My grandfather was an electrical engineer and took color slide pictures at various mine sites he visited in the 1930s and early 1940s. I have been scanning the images. I've been to a few of these mine sites and studied and read papers on a few of them as well. And big holes in the ground exposing lots of rocks is always interesting stuff for geologists. Rock candy for mining geologists.
Bisbe, Arizona
Castle Dome, Arizona
Miami Copper Leaching
Morenci Pit, Arizona
Ajo, Arizona
Electric powered train
Electric rails in pit
Test mill at Morenci, Arizona
Lead chat piles in Oklahoma
Lead chat piles in Oklahoma
Iron mine in northern Minnesota
Diesel electric power for drilling
Bingham Pit, Utah
Iron mine in Minnesota
Sewel Seam Coal Mine, West Virginia
We're in old-mine-photo heaven in southern Arizona. Let me know if you want updates. The Lavender Pit here in Bisbee hasn't changed much. For further color about copper mining in particular, I recommend "Boom, Bust, Boom" a book recently written by Bisbee resident Bill Carter. A fairly balanced and very readable discussion. He understands that we need the copper and thinks that this area isn't the worst place to get it, although he chose to move to Flagstaff, not wanting to live in Bisbee if the mine reopens. He's adamantly opposed to Pebble in Bristol Bay, and I agree with him there.
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