Railroads and Mining in Bingham Canyon, Utah, Copper Era, After 1914

To Move A Mountain

Railroads and mining in Utah's Bingham Canyon

Copper Era, 1914 to 1981

By Don Strack

(This page last updated on June 24, 2006)

1915:
Transportation of copper ore for Utah Copper was by way of the Denver & Rio Grande and by its own Bingham & Garfield. Other companies were using Utah Consolidated's tramway to the International smelter, and the underground Bingham Central Railway, by way of the three-mile Mascotte Tunnel to Lark. (Wegg, p. 68)

September 1915:
Utah Copper ordered six "6-wheel locomotives" from the Pittsburg Works of the American Locomotive Company. (source not recorded)

March 1916:
Utah Copper sent a representative to Montana to study Butte, Anaconda and Pacific, and Milwaukee Road electrification. (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 15, 1916, p. 33)

July 1916:
"Directors of Bingham & Garfield considering electrification". (Salt Lake Mining Review, July 30, 1916, p. 32)

August 1916:
Bingham & Garfield received an order of 100-ton ore cars. (Salt Lake Mining Review, August 15, 1916, p. 33)

January 1917:
Bingham & Garfield increased its stock to $10 Million to finance electrification. (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 15, 1917, p. 56) Board of Directors was to make a decision of electrification. Construction would not start for at least six months due to unavailability of electrical components from General Electric. (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 30, 1917, p. 34)

January 1, 1917:
Ohio Copper Mining Company was reorganized as Ohio Copper Company to assume the debt of the costs of construction of the Mascotte Tunnel, called the "Bingham Central Railway". The property had been operated under lease since June 1915 by the General Exploration Company, a company organized for the purpose by the plant manager, who remained in the position after the reorganization. (Engineering & Mining Journal, October 28, 1916, p. 806; September 23, 1916, p. 566; January 27, 1917, p. 182)

April 1917:
Utah Copper purchased the last of the Wall claims, ending a long series of court battles over the rights to the claims that made up the original Utah Copper property in 1903. (Engineering & Mining Journal, April 28, 1917, p. 769)

September 1917:
A 2,000-ton leaching plant was completed at Magna to recover copper from very low grade (less than 1 percent) ore. Construction started in August 1916. (Kennecott notes; Engineering & Mining Journal, July 1, 1916, p. 71)

October 1917:
New crusher installed at Arthur. (Kennecott Historical Index)

November 1917:
Bingham & Garfield hauled an average of 32,019 tons of copper ore per day. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1918:
A new Wellman-Seaver-Morgan single car dumper was installed at Arthur. The mill had originally been equipped with a 10,000-ton steel ore bin fed by bottom dumping ore cars. (Rickard, p. 53) (Kennecott's Historical Index says that the dumper was a "Hullett Single".)

1918:
Bingham & Garfield under federal USRA control from January 1, 1918 to April 9, 1918. (source not recorded)

January 1918:
Operations of new Magna leaching plant begin. (Kennecott notes)

January 22, 1918:
United States Smelting, Refining, and Mining Company was organized to take over United States Mining Company and United States Smelting Company. (Utah corporation files, index 13150)

January 15, 1919:
First operation of new car dumper at Arthur. (Kennecott Historical Index)

February 26, 1919:
Magna mill was closed because of drop in copper demand after World War One. The mill had been working full time since opening in 1908 and needed maintenance. Shut down lasted over 2-1/2 years, until November 10, 1922. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 70; Parsons I, p. 87)

May 28, 1920:
An agreement was signed for the operation of Utah Copper ore trains over the Bingham & Garfield, by Bingham & Garfield crews. (Kennecott Historical Index)

September 1, 1920:
Bingham & Garfield was removed from interstate commerce. Utah Copper purchased all Bingham & Garfield equipment at a cost of $1.3 Million. This action was taken because of an ICC ruling that half of all Bingham & Garfield earnings over 6 percent profit should be contributed to a fund controlled by the ICC for the advantage of other railroads in the region. (Kennecott Historical Index) The mainline trackage agreement for Utah Copper to operate over Bingham & Garfield, using its own crews and equipment, was signed on May 20, 1920. (Kennecott notes)

February 1921:
Magna leaching plant was closed. It had been in operation from January 1918 to February 1919 and again since May 1920. (Kennecott notes)

April 2, 1921:
Bingham Canyon mine was shut down. (Kennecott Historical Index)

April 4, 1921:
Arthur mill was shut down. (Kennecott Historical Index)

