• Monday-What'sUP June 1 - 10:19 pm

Ryan Byykkonen was recently here in the Copper Country for a visit and did some exploring around the area. The photos he shares here today were snapped in the Painesdale area, where the remnants of the copper mine, Champion #4 still stand.

That's quite the large shaft house there and if it could only talk, I bet we'd hear many stories of the days this mine was producing copper back in 1901 for Copper Range, until it closed back in 1967. During those years it was in operation, it briefly closed for a three year space from 1945 to 1948, so equipment could be removed from a lower level in order for that portion of the mine to be abandoned. This mine actually reached 5,500 feet from the surface at one point.

I cannot imagine going that far underground like our grandparents did. That was one tough way to make a living.

Over one mile down, I wonder how long it took to reach the bottom.

Amazing photography!

Thanks for sharing my work.

Thanks for the great pictures! Is that the one the group is working on restoring?

Fantastic pics today by a fantastic photographer- and
son!

Historic.

Just for comparison:

The good ol' Quincy #2 shaft reached over a mile below the surface — over 9100 feet along the inclined shaft(!) — and the ≈ 2500 horsepower Nordberg steam hoist at Quincy #2 operated at ≈ 3200 feet per minute (36 MPH), so slightly less than 3 minutes for a trip to the surface along that 9100 foot inclined shaft!

Alex,
"Man" trips were were run at much slower speeds than the rock skips, so some where around 4-5 minutes to get up or down.
I had visited the Champion a couple of times in its last years. As a lone teenager, I kept my distance so I wouldn't get yelled at. One of the last trips I was assigned to take my Grandfather around since he wasn't driving anymore. No subtlety with him. We got out of the car and strolled right in and had a long talk with the lander. That was an insight to what it was like in the old days - he was used to just stopping in, having grown up in Raymbaultown and Red Jacket. Long before the paranoia about liability. Thanks Ryan, for sharing the photos.

There was a group trying to preserve the shaft like Quincy but I do not know how they are doing or if they are still active.

I did have the opportunity to go down the shaft during the time that the town was putting in the water pumps from surface and at that time the water level was up to just below the 4th level. The old original mine piston pump was a marvel to look at. Unfortunately it was just too big to remove intact as a historic artifact, It would have made a great addition to any historical display as a fine example of turn of the century engineering design.

Unfortunately all it was good for at the time was scrap iron.

It made the engineer in me shed a tear for engineers of the past and their ability to add beauty to function in what was just a common water pump.

James W. Hird (Wvyooper):
"There was a group trying to preserve the shaft like Quincy but I do not know how they are doing or if they are still active.

This is where the Champion #4 restoration project was as of 2007 (Omigosh, has it been that long?):
Click → Painesdale Mine & Shaft, Inc.
Rummage around that site, hopefully there's a clue or a point of contact there.

FRNash/PHX, AZ (Frnash):
Just for comparison:
The good ol' Quincy #2 shaft reached over a mile below the surface — over 9100 feet along the inclined shaft(!)

9,260 feet to be exact, and some even claim that No. 6 was deeper than No. 2! ;-)

Thanks FRNash, that's the group! Sorry to see things have not been going well for them. That was a tough few years and the insurance costs were high.

Hi Cap'n Paul,

I might have known you'd have the exact number! — although mindat.org says:

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Quote:

"… 9 shafts were driven; 2 of these shafts, #2 and #6, reached 9,280 ft. deep on the incline (approx. 6,800 ft vertical). …"

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http://www.geo.mtu.edu/KeweenawGeoheritage/BlackLavas/Quincy_files/z_Quincy_No.2_Shaft_11.jpg

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Quote:

"No. 7 shaft is unique in that is was driven on a catenary curve."

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FRNash,
That is #2. #2 & #6 were mirror images of each other when they were built. #2 was/is an "upcast" shaft so the timber structure pictured in the link was suffering and was chosen for replacement with new technology in 1908 with the steel structure still standing. #2 also got the new big hoist. In 20/20 hindsight, the capital would have been better spent at #6. The catenary curve in #7 was used to eliminate the need for underground guide rollers for the hoisting cables which would follow a natural catenary curve. The other remarkable feature of #7 was it was sunk and raised from several points by drifting from #2

And who do you believe wrote the descriptions for Quincy (and most of the Keweenaw mines, for that matter) for Mindat??? J Although, with permission of course, I may use some of your descriptions Paul to update Mindat concerning Quincy.

Interesting information today...thanks!

I love these mining discussions. I wish we had more of them. Kind of like the old days of pasty.

Capt. Paul (Eclogite):
"And who do you believe wrote the descriptions for Quincy (and most of the Keweenaw mines, for that matter) for Mindat??? …"
Ahh, well of course. <wink, wink> 😉

As much as folks on this site know about the history of mining in the Copper Country, 'tis amazing to me how much, photos in particular, is still lost to history, or nearly so.

Thanks to Cap'n Paul and Paul M. for keeping it alive.