Copper mine

“ Some countries have copper mines, others have none. But the ownership of a copper mine is of no possible advantage unless the copper produced from that mine is manufactured into something else or is sold. ”

“ In Ancash, Ica, and Arequipa, in the coast zone, these copper deposits are also found, and new smelting establishments have been installed in these departments which are contributing to increase the output of copper ore. New copper mines have been explored in the provinces of Jauja, Pasco, and elsewhere, and prove to be rich in ores. The industry is in a more promising condition than it has ever been. Petitions for concessions of mining property are constantly reaching the government, a favorable augury for the future development of this valuable resource. ”

“ It exists in every variety of form. According to the opinion of the lamented Houghton, this region contains the most extensive copper mines in the known world. The native copper (p. 118) boulder discovered by the traveler Henry in the bed of the Ontonagon river, and now in Washington, originally weighed thirty-eight hundred pounds. A copper mass of the same material, found near Copper Harbor, weighed twelve hundred pounds. At Copper Falls, there is a vein of solid ore which measures nine feet in depth, and seven and a half inches in thickness. ”

“ Copper mining no longer remains the major industry of the area. Once where many shafts were sunk deep into the earth, and their rockhouses lined the horizon, only a few remain today as reminders of a bygone era, standing as ever vigilant sentinels, guarding what may be left of their once rich copper deposits. ”

“ The best opinion of mining men in this country is that our mineral resources have not yet been "skimmed" and that the mining ground of the Western country has not yet been well "scratched."
Therefore, the statement made in a newspaper which is supposedly devoted to the interests of investors, that it need not be expected that more copper mines are going to be discovered, is a snare calculated to trap the unwary. ”

“ It’s an old, deserted surface copper mine that was originally worked after a rude fashion by the Injuns, or some other folks who didn’t know its value. There’s millions of pounds there waiting for modern methods to bring it up to the light of day.”
Jack and Charlie looked at the several rich specimens Prawle laid out for their inspection, and then at one another. ”

“ To chemical science, therefore, we are indebted for such an ample supply of this valuable metal. It is asserted, that a large copper mine has been worked for some time in the state of New-Jersey in America, and that the ore raised there is brought to this country to be smelted. Native oxides of copper are found in Cornwall and in South America. Carbonate of copper occurs as a natural production in two varieties, called malachite and mountain green. Sulphate of copper, of a very rich quality, is also found in the state of Connecticut. The stream in its course destroys vegetation ”

“ The United States, producing a major part of the world’s copper, has also been responsible for financing and developing more successful copper mines abroad than any other country. Success has been facilitated by the presence in the Western Hemisphere of the world’s chief copper deposits and also by the advances in mining, milling and metallurgy that have been in great measure the work of United States engineers. ”

“ James Douglas, possesses a distinct group of copper deposits. The Appalachian chain of mountains carries throughout its entire extent, from far beyond the northern limits of the United States to near the Gulf of Mexico, copper, which is chiefly but not exclusively contained in masses of iron pyrites imbedded in crystalline slates. Copper mines were worked before the Revolution in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. More recently mines have been worked in nearly all the Eastern, Middle, and Southern States from Maine to Alabama, but most extensively in Vermont and Tennessee. ”

“ A large proportion of all copper deposits are of such a deep-seated character that at no time can large reserves be positively developed, even when they exist. On the other hand, all over the world the mines with large known reserves are horizontal deposits, lying near the surface, because only in such occurrences is it possible to block out easily and cheaply big tonnages of ore. There are in the United States six very important deposits of this type, the so-called “porphyries.” These are:
Table 40.—“Porphyry” Copper Mines in the United States
These mines in 1917 produced 31.5 per cent. ”

“ The Americans are actually working rich mines of silver, copper, &c.
[7] A recent number of "The Scientific American," published in New York, contains the following:—Some of the British officers in Canada have lately made an important discovery of some of the richest copper-mines in the world. This discovery has created great excitement. Some of the officers, en route to England, are now in the city, and will carry with them some specimens of the ore, and among them one piece weighing 2,200 lbs. The ore is very rich, yielding, as we learn, seventy-two per cent. ”

“ The great chimney pours forth clouds of smoke, heavy skips hurry up and down the shaft, there is always a cheerful ring of anvils, rafts of logs lie in the land-locked basin, men and teams are to be seen in every direction, and everywhere is heard the inspiring hum of many industries, though as yet not one pound of copper has been brought up from the underground depths. ”

“ The building of the railroad from Corocoro to Tacna will afford the copper mines cheaper freights.
The government exacts a small export duty on the copper ore. The industry has promising possibilities in other regions, in addition to the increased development that may be looked for in the Corocoro district. The best paying of these is in Lipez, where the white native copper is produced and the ore treated simply by concentration. ”

“ The mining of copper with profit depends on the price of the metal in the market and on the cost of extracting and transporting the ore to the smelter. This, of course, is true with all metals, hence it frequently happens that mines containing abundant ore are not worked, owing to the fact that the cost of production, when taken into consideration with the market price, eliminates the possibility of profit. ”

“ In Cornwall there are upwards of 100 copper mines. It derives its name from the island of Cyprus, where it was first obtained by the Greeks. It is employed pure for numerous purposes, and is also mixed with other metals to form bell metal, speculum metal, for optical purposes, and German silver.
Lead occurs in veins most plentifully in mountain limestone districts, and usually contains some portion of silver. There are lead mines in various parts of England, as well as in Spain, Saxony, and in Bohemia, and some very rich lead mines have of late years been worked in the United States. ”