December 3, 1921:
All passenger service over the Bingham & Garfield was discontinued. From 1911 to 1921 the B&G carried 2,442,726 passengers. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1922:
First electric shovels were tested at Bingham: two Marion Model 92 shovels with treads and 4-1/2 yard dippers. (USGS Bulletin 398, p. 184) Electric shovels had been used in other parts of the world as early as 1914 (an electric Bucyrus Model 100-C having been used in Sweden). (Engineering & Mining Journal, October 31, 1914, p. 767)

April 1, 1922:
Bingham Canyon mine operations resume. (Kennecott Historical Index)

April 4, 1922:
Arthur mill operation resumes. (Kennecott Historical Index)

July 1922:
Modernization of Magna mill began. (Kennecott Historical Index)

November 1922:
Magna mill was reopened. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1923:
A test precipitation plant was built in the bottom of the pit to recover the dissolved copper in drain water which collected at the bottom of the pit. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 74)

1923:
Steam shovels were remodeled by placing them on three caterpillar treads, one on each side at front, and a third in center at rear. (Bureau of Mines IC 6234)

1923:
Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Twin car dumper was installed at the Magna mill. Magna had originally been equipped with a 25,000-ton wooden ore bin with three tracks dumping into it. Cars being dumped were either wood or steel and either center-bottom dump or side-bottom dump. Bottom dumping was becoming a problem due to large boulders and wet ore freezing during the winter. The new twin car dumper was capable of dumping 720 cars (48,000 tons) per day. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1923:
Two electric shovels and 17 steam shovels were placed on caterpillar treads. Treads had been in use on shovels in other mines in country since 1920. (Kennecott Historical Index)

March 1923:
Utah Construction Company began excavation for the new car dumper at Magna. (Mining and Metallurgy, August 1925, p. 447)

September 1923:
First new electric shovel purchased. (Bureau of Mines Bulletin 273, pp. 2,3)

November 12, 1923:
First new electric shovel (number 22, a Marion Model 92), of eight purchased new, was placed in service at the north end of K-Level. Fifteen steam shovels had been converted to electric at the Bingham shops. (Kennecott Historical Index)

December 1923:
Magna car dumper yard was completed and the new car dumper was placed into service. (Kennecott notes)

1924:
A small precipitation plant was built at Copperton to extract copper from waste dump runoff. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 74)

June 16, 1924:
Two 70-ton, 600 volts DC electric locomotives arrive for use at the new Magna and Arthur dumper yards. (Kennecott notes)

September 1924:
The Magna and Arthur dumper yards were electrified, using 600 volts DC, and the two 70-ton locomotives go into service, one at Magna on September 8th and the other at Arthur on September 10th. (source not recorded) (COMMENT: The two locomotives were purchased second-hand from Manufacturer's Railway in St. Louis.)

July 1925:
Six new electric shovels arrive. Three steam shovels converted to electric. The decision was made to electrify all remaining shovels. (Bureau of Mines Bulletin 273, p. 3)

On September 21, 1925 Denver & Rio Grande Western sold the Copper Belt Branch, the Yampa Branch, and the upper (in-canyon) portion of the Low Grade Line to the Bingham & Garfield Railway. (D&RGW Agreement 4163 and Deed U-3267) The location of the three lines were interfering with the expansion of Utah Copper's open pit mine. The copper company wanted the freedom to move the trackage around to suit the operations of the mine. The Rio Grande retained its yard and depot at Bingham and 3.3 miles of the Low Grade Line outside of the canyon, which they renamed the Bingham Branch Extension. That portion of the line was being used to serve the loading bins of the Congor and Midas mines and was later abandoned in 1931. By the time of the 1925 sale the Copper Belt Branch was thoroughly intermixed with the trackage of the copper company. The Yampa Branch had not been operated since 1913 and had seen very little traffic since the Yampa Smelter was destroyed by fire in 1909. Most of the other mines were owned by the larger companies but were being worked by leasers. Their ore bins would be served by the Bingham & Garfield, as a common carrier.

The five Shay locomotives purchased by the Denver & Rio Grande as part of its purchase of the Copper Belt Railway had been kept working on the branches in the canyon, above Loline Junction. With the sale of the three branches with steep grades and sharp curves in 1925, Denver & Rio Grande would likely have moved the Shays from their former Copper Belt location at Bingham down to the roundhouse and facilities at Welby. Three of the Shays, road numbers 1, 2, and 4, were sold for scrap within a year and a half. The two others, numbers 3 and 5, were kept in service for another eight and ten years respectively, when they too were sold and cut up for scrap.

By 1926 Utah Copper was shipping 50,000 tons per day over the Bingham & Garfield Railway, compared to the 35,000 tons that the Copper Belt had shipped during the entire month of October 1904.

