• Sunday-What'sUP March 10 - 12:04 am

We've explored many aspects of the Copper boom on the Pasty Cam - underground lighting, mining lumber crews, the role of explosives, etc. - but I don't recall focusing on that final step in the process: loading the finished product for shipment. Daryl Laitila provided a nice collection of vintage postcards with this subject, and we combined it with a little "music to set your clocks by" (in case you forgot last night) for this week's Pasty Cameo.

Thanks for all the great suggestions for future Cameos. We especially welcome any historical photos you might find that would provide a fresh glimpse of the past here in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Have a good week :o)

Those copper ingots must have been heavy. They didn't have front end loaders back then. Human loaders? Tough work.
Toured a copper mine in the Tucson, AZ area last month. And saw the "new" ingots that weigh about 600
pounds!!!!

Wow Charlie what great postcards. I've never seen anything like the views of stacks of copper! I love the look and feel of copper, I'm intregued by it. And here's loads of it. Neat! Plus it's one of my favorite colors. Thanks Dayrl.

Great postcards of the past covering copper shipments from The Keweenaw!!! In the 1940's I delivered hot lunches to my dad in the smelter, Mineral House, leaching plant, rolling mill and sometimes to the stamp mill in Tamarack as dad was on the C & H saftey committee and had a tour of the smelter every day and saw the round bars being moved around by Lester Blondo and the large 500# slabs by my uncle Phil.In those days I delivered papers to all the smelter managment up in Linwood so was given a pass to tromp around the smelter almost at will.

Great choice of music on the slideshow. Yee-ha! Interesting to see the different sizes of the ingots. Some looked like patio stones.

Just think what all that copper would be worth today!

Those postcards are great. A friend of ours sent us a link to Penny postcards for our state last week. Very interesting. I don't have it any longer though.

Tom (Tom):
"Toured a copper mine in the Tucson, AZ area last month."

Tom, which one was that?

FRNash,

Speaking of mines in AZ, I remember driving by a mine in Globe some years ago. Is/was this a copper mine? We took Hwy 60 from Socorro, NM, to Phoenix for a change of scenery. What a beautiful drive! Other than the glorious "Ponderosa country" scenes, the Very Large Array radio telescopes in NM and the 'old-time' mountain driving through the Salt River canyon remain a most enjoyable experience. By the time we exited the canyon, my hands nearly had to be pried from the steering wheel. lol.

I have 2 of the 3 postcards featured on todays "Cam Notes" plus several more pertaining in my "guest gallery albums"-- "Historic Old Postcards"

Exceptional Pasty Cameo! Love the music too!

This might be the link you mentioned Deb:
http://www.rootsweb.com:80/~usgenweb/special/ppcs/ppcs.html

JH
Tanks for link

Yup, that's the one Judy!! Thanks!

Heikki (Heikki):
"… driving by a mine in Globe some years ago. Is/was this a copper mine?

Oh you betcha! The Globe/Miami area was the heart of some major copper mining in Arizona, and it left some seriously ugly scenery (tailings piles) along the roadway (US60) around Globe, Miami & Claypool (now there's a lovely name for a town, eh?).

See map: Globe/Miami, AZ (Zoom in for greater detail.)

See also:
1. Western Mining History, Globe AZ
2. Western Mining History, Miami AZ
3. Arizona Mining Association ¬ There's a lot to be found on that site, too!

I'll bet Capt. Paul (Eclogite) and Dr. Nat (Drnat) could go on at great length on that subject!

"… driving through the Salt River canyon remain a most enjoyable experience. By the time we exited the canyon, my hands nearly had to be pried from the steering wheel."

Yes, US-60 through the Salt River canyon is still about as exciting a white-knuckle driving experience as you can have on a paved roadway in Arizona, especially if you aren't expecting it! J

See map: US-60 at Salt River crossing ¬ Click on the Aerial image tab/button and zoom in to see further detail.

