Calumet to Silver City

We had a very informative copper mine tour today. The Quincy Copper mine opened in 1846, closed in 1931, and reopened to supply copper during WWII before closing in 1946. Our tour guide, Kyle, is a geology major at Michigan Tech, and shared more details than we could possibly absorb and appeciate. Here are the highlights:

1. The Quincy mine has the world's longest mine shaft (1.75 miles)
2. It has the world's only remaining and world's largest steam-powered hoist (for hauling men, material, and rocks up and down the mine shafts - 6 tons or more per load).
3. The hoist is on the largest concrete slab ever poured, and is housed in the world's largest concrete reinforced building (at that time - 1918)
4. The cog railroad to transport us to one of the vertical mine shafts for the tour is one of only 3 in the US - Pike's Peak, Mount Washington in NH, and here at the Quincy mine
5. The mining industry here brought in tens of thousands of immigrants to work, particularly Cornish, Irish, German, Croatian, Finnish, and Italian. Cornish miners were highly sought because of their mining knowlege and skill.
6. Unsafe conditions - one miner died each week, and the mortality rate for miners was 33%

We viewed and learned about the massive hoist and I only took one photo (extra wide angle, cuz it's so big), not realizing that you can't tell how big that thing is in the picture! It weighs 880 tons, and is 60 feet long! Outside, on the mine grounds, are historic buildings and equipment. This includes the tall building over the mine shaft where massive cables connect to the hoist.

Our guide showed examples of "reading the rock", demonstrating aspects not visible to us that were dangerous, or indicated stability, or would or would not yield copper. He talked about how these workers were considered highly skilled labor for this expertise. He described at length the tenacity and hard work of these foreign workers and their families. Deaths were frequent and often (they worked by candlelight, many decades after better types of lighting was common. And oh, yes, they had to bring their own candles, expensive at the time)

In the afternoon, we drove to Silver City and checked into our hotel. I was surprised to see we had a Lake Superior view from our window. The three of us walked along the water, admiring the view and wonderful weather!Read more