamite so he could continue working in the mine. "Those folks just gave me a blast," he says, tuaelfconsciously, as the group groans They enter the cool dazkness of the mine, the outride door closes, muffling the sound of the genera- tor that operates the lights hang- ing from the rock walls. Mosch stops about 10 feet in and begins to talk. He goes off on tangents about the old days, his giandfather who walked Crom New York to Grand Lake, Colorado, when he was 17 and built the first hotel in the area. He speaks of the Indians who lived in the area In the musty dankness of the mint, the bright fall afternoon slips away, and the (Sae page 16) There was no body found in the mine GII,PIN-Hikers in the Alps Hill area spotted a woman's jacket and scarf just inside a mincshaft on Sept. ?A. The sheriffs office and the mine rescue team wcrc called to investigate. Various items of clothing were spotted down the shaft, and i[ was feared that a body v~oulc', be found at the bottom. Since the circum- stances wcrc a bit strange, and no one in the area had been reported missing, and any mine rescue at- tempt is extremely dangerous, it was decided the mine rescue team would prepare and plan an opera- lion before descending into the shaft On Saturday, Scpt. 30, the mint rescue team went into the shaft. Steve Yanchunis and Van Cullar were the fast to descend with ]ohn Rittenhouse operating the boom wck. rJnly c:c:hes and trash bag:: were found, much to the rclieCof the rescue teams. Undersheriff Bruce Hartman was accompanied by Yanchunis to have alook-see. After that various members made the descent as training for a mine rescue.