Welcome to this website for the Galena King mine which is a historic hard rock lead mine located in Bernalillo county, in central New Mexico. It was actively mined from 1908 to the mid-1920s. The mine was going to re-open as a fluorspar (fluorite) mine for fluorescent light bulbs in World War II but the area became part of the New Mexico Proving Ground (today this is part of Kirtland Air Force Base) in 1942 to test proximity fuses. Because of active testing, large sections of the mine remained covered in mineral formations that the original lead miners had left in place for their beauty. After the war, the mine sat idle until it was purchase by author, artist, cowboy and miner, Max Evans, himself a World War II veteran from Normandy. Max bought the mine in 1964 just for the geode like beauty of the formations still found in the mine at that time. As a hobby mine that Max and Pat Evans would only occasionally visit, it was also discovered by illegal rock collectors. The mine suffered significant damage from these trespassing mineral collectors from the late 1960s until 2014. In 2014, a group of volunteers called “Friends of Galena King” formed to help Max & Pat Evans protect, preserve, and promote the mine so future generations can continue to appreciate its natural beauty as well as its historic and geological significance.