1926:
Capacity of Magna and Arthur mills were raised to 50,000 tons per day. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1926:
Construction of "model" townsite of Copperton was begun. (Kennecott Historical Index)

late April 1926:
Utah Copper ordered two locomotives for motive power tests in the Bingham Canyon mine, to be delivered within 90 days; one was to be a 60-ton oil-electric at a cost of $65,000 (road number 600) and the other was to be a 75-ton combination trolley electric/battery electric at a cost of $50,000 (road number 700) (source not recorded)

July 1926:
An ALCo-General Electric-Ingersoll Rand 60-ton oil-electric locomotive number 600 was received. (construction serial number 10028/16680) (builder's data)

May 16, 1927:
First electric locomotive, number 700 (GE construction serial number 10258), was put into service on the K-Level dump line and comparative steam/diesel/electric tests were begun. Electric power to the locomotive was 750 volts DC and came from portable towers of the same design as those being used for the 550 volts DC for the electric shovels. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1928:
The conversion of the 90-ton shovels from the steam railroad type with 3-1/2 cubic yard buckets to electric with caterpillar treads and 4-1/2 cubic yard buckets had allowed a 68 percent increase in productivity, from 2,350 tons to 3,966 tons per shovel per day. Twenty three all-electric shovels were in service, eight using AC controllers and fifteen others using DC controllers. (Kennecott Historical Index)

June 1928:
Utah Copper announced that they would replace their steam railroad locomotives with combination electric trolley and battery locomotives, some of which would be built with an additional cable reel for "extension cord" operation. (Kennecott Historical Index)

September 1928:
The first of the new electric locomotives arrived. The first to arrive was number 702. Apparently number 701 was wrecked en route and Utah Copper never replaced it. (source not recorded)

1929:
Precipitation plant at Copperton was replaced by a more modern one of greater capacity. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 74)

June 1929:
United States Mining (USSR&M) purchased the Bingham Mines group. (Wilson thesis, p. 5)

September 23, 1929:
Electric locomotives placed in service in Bingham & Garfield Bingham yard as switchers. (Kennecott Historical Index)

October 1929:
Last (number 741) of the initial 40 (road numbers 701-741) electric locomotives was received. (Kennecott Historical Index)

December 19, 1929:
Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) was placed in service at the pit. Forty-one (41) 85-ton electric locomotives are in service. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1930:
Sixty miles of track were in service in the pit with an average daily production of 40,000 tons of ore and 30,000 cubic yards of waste removed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

January 25, 1930:
Arthur mill was shut down for rehabilitation. All ore was then treated at Magna. The Arthur remained closed until September 1936. (Kennecott Historical Index)

March 1930:
Grading work was begun at Arthur to raise the dumper yard to the level of the car dumper. The project was completed in May. Up to this time the dumper was about ten feet above the tracks of the dumper yard and an electric pusher "mule" was used to push the ore cars up to the dumper. The "electric mule" cable car pusher had become troublesome in the winter and could not handle the desired increased dumping rate. The cost of the project was $100,000 and it allowed for increased daily capacity of 500 cars, or 40,000 tons. (source not recorded)

1933:
Bingham Canyon mine and Magna mill operations were at one-fifth of capacity, with staggered shifts to retain as many workers as possible. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 71)

April 1, 1935:
Ore Delivery Department (Utah Copper's operation of the Bingham & Garfield) was placed under the administration of the Department of Mills. (Kennecott Historical Index)

September 1, 1936:
Arthur mill reopened, after being shut down for nearly six years. The Arthur foundry reopened in October 1932, after closing in January 1932. (Kennecott Historical Index)

November 10, 1936:
Utah Copper Company was sold to Kennecott Copper Corporation. Kennecott had organized a new Utah Copper Company in Delaware, as a subsidiary, on November 6, 1936 for the purpose. The original Utah Copper Company had been organized in New Jersey in 1904. On April 29, 1915 Kennecott Copper Corporation had been organized in New York to acquire the worldwide Guggenheim copper interests, including all of the interests of Kennecott Mines Company in Alaska (including its Copper River & Northwestern Railroad) and 25 percent interest in Utah Copper Company in Utah, along with 96 percent interest in Braden Copper Company in Chile. In 1923 Kennecott Copper Corporation acquired 77 percent control of Utah Copper Company and by 1925 Kennecott had acquired 95 percent interest in Utah Copper. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 68; Kennecott Historical Index)

1937:
Ohio Copper Company sold all of its surface rights and minerals rights to Kennecott. Ohio retained its dumps and leaching plant at Lark, which were later sold to United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company in 1950. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 88)

February 1937:
A second order of electric locomotives (road numbers 742-760) began to arrive, with delivery continuing through October. This second order was delivered as 85-ton locomotives. During 1937 the other 41 locomotives, delivered as 75-ton units, were reballasted to 85 tons. For operations in the pit, two locomotives are needed for each shovel in service. Each locomotive handled a train of twelve (12) empty cars. (Kennecott Historical Index)