“ Furthermore the mound builder used metal tools, and was probably a metal worker. It is true the copper implements mentioned, as having been found were brought to Rainy and Red Rivers. I have, however, pointed out the intimate connection judging by the line of transport subsisting between Rainy River and Lake Superior, the mining locality for copper. To sink a mine in the unyielding Huronian rock of Lake Superior, with mallet and hammer and wedge and fire, take out the native copper, work it into the desired tools, and then temper these requires skill and adaptation unpossessed by the Indians. ”

“ In the Uinta Mountains silver and copper mines have been discovered and worked by private parties. The extent of these silver and copper bearing rocks has been determined, but their value can be established only by extensive working. ”

“ There are also some copper mines worked with the contact iron deposits of China (formed by contact action of diorite) ; and deposits of malachite in Triassic sandstone are worked at several points.
INDIA
India is not a copper producer. The Rakha Hills mine of the Cape Copper Co. (see Cape Colony) has 400,000 tons of 4 per cent. copper ore developed and a smelter is being built. India is an enormous copper consumer, and it is surprising she has never been a producer. ”

“ On the other hand, increased usage of electrical energy compared with energy generated from combustion of petroleum and its derivatives is likely to greatly increase demand for copper.
The environmental considerations in both the mining and manufacture of copper are formidable. The mining operation scars the land and surface restoration presents a major ecological problem. Because one ton of water is required per ton of ore processed, adequate water supplies must be available. ”

“ Moreover, with the exception of Spain and Chili, the United States has no serious rivals in copper production,—Montana and Michigan, producing the greater part of the output. The famous Calumet and Hecla mine, in Michigan, is now down 4,000 feet and still yields ore. The most copper ores are not difficult to distinguish. Every one is familiar with the ruddy hue of pure copper, the color of the native metal. ”

“ The conditions which affected copper mining in the preceding decade still existed, but the Legislative Council, recognising the value of the copper and lead fields, sought to promote their development by building to them the first Government railway in the colony. Copper deposits were intermittently worked, but with moderate success. Lead continued to supply the chief mining profits, and the Narra Tarra and Wheel of Fortune mines were particularly lucrative. ”

“ The copper was, no doubt, recognised as a malleable rock, differing from all others in its ductility, so that it could be fashioned, with the aid of a hammer-stone, to any desired form. By this means the ancient miners of Lake Superior provided themselves with the most suitable tools for their mining operations, and were probably the manufacturers of most of the widely diffused copper implements. But for general purposes, both of industry and war, American man had to be content with the more abundant chert, hornstone, and quartzite. ”

“ It is brought into communication with the mines and smelting works by means of a line of railway, which, independently of its collateral branches, pierces the copper-producing country to a distance of sixty miles. The copper, either in the form of ingots, bars, or regulus, is shipped to Europe—principally to England—in steamers or sailing vessels. The country, as far as the eye can reach from the anchorage, is a mere sandy desert, dotted here and there with an odd oasis of cultivated land, which has been rendered productive by means of artificial irrigation. Trees are rare ”

“ Of North American construction and operation is a 25 kilometre ore-carrying line between Caleta Cruz Grande and the Tofo iron mines; a narrow-gauge private line of 70 kilometres joining the copper mines of El Teniente (Braden Copper Co.) to Rancagua town; and a link between Pueblo Hundido and the copper beds of Potrerillos. German interests (Gildemeister & Co.) constructed a small line, for the exclusive use of a related copper mining company, from Challocollo to Cerro Gordo, in Tarapacá, with an extension to La Granja, in 1897, 36 miles of narrow-gauge track. ”

“ The common ore is native copper, often associated with native silver, the two remaining, chemically, quite distinct. Some masses of copper occur that are too large to handle and must be cut by cold chisels, a method that costs more for labor than the value of the metal. The Lake Superior mines produce 140,000,000 pounds of copper a year, while those of Montana made the gigantic output of 228,000,000 pounds in 1896. ”

“ It is not likely, should a crosscut be 69 run under the silver ore shoot from the lower levels of the mine, that oxidized ore will be found at that level, but it will be interesting to know what sort of ore may be found there. Indications of copper on the surface are very slight. In a few places stains and thin seams of copper carbonates occur in the fracture joints of the country rock, but there is nothing to lead one to believe that ore lies beneath that will bear shipment to Europe and return a handsome profit to the owners of the mine, yet such is the case. ”

“ The conditions of copper mining are exactly opposite from those of silver. The Indians used almost no metal except copper, and for three hundred years white men used the old Indian mines and refined the copper by Indian methods. Better methods of mining copper and extracting it from the ores have been employed for the last fifty years, but within a dozen years the refining of copper has been revolutionized by electric methods. An enormous amount has been produced, but production has been kept down on account of the high prices. ”

“ The first location of a copper claim was made by Frank McAllister who, with a man named Cooper and Arthur Kunzie, may be credited with one of the West’s most spectacular mining booms.
In 1905 Phil Creaser and Fred Birney took samples of the Copper Blue Ledge and sent them to Patsy Clark, who was so impressed that he dispatched Joseph P. Harvey, a prominent mining engineer to look at the property. Harvey started from Daggett and had reached Cave Spring in the Avawatz Mountains when he was caught in a cloudburst and lost all his equipment. ”

“ At Broken Hill mines about 11,000 miners are employed.
Copper is known to exist in all the states, and has been mined extensively in South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania. The low quotations which ruled for a number of years had a depressing effect upon the industry, and Copper. many mines once profitably worked were temporarily closed, but in 1906 there was a general revival. The discovery of copper had a marked effect on the fortunes of South Australia at a time when the young colony was surrounded by difficulties. ”