Pima Mining Company a few miles south of Tucson.
The pit was 1800 feet deep and 2.5 miles across and almost 3 miles in length. Lots of copper in that whole area but not pure like on the Keweenaw. The operations costs are totally paid for by the precious minerals such as gold an d silver. So the copper is pure profit at some $3 per pound.

FRNash,

Thx for the links. Didn't realize the mine is so huge. Driving US 60 thru the Salt River canyon for the first time seemed far more snakier than shown on the map/aerial views.

Heikki (Heikki):
"Driving US 60 thru the Salt River canyon for the first time seemed far more snakier than shown on the map/aerial views."

Oh it always seems more "snakier" than that!

Tom (Tom):
" Pima Mining Company a few miles south of Tucson."

That must be this one: Pima Mine ¬ click on the Aerial image tab/button and zoom in to see further detail.

It seems to have "growed" quite a bit since I was last in that area. As with most mines, it's a bit off the beaten path, but as a matter of fact, not far from a favorite of mine …
the Titan Missile Museum — the only Titan II missile site in the world that's open to the public!

See Map: Titan Missile Museum location ¬ click on the Aerial image tab/button and zoom in to see further detail.

I'll bet Capt. Paul (Eclogite) and Dr. Nat (Drnat) could go on at great length on that subject!

We could, but it seems that you guys are doing a good enough job as it is ;-)

Although this all probably belongs on the Geology page, while we're at it, here are some maps of a few more copper mines (primarilyly in Arizona). As before, in each case, click on the Aerial image tab/button and zoom in to see further detail.:

1. Morenci mine, Morenci, AZ — the largest copper producer in North America. In 1986, Phelps Dodge Morenci, Inc. was established as a partnership between Phelps Dodge Mining Company (85%) and Sumitomo Metal Mining Arizona Inc. The latter belongs to Sumitomo Corp. (75%) and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd.

2. ASARCO's Silver Bell Mine, Silver Bell, AZ, and …

3. ASARCO's Ray Mine, Ray, AZ — In 2000, Ray was the second largest copper mine in Arizona, the state that produces 65% of the nation's mined copper. This mine was purchased from Kennecott in 1986, and, since 1999, ASARCO (originally from American Smelting And Refining COmpany) has been owned by Grupo Mexico, Mexico's largest mining company.

4. Copper Queen Mine map, Bisbee, AZ — Phelps Dodge Corporation, through a subsidiary the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company, became the dominant force and eventually the sole operator of the mining district. Phelps Dodge Corporation closed the Bisbee underground mines in the summer of 1975..

5. New Cornelia Mine, Ajo, AZ — Of some interest to folks in Michigan's Copper Country, the town of Ajo, Arizona was founded by the New Cornelia Copper Company, a subsidiary of Calumet and Arizona Mining Company, in about 1915. The company owned town was established to house the workers at the adjacent open pit copper mine. Phelps Dodge acquired the Calumet and Arizona Mining Company in 1931. The mine was closed in 1985, and most of the Company owned non-mining properties were sold to the current residents.

6. United Verde Mine, Jerome, AZ — A former surface and underground mine, including 81 miles of underground workings reaching to the 3,515 foot level. Discovered 1875, started about 1876, first produced 1883. Once the largest copper mine in Arizona, producing 3 million pounds of copper per month. Phelps-Dodge took over the United Verde in 1935, but loss of profits dependent on the ups and downs of copper prices, labor unrest, depressions and war brought the operation and Jerome mining days to an end in 1953.

And finally, although not in Arizona, here is the largest man-made excavation on earth, a pit over 0.75 mile deep, 2.5 miles wide, and covering 1,900 acres. …
The Bingham Canyon Mine, Bingham Canyon, UT — Owned by Rio Tinto plc through Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation which operates the mine. Cumulatively, Bingham Canyon has produced more copper than any other mine in the world, although mines in Chile, Arizona, and New Mexico now exceed Bingham Canyon's annual production rate.

(P.S. Aren't you glad the copper mines in da UP were not open pit mines?)