December 1937:
Seventy five (75) miles of track had been electrified. (Kennecott Historical Index)

June 16, 1938:
Bingham Canyon mine and both mills were completely shut down, after operating at one-fifth capacity for almost five years. (Kennecott Historical Index)

August 1, 1938:
Bingham Canyon mine and both mills operations resume. (Kennecott Historical Index)

February 4, 1939:
Copperton vehicular tunnel was opened for traffic. The 6,975 tunnel had been completed in December 1938 and was built at a cost of $1.4 Million. The tunnel rose from 6,100 feet elevation at Bingham to 6,600 feet at Copperfield, at a 6.4 percent grade. Utah Construction Company had begun construction in March 1937 and made a perfect hole-through on February 19, 1938. The old county highway in the bottom of the canyon was closed and the tunnel was deeded to Salt Lake County as its replacement. The tunnel was used by about 850 cars that first day and could accommodate 1,100 cars per day. (source not recorded)

mid February 1939:
A fill was begun to connect the east and west sides of C-Level, across the old county highway. Auto traffic was now using the new Copperfield vehicular tunnel. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1940:
Utah Copper waste trains began filling Carr Fork with waste. (Kennecott Historical Index)

May 1940:
Ore Delivery Department became Ore Haulage Department. (Kennecott Historical Index)

September 1940:
American Institute of Mining Engineers (AIME) met in national convention at Salt Lake City, Utah. (Mining and Metallurgy, Volume 21, 1940)

late 1940:
During late 1940 Utah Copper was the largest producer of non-ferrous metals in the United States, with a daily ore production of 70,000 tons -- having to remove 90,000 tons of waste to get at that ore. Utah Copper employed 4,300 persons, including those working for the Bingham & Garfield. The total tonnage mined to January 1, 1940 was 641,268,375 tons, of which a little less than half (295,648,575 tons) was copper ore. there were twenty-one levels on the mine's west side, and twelve levels on the east side, along with three sub-levels, below the A-level. the bottom level of the mine was at 6,190 feet elevation. the electric shovels in the mine were loading 6,300 tons in each eight-hour shift. The new full-rotation shovels, using five-cubic yard dippers, were loading up to 10,000 tons per shift. Waste rock was being hauled in trains of eight to ten, thirty-cubic yard dump cars. There was a total of 166 miles of standard gauge railroad track in the Utah Copper operation: 98 miles of mine tracks; 33 miles of mainline to the mills; and 35 miles of yard, loading, storage, and side-tracks. (Mining and Metallurgy, Volume 21, December 1940, p. 550)

May 1941:
Construction of the 100,000 kilowatt Central Power Station began. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 75)

1941:
Switchback from M-Level down to G-Level was completed. (Kennecott notes)

late 1941:
Dry Fork was completely filled with waste. (Kennecott Historical Index)

In early November 1941 a record was set when on one single day the Bingham & Garfield moved 105,000 tons of ore to the mills. Of the 1,150 cars of ore shipped in that single 24 hour period; 667 cars went to Magna and 483 cars went to Arthur. At the time, in November 1941, the United States was producing thirty percent of world's copper and Bingham was producing one-third of the United States' production. (Salt Lake Tribune, November 9, 1941)

March 1942:
Four new 90-ton electric locomotives arrived (road numbers 761-764). An additional 100-ton electric locomotive (road number 600) arrived, set up for 600 volts DC, and was put into service at the mill car dumpers. The additional locomotive allowed higher dumper production by doing away with dumping delays due to shift changes and the dumpers being idle while the dumper locomotive went after another cut of cars. (Kennecott Historical Index)

July 1942:
Bingham & Garfield received its first diesel-electric locomotive, an American Model S-2, road number 800 (ALCo construction serial number 69908). The locomotive was transferred to Kennecott's Chino, New Mexico operation in 1949, after the arrival of RS-2 number 902. (Ardinger locomotive roster)

December 1942:
Bingham & Garfield received a Baldwin Model VO1000, road number 801 (Baldwin construction serial number 64731). The unit was transferred to Kennecott's Nevada operation in 1944. (Ardinger locomotive roster)

February 1943:
Bingham & Garfield received a second Baldwin VO1000, road number 803 (Baldwin construction serial number 64743). Transferred to Nevada in 1948. (Ardinger locomotive roster)

March 1943:
Bingham & Garfield received a unique, one-only 128-ton GE center-cab locomotive, road number 802 (GE construction serial number 15634). Later changed to road number 900. (Ardinger locomotive roster)

