Mining in Utah, and Utah's Railroads
This page was last updated on March 14, 2019.
(listed alphabetically by subject, or material being mined)
Aerial Tramways -- Information about the aerial tramways used by Utah's mining companies to get their ore from mine to mill and smelter, at times with railroads as an intermediate method.
Alta Mining -- Information about the mines in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Anaconda in Utah -- Information about The Anaconda Company and their activities in Utah, including the International smelter and the Highland Boy mine in Bingham Canyon.
Bingham Canyon -- "To Move A Mountain" Mining and railroads in Bingham Canyon.
Cement -- Cement rock mining and cement manufacturing.
Coal Mining -- "Utah Fuels The West" Coal mining in Carbon County, and other locations in Summit County (Coalville) and San Pete County (Wales).
Combined Metals Reduction Company -- Information about the mill and smelter at Bauer, the location of the portal of the Honerine drain tunnel for several Stockton lead and silver mines; Union Pacific furnished rail service by way of a spur from its mainline, just north of the cut through the Stockton Bar.
Copper Mining at Bingham Canyon -- "To Move A Mountain" Copper mining and railroads in Bingham Canyon, west of Salt Lake City.
Elton Tunnel -- Information about the Elton Tunnel of National Tunnel and Mines Company, a subsidiary of Anaconda's International Smelting and Refining Company. The tunnel was 4.5 miles long, running between the underground mines in Carr Fork, and an outlet about one west of the International smelter.
First Ore Shipment -- Information about the first ore shipment out of Utah, during the summer of 1869.
Frisco Silver Mine, near Milford -- Information about the Horn Silver mine at Frisco, including the abandonment of LA&SL Frisco and Newhouse branches.
Granite -- Granite quarries in Salt Lake County, used to build the Salt Lake City LDS temple, the Utah State capital building, and the Park Building at University of Utah, along with many others.
Iron and Steel -- Iron ore mining in Iron County, and iron making and steel making in Utah County. (includes the Wellington coal wash plant)
Limestone -- Limestone mining.
Little Cottonwood Mines -- Information about the mines in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Marysvale Alunite -- Information about the mining and milling of Alunite at Marysvale, Utah.
Mascotte Tunnel -- Information about the Mascotte Tunnel between Bingham and Lark, the site of the U. S. Mining complex.
Mining Companies -- A list of mining companies in Utah; list completed in 1979 while researching railroad companies in the Utah Secretary of State's office.
Mining Companies of Interest -- A list of other non-railroad companies incorporated as Utah corporations, including a few mining companies (coal and minerals)
Moving The Moab Tailings -- Information about the movement by rail of the uranium mill tailings form the abandoned mill near Moab, north 30 miles to a disposal site.
New Park Mining Company -- Information about the second most successful mining company in the Park City district.
Newhouse Copper Mine, near Milford -- Copper mining and railroads west of Milford, in central Utah; home of Newhouse, Copper Gulch & Sevier Lake Railroad, and its single Shay locomotive.
Park City -- An index page for Park City mines and UP's Park City Branch.
Park City Drain Tunnels -- Information about the drain tunnels that drained the Park City mines.
Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company -- Information about the Park Utah mines, formed in 1925 and merged with Silver King Coalition in 1953.
Phosphate Rock -- Information about Utah's phosphate rock mining industry.
Pioche Mines and Railroads -- Although not in Utah, the mines and railroads of the Pioche mining district in southern Nevada always had a Utah connection, with most of the companies being organized by Salt Lake City interests, as well as having their business offices in Salt Lake City.
Silver King Coalition Mines Company -- Information about the Silver King Coalition mines, formed in 1907 and merged with Park Utah in 1953.
Smelters -- A narrative history of the smelters located in the Salt Lake Valley and other locations, including those of the pioneer era, from 1867, to the famous smelter case that closed all but the lead smelters at Midvale and Murray. The others were either consolidated at either Garfield or Tooele, or closed altogether.
Stone and Aggregates -- Stone quarries statewide used for construction materials, including gravel and aggregates, along with railroad ballast, and smelter slag.
Thomas P. Billings -- Life sketch and obituary for Thomas P. Billings, a Utah mining man.
Tintic Mining District -- A narrative history of the mining and railroads in the Tintic Mining District in central Utah.
Tintic Mining District, Burgin Mine -- Information abouut the Burgin mine, in the East Tintic Mining District, in operation from 1958 to 1978, and the Trixie mine, in operation from 1969 to 2002.
United Park City Mines Company -- Information about the largest and most successful mining company in the Park City district.
Utah Coal -- "Utah Fuels The West" -- Index page with narrative history and research notes about Utah's coal mining industry, and the railroads that served it.
Utah Ore Sampling Company -- Information about the Utah Ore Sampling Company's sampling plants at Silver City, Park City, and at Murray.
Utah Rock Asphalt Company -- Information about the Utah Rock Asphalt Company, which furnished crushed rock asphalt for street paving. The company had a 3-1/2 mile aerial tramway, that was in service from 1929 to 1947 from its open-face quarry at the head of Water Canyon, a branch of Whitmore Canyon near Sunnyside.
Utah's First Ore Shipment -- Information about the first ore shipment out of Utah, during the summer of 1869.
Western Utah Copper District -- Information about the history and current development of the copper resources at the former Cactus open pit copper mine west of Milford.
Mining History
Early History of Lead Smelting -- A PDF of an article in Ax-I-Dent-Ax magazine, May 1929, published by United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company. (PDF; 12 pages; 6.4MB)
Early Mining and Smelting -- A PDF of an article in Ax-I-Dent-Ax magazine, July 1931, published by United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company. (PDF 11 pages; 4.4MB)
First Ore Shipment -- A discussion of the dates usually given for the first ore shipment by rail from Utah territory.
Bancroft, Chapter 27 -- An early history of Utah mining and industry scanned from Bancroft's 1889 History of Utah.
Brewster, "A Brief History of Mining in Utah" -- A manuscript that was included in Volume II of Wain Sutton's 1949 Utah, A Centennial History.
Mining In Utah -- A history of mining in Utah, published by Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
Railroad and Steam Shovels in Bingham Canyon -- An article lifted from The Salt Lake Mining Review in 1911 about the construction of railroads in Bingham Canyon.
Salt Lake Mining Review -- An incomplete index of railroad and railroad-related items found in The Salt Lake Mining Review bi-weekly magazine.
Stenhouse, Chapter 57 -- Excerpts from an early history of Utah mining, from T. B. H. Stenhouse's 1872 Rocky Mountain Saints. (Note: A large portion of Stenhouse, Chapter 57, was later included in Tullidge, Chapter 81.)
Thomas Billings -- History of mining in Utah, by Thomas P. Billings; located as part of the on-line Hickman Museum.
Tullidge, Chapter 81 -- An early history of Utah mining and manufacturing scanned from Tullidge's 1886 History of Salt Lake City.
More Information
A Century of Mining -- A link to a Google News archived digital edition of The Deseret News, September 18, 1963, about the Centennial of Utah Mining.
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