"(primarilyly in Arizona)"?

primarilyly = primarily

So apparently I was gettin' in too big a hurry to proofread the last bit of text I added, eh?

Believe it or not, there is a feature in the discussion engine of these Cam Notes that will allow you to edit your posted message. So Frank could have edited that spelling slip. Only one problem, though... None of us know how to use the feature!

Of course, as administrators Mary and I can edit any previous posting, but there are indications somewhere in the instructions that anyone can edit their own post for a limited time after they submit it.

Does anyone know how to do this? Here is a standing offer to our visitors and registered Cammies: find a way for any Cammie to access this feature, email me with the steps, and when we verify it we will send you a four-pack of your favorite pasties as a reward :o)

P.S. Aren't you glad the copper mines in da UP were not open pit mines?

Maybe so, but don't forget there are 2 openpit iron ore mines in the UP. Empire and Tilden, however, are mere drops in the proverbial bucket compared to the shear size of pits such as Bingham, Morenci, or Escondida......

Thanks to all who responded to the note about editing your own post. We may be close to a solution.

In fact, this sentence was added after this posting had been submitted.

Let's see if anyone else can discover how it is done :o)

No Charlie, thank you for letting us help you ;-)

Wow, it actually worked!!! I too just added this message after the original post

C'mon youse guys. Let's have it. I've needed this function for quite some time! I have an idea and will give it a try.....

C'mon youse guys. Let's have it. I've needed this function for quite some time! I have an idea and will give it a try.....

See if this comes through.

NOPE! Now my curiosity is REALLY aroused.

This is much, much better. The Old Dog learned a new trick today. Thx, Cap and Charley.

Looks like Heikki don't get it.

Let me try.

Wahooo! It works. Do I get free pasties?

Sorry, RD, Capt. Paul beat you to it, and his pasties are already in the oven.

For all who are wondering how it is done: Scroll to the bottom of this page and look at the Username-Password boxes. To the right of that is a link to register or maintain your I.D. Click where it says "Click here". You will then be able to edit any post you have made in the last hour.

"How to edit your post"

(Oh how I've been looking for that!)

---

Quote:

Scroll to the bottom of this page and look at the Username-Password boxes. To the right of that is a link to register or maintain your I.D. Click where it says "Click here".

---

Now I have to try it too....

It worked....That's pretty slick! :->

An interesting observation, just FYI:

Any edited messages apparently retain their original time/date stamp, thus they do not show up as new or modified if you're using the "Search for …

What the heck have I been missing....

Infact...I've been waiting for something to be posted on the smelters and ore docks near Dollar Bay area...I was going to do a paper on them for my class ..still may if anyone who has more info and is willing to be a candidate in great detail about what they know and their life experiences??? even if you don't know nothing I still need someone who has an interesting life to write about lol (this was added after my original post...by golly this is sweet stuff)

Frank,

The reason for the differences in the Pasty Central forum and the John Dee forum: Pasty Central started this format several years before we helped John Dee start his discussion board, so Pasty Central has an older software engine. Over the years Pasty Central/Pasty.NET has hosted hundreds of websites, many of which we have set up with forums, shopping carts, galleries, etc. Being the oldest of all of these, we have the earliest versions of the software. Upgrading these, when there is such a huge body of contributed information already posted, is not a trivial task.

JohnDee.com is by far the highest traffic website we host, second only to Pasty Central itself. The trade off we had between version differences with all the bells and whistles (smiley faces, etc., etc.) is the way this older version accommodates the embedding of our primary picture(s) of the day, and most recently, the embedding of our flash Cameos. We have seriously looked at 'upgrading' this older format to newer ones like we support on the other sites, but have chosen to stick with this format with which so many visitors are familiar.

I'm very interested in the History of the Copper Range and am trying to become familiar with mine site terminology. I'm a bit confused by the functions of a rockhouse and the collarhouse. Are they both part of the "mine" site, or is the mine the actual shaft? Thanks.