June 1943:
The cross-canyon connection was completed (at the site of the old Yampa Smelter) between the new 6040-Tunnel and the new Ore Haulage Central Yard, near Dry Fork. Two short tunnels are built through the fill to cross over the highway and the Denver & Rio Grande Western line. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1944:
There were 120.2 miles of track in the pit and the canyon. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1944:
The 6040-Tunnel was completed; 3,975 feet long. (Kennecott Historical Index)

March 24, 1944:
Central Power Station at Magna went into service at a cost of $8 Million. The boilers could use either natural gas or coal. (Kennecott Historical Index)

May 8, 1946:
Construction of new Copperton low line began. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1947:
Central Power Station was expanded to 110,000 kilowatts. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 75) (QUESTION: To furnish electricity for the new Copperton Low line?)

January 1, 1947:
Utah Copper Company became the Utah Copper Division of Kennecott Copper Corporation. (Kennecott Historical Index)

March 1947:
The CC line was completed, for connection to the new Copperton low line. (Kennecott Historical Index)

October 22, 1947:
Ore Haulage employees went on strike. (Kennecott Historical Index)

(QUESTION: Because of the new electric operation, which needed fewer employees?)

November 6, 1947:
Ore Haulage strike ends. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1948:
Construction began on the Garfield Refinery. (Kennecott Historical Index)

Operations of the Copperton Low Line began on April 1, 1948. (Strack, 1983 research notes)

April 30, 1948:
Bingham & Garfield operations cease. (Kennecott Historical Index)

May 2, 1948:
New Copperton low line began operation. The maximum grade for the new line was 1.35 percent while the maximum grade of the Bingham & Garfield was 2.5 percent. The lower gradient of the new line allowed longer trains and therefore more ore to be delivered to the mills. Seven 3,000 hp electric locomotives were purchased for service on the new Copperton line; enough to operate the low line trains and to provide locomotives for the car dumpers at the two mills. To allow the new locomotives to be used on the car dumpers, the dumper yards at Magna and Arthur were converted from 600 volts DC to 3,000 volts DC (the same as the Copperton low line) and the three 85-ton (numbers 737, 738, 740) and single 100-ton (number 600) were reassigned to the Bingham pit. Number 600 was renumbered to 765 upon reassignment. (source not recorded) (click here for an overview of the railroad to Bingham)

October 1948:
A new 1500 hp diesel-electric locomotive, road number 901, was purchased. (Baldwin Model DRS6-4-1500, Baldwin construction serial number 73474) The locomotive was built by Baldwin in March as a demonstrator and Kennecott "bought it on the spot" after seeing a demonstration of the unit on the Western Pacific at Tooele. (Dolzall, pp.86,87)

December 13, 1949:
The new 1500 hp diesel-electric locomotive, road number 902, was placed into service at the Magna yard. (ALCo Model RS-2, ALCo construction serial number 77563) (source not recorded)

September 1, 1950:
First cathodes are pulled from acid bath at refinery for melt down. (Kennecott Historical Index)

October 2, 1950:
First shipment of finished copper was made from the refinery. (Kennecott Historical Index)

June 30, 1951:
Bingham & Garfield was "liquidated", corporation dissolved. (Kennecott Historical Index)

July 1951:
Utah Construction Company finishes work on refinery. (Kennecott Historical Index)

March 1952:
Four new 125-ton locomotives (numbers 800-803) arrive, to handle the projected increase in tonnage because of the new 5840-Tunnel going into service, (later numbers 866-869, and finally numbers 766-769). (Kennecott Historical Index)

August 1952:
The 5840-Tunnel in completed and placed in service. The tunnel was 7,000 feet long. Tracklaying in the tunnel began in January and was completed in March. (Kennecott Historical Index)

December 1952:
A new 1500 hp diesel-electric locomotive, road number 903, arrived (EMD Model SD7, construction serial number 17411) (Ardinger locomotive roster)

December 30, 1952:
Wreck in Magna yard involving Denver & Rio Grande Western GP7 number 5112, with its train, and Kennecott Baldwin number 901 and Alco number 902, with their train, resulted in $52,600.00 damage to Kennecott equipment. The permanent result from this wreck was that number 901 was retrucked with four-wheel "B" trucks replacing its original six wheel "A-1-A" trucks. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1953:
5,605 tons of concentrate from Magna and Arthur were shipped to Kennecott's smelter in McGill, Nevada due to a one and a half day, and another five day strike at the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) smelter at Garfield, Utah. (Kennecott Historical Index)

March 26, 1953:
First ore and waste trains operate through the new 5840-Tunnel. (Kennecott Historical Index)

October 1953:
Two tunnels are completed on the H-Dump line. (Kennecott Historical Index)

