Gold For Colorado Capitol Dome Back From Italy
DENVER (AP/CBS4) - The gold that will be used to replace the gilding on the state Capitol dome is back in Colorado after being transformed into gold leaf in Italy.
Gov. John Hickenlooper is set to accept the gold during a ceremony Tuesday morning at the Capitol.
About $120,000 worth of donated gold was mined from the Teller County Mine in Cripple Creek and shipped to Florence, Italy, in March.
Sixty-five ounces will be used to re-gild the Capitol dome. Another 10 ounces will be held in reserve for future touchups.
The gold originally put on the dome over a century ago was also mined in Colorado.
Before the gold was sent to Italy officials described the process as follows:
Sixty-five ounces of the pure metal will be sent to Florence, Italy, where it will be rolled into 1/8,000 millimeter tissue-thin sheets of gold leaf that are 3 1/8" square. The leaf will then be applied to a copper base plate and ultimately to the dome structure. Project managers estimate it will require approximately 140,000 sheets of the leaf to gild the dome, applied at a rate of 50 to 100 square feet per day.
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