November 27 - 28, 2023 Copper Mining in Bisbee

November 27th, 2023

The Queen Mine Tour has been on my bucket list for a while.  So today was the day for our tour!

 

 

“Bisbee’s Queen Mine was one of the richest copper mines in history. The mine opened in 1877 and eventually closed when Phelps Dodge discontinued mining operations in Bisbee in the mid-1970’s

The story of Bisbee mining began in the late 1870’s when Lt. Dunn, in charge of a cavalry detail from the frontier Army post of Fort Huachuca, was on a scouting mission against the Apache Indians. Lt. Dunn and his men headed for a spring in the Mule Mountains to camp for the night. The party camped on a spot of fairly flat ground in the canyon below the spring—a site now occupied by Old Bisbee, only several hundred yards from the beginning of today’s Mine Tour.

On a walk after dinner, Lt. Dunn picked up an interesting rock. He found a few more pieces along the slope of the south wall of the canyon. Unable to do anything about it because of military duties, Dunn took a prospector by the name of George Warren into his confidence and struck up a deal by which Warren would locate claims and work the property with Dunn as a partner. But on his way to the site, prospector Warren stopped to visit some friends and enjoy his favorite pastime—whiskey drinking. He soon has new partners and they staked a new group of claims and left Dunn out of the deal. When Dunn came along later to check, he was on the outside looking in.

​Copper production began on a limited basis around 1880. Individuals and then companies with capital gradually became involved and took over individual claims and brought them into production. 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. Building on its base in Bisbee, Phelps Dodge had long been one of the largest copper producers in the United States.

​The surface pockets of cerussite were soon exhausted, but the owners found that the orebody ran 23% copper, with silver and gold as byproducts. Most mines of that era could profitably mine ore containing 8% to 10% copper, so the Copper Queen orebody was considered extraordinarily high grade. The surface oxide ore was exhausted after three or four years, but miners explored deeper and eventually found even larger orebodies.^​

​Before engines were used to transport cars of ores, mules were trained to pull ore cars out of the mines. The loaded cars weighed up to 2,800 pounds. The mules lived in the mines 24/7, sleeping in stables in the mines. The mules would spend four years working in the mines, after which time their eyesight deteriorated. In order to adjust them to daylight, blinders were placed over the mules' eyes with small holes poked in the material. The holes were slowly widened as the mule's eyes adjusted to the light.

​​During almost a century of mining, 8 billion pounds of copper, 102 million ounces of silver and 2.8 million ounces of gold along with millions of pounds of zinc, lead and manganese were produced. By 1974 ore reserves had been depleted and December brought the announcement of the impending closure of mining operations in Bisbee. Phelps Dodge curtailed open pit operations that year and ceased underground operations in 1975. ​

Phelps Dodge Corporation closed the Bisbee underground mines in the summer of 1975. Bisbee Mayor Chuck Eads, with the generous cooperation of Phelps Dodge, brought to reality the idea of opening a mine tour through a portion of the world-famous Copper Queen Mine. Mayor Eads felt that history of mining should be kept alive in Bisbee and in a manner that would attract tourists to the community. Many faithful volunteers cleared thousands of tons of fallen rock and re-timbered the old workings. They were assisted by local individuals and groups who furnished support and food for the workers. The local effort came to the attention of a federal agency, the Economic Development Administration, which approved a large grant to the City of Bisbee to help the mine tour project and other improvements in downtown Bisbee designed to aid the tourist business. The Queen Mine Tour was officially opened to visitors on February 1, 1976. Since then, more than a million visitors, from all 50 states and more than 30 foreign countries, have enjoyed the ride into the mountain on the underground mine tour train.”

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Here is our way into the mine:

  Yes, we had to straddle those yellow seats.

Very narrow passageway:

Our first stop was up the stairs to one of the first tunnels in the mine:

It is hard to see but this is the first area that the copper ore was extracted.  What I found interesting is that the early miners worked 12 hours shifts – 2 to a shift.  They came down into the mine with 3 candles each for light and what I call “stakes” that were hammered into the rock to break it up. 

 

Some of the drills used as the mine was modernized:

So many different minerals found here.  (And so much pretty sparkly rocks! )  

As an area was cleared out, they would insert these timber stackers:

  

We continued down the tunnel to this area where our guide told us the story of the mules.  A mule would pull 2 one ton carts to the surface.  If they put a third one on, the donkey refused to pull (Smart one!)  The mules lived about 4 years underground.  When their eyesight started to fail, they would be brought to a dark barn on the surface and slowly be exposed to light.  Usually their eyesight returned and they lived out their lives on a ranch or farm.

The shift boss’s transportation:

When first introduced, many of the workers would hide the vehicle so the boss still had to walk.  