November 3, 1953:
Work began on moving the G-Level bridge in Carr Fork. (Kennecott Historical Index)

Statistics for the Ore Haulage "Copperton low line" for 1954 show that the average locomotive made 1,237.9 trips; the average train was 64.46 cars long; and total tonnage for the year was 41,078,212 tons. 311,924,300 tons had been hauled since start up in May 1948. (Strack, 1983 research notes)

February 14, 1954:
Moving of the G-Level bridge was completed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

August 1954:
Switchback from K-Level down to the H-Level was completed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1955:
Eighty percent of all ore mined was moved through the 6040 and 5840-Tunnels. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1955:
Three (3) Marion Model 151-M and two Bucyrus-Erie Model 190-B electric shovels were placed into service. (Kennecott Historical Index)

November 1955:
Four new 125-ton electric locomotives were placed into service. (Kennecott Historical Index)

(Road numbers 804-807, later numbers 870-873, finally numbers 770-773)

1956:
Thirty (30) 40 cubic yard waste dump cars were purchased. (Kennecott Historical Index)

April 28, 1956:
Ore Haulage has Sperry Rail Service test its rails. (Kennecott Historical Index)

July 1956:
Morrison-Knudsen Construction Company began work on two connections across Carr Fork to allow removal of the old Bingham & Garfield Carr Fork bridge; one to connect the 6340-Level (old A-Level) and Bingham yard, and the other to connect the Apex yard and the D-Dump line. (Kennecott Historical Index)

September 1956:
Utah Construction Company was awarded the contract to build the new 5490-Tunnel. Construction of the tunnel was planned as early as 1947, to further reduce costs of hauling the ore uphill, out of the pit, only to move it downhill, out of the canyon, to the mills. (Kennecott Historical Index)

October 8, 1956:
The observation platform for the public at Copperfield was closed and work to dismantle it began on October 21, 1956. (Kennecott Historical Index)

January 17, 1957:
First waste train used 5840-Tunnel. (Kennescope, February 1957)

early 1957:
The new 6340-Level (old A-Level) connection was completed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

Work was began to dismantle the Carr Fork bridge in April 1957. (Strack, 1983 research notes)

April 1957:
The D-Level bridge across Carr Fork was dismantled. (Kennecott Historical Index)

May 17, 1957:
The new, temporary public observation platform above Carr Fork was removed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

June 16, 1957:
The switchback between the new 5840-Yard and the 5790-Level was completed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1958:
During the year, Utah Construction Company made 8,875 feet of progress on the new 5490-Tunnel. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1958:
Seventy five percent of all ore mined came from below the 6340-Level. Seventeen percent of ore mined moves through the 6040-Tunnel with forty percent moving through the 5840-Tunnel. (Kennecott Historical Index)

The removal of the Carr Fork bridge and the A-Level machine shops was completed in May 1958. (Strack, 1983 research notes)

June 1, 1958:
Notices were given to residents, renters, and lessors in Copperfield, Upper Main Canyon, and Carr Fork and Highland Boy to vacate their dwellings by August 1, 1958. (Kennecott Historical Index)

October 1, 1958:
Kennecott purchased the Robbe Precipitation Plant at Copperton. For the previous twenty-two and a half years Kennecott had been leasing the plant from a private owner. (Kennecott Historical Index)

January 1, 1959:
Kennecott Copper Corporation purchased the Garfield smelter of American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) (source not recorded)

February 1959:
The new 5490-Tunnel was completed at a cost of $12 Million. The tunnel is 18,000 feet long. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 72)

1960:
Central Power Station was expanded to 175,000 kilowatts, to furnish power to the smelter. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1961:
There were 38 shovels working 33 ore shovel shifts and 33 waste shovel shifts per day. Most shovels were served by 3 trains per shift, using the 75 pit locomotives with 258 40 cubic yard waste dump cars and 825 100-ton ore cars. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1961:
270,000 tons of waste was removed to mine 90,000 tons of ore needed for the mills. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 72)

May 7, 1961:
First ore train used the new 5490-Tunnel, seven weeks after "breakthrough" of the tunnel into the pit. The train was loaded with ore that had been stockpiled from the excavation in the pit for the tunnel portal. (Kennecott Historical Index)

May 27, 1961:
The first train of ore from other levels in the pit moves through the new 5490-Tunnel to Copperton. The track had been connected (using a spiral excavation) with the track of the 5640-Level on May 21st, and electrified on May 25th. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1962:
Kennecott acquired rights of United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company on their 7,400 acres located in Bingham canyon, including their Lark concentrator. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 72)

1962:
Operation of precipitation plant produced 20 million pounds of copper, about 5 percent of 1962 production. (Arrington: Richest Hole, p. 74)

