coppermining

I love how there are no stripes on the road.

In 1939, this is what rush hour looked like.

WHAT is being done at Copperhill TODAY? The railroad is still there but looks as if it needs repairs; but, is any sulphuric acid coming from there today?

Acid production stopped in 2001 at Copperhill. The company is still in operation today selling iron calcine that was produced in the 1970's - 80's and stockpiled. The rail yard and line belong to a Heritage tourism group who run passenger excursion over the "Old Line" and lease the yard for rail car storage.

Come visit Copperhill, TN. The scenic wonder of the south.

Bunmahon/Bonmahon was a copper mining area. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunmahon Old OSI map shows lots of disused mines. No idea where this new mine could be. maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,642741,598456,7,9 The men are standing on the rickety headstocks, probably salvaged from another mine. One of a pair of winding wheels is lying in the foreground. There is a substantial winding house on the right, with a temporary steam sinking winch. Once the shaft sinkers had got down to the copper seams, more substantial headstocks would be built over the shaft. Here are some coal mine sinkers www.flickr.com/photos/53560486@N04/6221476026/

blackpoolbeach knows a lot more about mining than I do and thank you for the information, it makes sense of the shot. Another example of a health and safety nightmare today but the norm in those days. Theres an awful lot of people standing on a flimsy looking frame. It looks as though this was a new mine about to be opened or an old mine about to be closed. I suspect the former given the condition of the piping on the right foreground. I was looking at the frame and wondering if it could withstand the pull from winch but if you look closely you can see the supports on that side are angled out to brace it against the pull of the winch! Lord how things have changed in 100 years!

The Times (London) of Nov 25 1905 reported a speculative venture to reopen mines at Bunmahon . Could the picture be showing one of these mines in the process of being reopened? The Bonmahon Copper Mines Development Syndicate (Limited) has a capital of £30,000 in £1 shares, of which 12,500 shares are reserved for working capital, and subscriptions are invited for the balance. The company is formed to acquire the mineral and mining rights, free from all royalties and charges, of the Knockmahon and Tankardstown Copper Mines, to reopen the mines, and afterwards (if deemed advisable) to form a larger company to work and develop the property on an adequate scale. The purchase consideration to be paid for the property is £16,250, of which £5,000 is payable in cash and the balance in shares. The venture is frankly speculative, but it is interesting from the point of view of the possible revival of a once important Irish industry, and the present position of the copper market is in its favour. A short youtube clip about one of the Bunmahon mines here.

The venture to reopen the mines seems not to have been a success - the company was wound up in 1907, and the investors, many from the Waterford area, lost their money. There seem to have been big problems removing water from the mines. TheTankardstown mine went a considerable distance under the sea. In 1910 the man behind the attempted reopening, a Mr Herbert Tristman Marks, was criticised in a magazine article, which suggested the prospectus had misled investors. He sued the magazine, lost the case, then lost an appeal, and was then declared bankrupt.

John Spooner Very interesting video. Shaft sinkers were a breed apart. They went up and down shafts in a large bucket until their work was finished. Only then were cages fitted for hauling coal or man-riding. The Hartley Colliery disaster of 1862 brought legislation so that there were 2 shafts to give miners an escape route. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartley_Colliery_Disaster Non-ferrous mines (lead, tin, copper) seemed to be less regulated than coal mines. What is the difference between a well and a mine? With a well you dig a shaft to look for water.

How awful.

Is there a picture of Ducktown today? The last time we rode through that area it seemed that most of that land had been reclaimed, and looked nothing like this picture.

This is the caption that Marion Post Walcott included with her photo from 1939 but the actual damage to the vegetation occurred in the late 1800's. The smelting technology of that time did not allow the sulfur dioxide generated by the heating of the ore to be captured. By 1909 the mining companies developed new practices which let them recover the sulfur dioxide and use it in the manufacture of sulfuric acid. Reclamation in the Basin began in the 1930's with varying degrees of success initially. By the 1970's new techniques were developed and today most of the Basin has been revegetated.

Not really. The Basin remained denuded until the acid plant and mining operation went out of business in the late '80's. I grew up there, and it looked just like this till I was out of college in the '80's.

I rode thru there yesterday, 10/13/2013. The Copper Basin is now very green, and the forest is coming back. It's going to take generations for the trees to mature, however. Just don't drink the water.