One of the vertical drills:

How they set the charges to blast:

There were 32 holes that were set with explosives.  To set them, they would gather the center fuse, cut 16” off, and set in the block.  The next fuse, would have 15.5” cut, then set.  Next, 15” cut, etc.  It would start at the center and continue in a circle until the outer edges would not have anything cut.  The theory was the center would collapse and subsequently each blast would continue that collapse.  The next crew would then come in and clear the pile.

The bucket used to haul equipment and people to the various levels.  Communication was by a bell.

The port a potty for the crew.  Our guide told us the story that when a new guy came on shift, they would wait until he was on the “pot”, then pull the wedge under the wheel.  So this poor fellow would be on the pot with his pants down sliding into the mine.  (No brakes!)  I didn’t ask how it was stopped – LOL!

This is the three ton carts.  Once the mines were modernized with motorized engines, a “train” might consist of 17 three ton carts coming out of the mine.

Engine and carts:

My pictures are not the best in low light.  Here are two other blogs with better pictures and more information.

https://www.outdoorsrambler.com/post/queen-mine-tour-a-highlight-of-visit-to-eclectic-bisbee-experience-the-inside-of-a-mountain

http://www.billcaid.com/2008/SouthernAZTour20080801/Day2/Day2.html

During its heyday, Bisbee and the area had well over 100 mines:

https://www.bisbeeminingandminerals.com/list-of-mines

Inside the museum was a video on what happened to the ore when it came out of the mines as well as artifacts and gems found in the mines.

Another recommendation from me.  If you are in the area, it is worth the trip.

Bisbee:

So many cute little shops:

So many murals:

We had lunch at the Cornucopia Café – Yum!

From there we headed to the Lavender Pit:

“The Lavender Pit is part of the Copper Queen Mine, run by the Phelps Dodge Corporation from 1879 to 1975. Mining took place in underground tunnels and shafts until 1951 when it was determined by Harrison Lavender, the then-manager of the Copper Queen Branch of Phelps Dodge, that an open pit mine would be an economical way to increase ore yield. The resulting Lavender Pit was mined in 50 foot benches created by loading holes drilled to a 60-foot depth with 1,200 pounds of powder charge. Blasts commonly broke 75,000 tons of rock and were usually shot at 3:25 each afternoon. Mining in the pit stopped in 1974 and all mining operation ceased in the Copper Queen Mine in 1975 when the price of copper plummeted. The abandoned pit covers 300 acres, is 950 feet deep, and is a result of the removal of 351 million tons of material. Since mining operations ceased, the town of Bisbee reinvented itself as an artist community and historical tourist destination. During this reinvention, the Lavender Pit became a tourist destination with rim viewing platforms.”

It truly is one big hole in the earth.  There is an RV park that sits on the edge of the pit.  Someday, we are coming back to stay there.  It is also close to Old Town Bisbee  - lots of interesting sites.

Tailings from the mine:

Views on the way back home:

What a wonderful day!

November 28th, 2023

One of the main reasons we are here is to have some items fixed on our RV.  Nexus recommended JC Mobile RV Services and John was here at 10 AM.

Our first issue was that our house batteries do not charge when we are traveling down the road.  When we talked to Dave, the owner, in September he told us that it could be either the BRD unit or … some units did not have the connections..

Well, turns out, our unit does not have the wires or connections.  Not sure why the previous owners did not have it fixed because it would have been under warranty.

John could not tell us when the part would be in so we decided to have it fixed in Casa Grande.  Our appointment there will be sometime in January. (Note: if we were staying in this area, we definitely would have had John fix it.)

The other problem is our furnace would heat “sometimes!”.  That problem started a month ago.   John took the furnace apart and found an old mud-dauber nest.  Took it out and now we have heat.  .

When we first got the RV, Andy put screens over the furnace vents and did clean out nests that were there but apparently there was one behind the furnace.   So glad that is fixed.

JC Mobile was wonderful – would recommend if you are in the area.  (If you are reading our blog for a while, you know that our record with mobile mechanics is not the best!)  John is one of the good guys!

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So the continuing story of the Quail Ridge and RPI and the cost…   Quail Ridge stopped honoring RPI on July 1, 2023.  I made the reservation on September 28, 2023 with RPI and they confirmed the reservation.  At this point, it gets cloudy.  I have two emails with two different names.  I was told one person was RPI and the other was Quail Ridge (although both deny the second person – thank God for emails.)  Anyway, RPI apologized profusely and said that they dropped the ball.  I do have to pay the full price but they would make up the difference in extending my membership and reservation credits.  I am okay with that.

Lessen learned… Reservations using any of my memberships must be made thru the memberships.  I now will also check with the park to make sure they are still honor the membership.

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We are going to continue to play tourist so stay tuned and enjoy today and thanks for following along.