February 1963:
Ore Haulage began ore car construction program, using jigs and all welded construction. (Kennecott Historical Index)

February 23, 1963:
Announcement of $100 Million expansion project, to be completed by early 1967 (source not recorded):

truck haulage to replace rail haulage
expansion of precipitation plant
construction of Bonneville crusher
construction of nine mile rail line to serve new crusher
additional rail locomotives and cars
modernization of smelter

March 1963:
A new 2400 hp diesel-electric locomotive, road number 904, arrived (EMD Model SD24, construction serial number 28170) (Ardinger locomotive roster)

fall 1963:
Truck haulage began in upper levels of mine, with removal of rails as truck haulage progressed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

late 1963:
New haulage truck maintenance shop built at Yosemite Gulch, above former location of Copperfield. (Kennecott Historical Index)

February 1965:
Bechtel Corporation was awarded contract to build new $4 Million precipitation plant at Copperton. (Kennescope, March/April 1965)

March 1965:
Seventy-nine haulage trucks were on the property. (Kennescope, March/April 1965)

March 1965:
Track and electrification are removed down to the E-Level on the east side. Ore from the west side above the E-Level will hauled down the new Carr Fork haulage road to a reload point. (Kennescope, March/April 1965)

March 1965:
Western Knapp Engineering Company was at work on the site of the new Bonneville crusher. (Kennescope, March/April 1965)

March 1966:
New waste dump car repair shop was built at Dry Fork, replacing the one above the mine office. (Kennescope, March/April 1966)

March 1966:
Proler Steel Corporation began construction of scrap metal de-tinning plant at junction of old Bingham highway and Lark highway. The plant will furnish scrap iron to new precipitation plant. (Kennecott Historical Index)

June 1966:
Two 70-ton diesel-electric locomotives were transferred from Nevada to operate as switchers at the new precipitation plant at Copperton. (Kennecott Historical Index)

September 1966:
New Bonneville crusher was placed into partial operation. (Kennescope, September/October 1966)

November 22, 1971:
Town of Bingham "ceases to exist". (Deseret News, March 26, 1985)

May 1973:
Fourteen diesel-electric locomotives are leased for service on waste trains. Eight from Union Pacific, four from Denver & Rio Grande Western, and two from ATSF. The lease ends upon arrival of the new high cabs in February 1977. (source not recorded)

January 4, 1977:
A new 2300 hp diesel-electric, road number 905, received (EMD Model GP39-2, construction serial number 756151-1). (Ore Haulage logbook)

January 8, 1977:
A new 1500 hp diesel-electric, road number 906, received (EMD Model MP15AC, construction serial number 756152-1). (Ore Haulage logbook)

January 21, 1977:
RS-2 number 902 transferred to mine. (Ore Haulage logbook)

February 11, 1977:
First of eleven (numbers 779-789) new 2,300 hp diesel-electric locomotives arrive. They were built with raised cabs to allow better visibility for the crews. (source not recorded)

Baldwin number 901 was transferred to the mine on April 20, 1977. (Strack, 1983 research notes)

June 6, 1978:
Nevada RS-2 number 102 transferred to mine. (Ore Haulage logbook)

October 12, 1978:
Nevada RS-2 number 108 transferred to mine. (Ore Haulage logbook)

November 17, 1978:
First of second order of ten additional high cab GP39-2s arrive. (number 790-799) (source not recorded)

December 4, 1978:
First road trip was made with SD40-2s. (Ore Haulage logbook)

December 20, 1978:
Ore Haulage electrics, road numbers 401-407, sent to mine. (Ore Haulage logbook)

December 27, 1978:
Three new 1500 hp diesel-electric locomotives, road numbers 120, 121, and 122, were received. They were built with special extended-width cabs (13 inches wider) and enter service as the dumper locomotives within a week; first shift was on January 3, 1979. (EMD Model MP15AC, construction serial numbers 776128-1 to 3).

1979:
The production for 1979 could be the best since 1974. (Deseret News, May 2, 1978, p. E7)

1979:
Kennecott Copper Corporation changes name to Kennecott Corporation and organizes Kennecott Minerals Company for its mining operations. (source not recorded)

January 12, 1979:
Electric power was cut off to the Ore Haulage catenary; dumpers and road trains are completely dieselized. (Ore haulage logbook)

(The author was employed by Kennecott from early March to late April 1979 as a railroad brakeman. Several tours of duty were spent as a flagman protecting the crews of Wasatch Electric as they removed the catenary the tracks of the Ore Haulage department between the Bingham mine and the mills at Magna (Fogerty), Arthur, and Bonneville.)

September 1979:
Wasatch Electric completed removal of the overhead catenary on the Copperton low line. The project had been started in March. (Interview with Bruce Morrison, 1979)

1979:
38 million tons of ore mined in 1979 by Utah Copper Division of Kennecott Copper Corporation. 160 million tons of overburden removed. 12 pounds of copper per ton of ore. 206,000 tons of copper produced; 120,000 tons of copper produced in 1978. New smelter went on line in 1977-1978. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 2, 1980)

May 6, 1980:
Kennecott Copper Corporation changed name to Kennecott Corporation at its 65th annual stockholder's meeting. (Deseret News, May 7, 1980, p. B1; Salt Lake Tribune, May 7, 1980, p. B7)

July 1, 1980:
Operations shut down due to strike. (Ore Haulage logbook)

September 1980:
Work began on the North Ore Shoot Extension, mining ore for the production of copper, gold, silver, and molybdenum. A study completed in 1980 projected that the Bingham Mine would have to convert partially to underground operations and build new concentrators. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 18, 1981, p. C7)

September 9, 1980:
Strike over, operations start up. (Ore Haulage logbook)

September 10, 1980:
71-day, 10-week strike ends; workers return for morning shift. Strike began on July 1, 1980; 40,000 workers from 11 companies in 9 states; Kennecott was the largest company. Other strikes: 8 months in 1967; 29 days in 1971; 6 days in 1974; 19 days in 1977. (Deseret News, September 10, 1980, p. B8; Salt Lake Tribune, September 10, 1980, p. B1)

October 14, 1980:
The first units of the third order of seven high cab GP39-2 locomotives arrive at Dry Fork shops. (Road numbers 705-711) (Interview with Mike Minor, 1983)

November 1980:
Kennecott is nation's largest copper producer. (Deseret News, November 11, 1980, p. A6)

November 1980:
Kennecott to use headframe to mine North Ore Shoot. (Salt Lake Tribune, November 19, 1980, p. C7)

January 8, 1981:
Kennecott formally withdrew its bid to buy 49 percent of Curtis-Wright. (Salt Lake Tribune, January 9, 1981, p. B7)

March 2, 1981:
Mitsubishi of Japan took a one-third interest in Kennecott's Chino Mines Division in New Mexico. The agreement giving Mitsubishi one-third interest in Chino was signed on March 2, 1981. (Deseret News, March 2, 1981, p. D7) Kennecott Corporation announced in December 1980 its intent to form a partnership with Mitsubishi for Chino Mines Division. Mitsubishi was to acquire a one-third interest in Chino, which produced 62,000 tons of copper in 1979, compared to Utah Copper Division production of 206,000 tons of copper in same year. (Salt Lake Tribune, December 23, 1980, p. C6) Mitsubishi's one-third interest in Chino is $116 million, to pay for modernization. One-third of copper production to go to Mitsubishi. No change in name, all 1,800 employees will remain as Kennecott Minerals Company. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 3, 1981, p. B6)

June 4, 1981:
Standard Oil Company of Ohio (SOHIO) bought Kennecott Minerals Company (KMC); British Petroleum (BP) owns 53 percent of SOHIO; British government owns 25 percent of BP, Bank of England owns 20 percent. (Salt Lake Tribune, September 24, 1981, p. B1)

SOHIO paid $62.00 per share. (Salt Lake Tribune, September 20, 1981, p. D10)
$1.77 billion takeover of Kennecott by SOHIO. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 27, 1981, p. C2)
SOHIO made announcement of takeover on Thursday March 12, 1981. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 15, 1981, p. D12)
Merger of SOHIO and Kennecott first proposed on March 18, 1981, when a notice was filed with the Anti-Trust Division of the U.S. Justice Department. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 26, 1981, p. G11)
SOHIO traded 25 percent of itself for BP's Alaska North Slope holdings in 1969. By 1980 BP had purchased 53 percent interest in SOHIO. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 17, 1981, p. D3)
SOHIO was largest producer of crude oil in United States, at 9 percent of all U.S. production - more than half of the Alaska North Slope. Kennecott shareholders voted to accept the merger on May 5, 1981. (Salt Lake Tribune, May 2, 1981, p. C5)
Kennecott shareholders approved the sale. Sale not final until Federal Trade Commission reviews proposed merger. (Salt Lake Tribune, May 6, 1981, p. C10)
Federal Trade Commission approved merger of SOHIO and Kennecott on June 2, 1981. (Salt Lake Tribune, June 3, 1981, p. C10)
SOHIO formally acquired Kennecott on June 4, 1981, after approval by Kennecott shareholders. (Salt Lake Tribune, July 31, 1981, p. B11)

To Move A Mountain

Railroads and mining in Utah's Bingham Canyon

Copper Era, 1914 to 1981

See also:

See also: