Railroads and Mining in Utah's Bingham Canyon, Copper Era 1914-1936

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Copper Era, 1914 to 1936

(Utah Copper, Bingham & Garfield, and Kennecott Copper)

1914
Utah Copper's annual report for the year ending December 31, 1913 shows the following:

January 16, 1914
The community of Upper Bingham changed its name and was incorporated as the new town of Copperfield. Incorporation was first proposed in October 1913, and was approved by the Salt Lake County Commission on December 30, 1913. The initial petition was signed by 93 of 118 registered voters of Upper Bingham. The delay came as protests were filed stating that the petition did not represent the majority. The delay was due to legal questions about the new city issuing liquor licenses to bars and saloons, with license fees being seen as a tax on businesses. The new city was "dry" until a special election was held on June 30, 1914, with the results that a slim majority (63 to 59) of the voting residents voted that the city remain dry. (Coalville Times, October 10, 1913; Salt Lake Tribune, November 9, 1913; December 30, 1913; Salt Lake Telegram, January 16, 1914; Deseret News, July 1, 1914)

March 31, 1914
Underground work on Utah Copper's former Boston Consolidated mine was stopped because enough capping had been removed to allow both mills to be furnished solely from the open cut methods. (Rickard, page 48)

July 30, 1914
The following summary of Utah Copper operations comes from the July 30, 1914 issue of the Salt Lake Mining Review magazine.

August 7, 1914
Utah Copper issued orders to reduce its output by 50 percent and ordered a corresponding reduction in payrolls, putting 4000 men at the Bingham mine, at the Magna and Arthur mills, and on the Bingham & Garfield Railway all on half time. (Carbon County News, August 13, 1914)

September 1914
Bingham & Garfield was shut down, until April 27, 1915, for lack of traffic. Copper was selling at 18.5 cents per pound, the highest price since 1907. (Eastern Utah Advocate, April 30, 1915) (Was Utah Copper shut down also?)

October 31, 1914
From The Engineering and Mining Journal, Volume 98, Number 18, October 31, 1914, page 804:

Utah Copper is treating 12,000 tons of ore daily at the Magna mill. The mine works one shift, except Wednesdays and Sundays—two or two and a half days off a week— which is all that is necessary to keep up the mill supply. A small amount of stripping is being done. All told, eight to 10 shovels are worked. Mining is being done with great economy, and a new system of cost keeping is in use, by which all supplies and expenses are checked up daily, instead of monthly as heretofore. Construction work, repairs, and overhead expenses have been reduced. Between 1000 and 1200 men are being worked at the mine, and 65 men per shift at the mill, exclusive of the machine shop, etc.

Flotation experiments are still being carried on, and a large number of tests have been made with a slide machine, in the laboratory. Twenty-eight flotation cells designed by the Utah Copper are in use. Of these, 14 are installed on the lower vanner floor, and are cleaning the low-grade concentrates. This removes silica satisfactorily, and produces good concentrates, but there have been some mechanical difficulties. Each cell consists of a circular iron casing about 24 in. deep by 36 in. diameter, and is driven by a 10-hp. motor. The second unit of 14 cells is also on the lower vanner floor. These treat the vanner feed from the fourth and fifth spigots of the secondary classifiers, but material from the primary classifiers has also been treated. This unit is still in the experimental stage. The low-grade concentrates from the vanners and tables of the mill are elevated to a Richards-Janney classifier; the first two spigots make high-grade concentrates, and the next two low-grade concentrates containing silica, which is the feed for the flotation. About 200 tons of low-grade concentrates per day are being treated. Three shifts are being worked in the mill, and all men are working half time—two weeks on and two off; the Magna shift changing with the Arthur.

November 14, 1914
From The Engineering and Mining Journal, Volume 98, Number 20, November 14, 1914, page 881:

Utah Copper Company

Report of the Utah Copper Company for the third quarter of 1914 shows production of a total of 28,686,672 pounds of copper, of which 13,768,958 pounds were produced in July, 8,245,520 in August and 6,672,194 in September. Both plants treated 1,466,606 tons of ore, 77 percent at the Magna plant and 23 percent at the Arthur plant. Average ore grade was 1.1356 percent copper, and 68.13 percent the average extraction. (about 15,000 tons per day)

Owing to existing conditions, it was considered advisable to reduce production by half, so the Arthur plant was shut down. Average cost of net copper is 7.760 cents per pound after allowing for smelter deductions and without crediting miscellaneous income. If this income were credited, including that from the Bingham & Garfield Ry., the cost would be 6.951 cents per pound of copper.

Net profit from milling operations and other income was $1,312,738. Dividends paid amounted to $1,218,367, leaving a net surplus for the quarter of $94,371. Earnings are based on 12.48 cents per pound for copper. Total copper on hand and in transit, sold and unsold, at the end of the quarter, was 50,118,797 pounds No income came from Nevada Consolidated Copper Company as its dividends were deferred.

Bingham & Garfield Railway operations were curtailed. An average of 11,515 tons of ore and about 4256 tons of other freight per day were moved.

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 cable tramway to the International smelter, and the underground Bingham Central Railway, by way of the three-mile Mascotte Tunnel to Lark. (Wegg, page 68)

April 29, 1915
Kennecott Copper Corporation was incorporated in New York on April 29, 1915, to acquire all of the properties and assets of Kennecott Mines Company, which physical property lay at the Kennecott mine three miles from Kennecott, Alaska, and the Beatson mine on Latouche Island, Prince William Sound, Alaska. (Moody's Manual Of Railroads And Corporation Securities, Twenty-Third Annual Number, Industrial Section, Volume II, K to Z, 1922, page 1322) (Moody's Analysis Of Investments for 1917, page 1337, gives the date as May 4, 1915)

May 8, 1915
During 1914, Utah Copper took 98 percent of its ore from the open cut operations. Bingham & Garfield moved 4,829,877 tons of ore, 2 percent (100,466 tons) of which was ore from other companies. (Engineering & Mining Journal, May 8, 1915, page 824)

September 1915
Utah Copper ordered six "6-wheel locomotives" from the Baldwin Locomotive Works. (Delivered in October 1915; numbered as Utah Copper 71-76)

November 17, 1915
Guggenheim Exploration Company sold its interest and holdings in Utah Copper to the Kennecott Corporation. (Salt Lake Mining Review, November 30, 1915)

Kennecott Takes Utah Stock -- New York, Nov. 17 -- The Guggenheim Exploration Company, which is a holding company for some of the more important interests represented by the Guggenheims in their various mining operations, is to dissolve, according to announcement made today. The Kennecott corporation, in which the Guggenheims and J. P. Morgan & Co. are said to have large holdings, will take over the holdings of the Guggenheim Exploration Company in Utah Copper, giving its on stock in exchange. Guggenheim Exploration will distribute to its shareholders their pro rata share of holdings of Ray Consolidated, Chino, American Smelting & Refining common and Yukon Gold stocks. In addition, each shareholder of Guggenheim Exploration will receive the option of accepting $37 cash for each share of the new Kennecott stock. The Guggenheim Exploration Company is a New Jersey corporation and was organized as a holding company, with stock interests in various mines and mining properties in Alaska, Canada and the United States, including Utah Copper, Chino Copper, Ray Consolidated Copper, Yukon Gold and American Smelting & Refining Company. The capitalization of the Guggenheim Exploration Company is $22,000,000 and the par value of the stock is $25. Guggenheim Exploration sold at the high record price of 79 3-8 on the stock exchange yesterday and, with other issues of the same group, has been a market leader. This afternoon, on announcement of the proposed dissolution of the company, that stock, as well as most other copper issues, declined moderately.

Concerning the creation of Kennecott Copper Corporation, Ray Beebe of Butte, Montana wrote on December 24, 2010.

In his article (Mining Engineering, January 2005, pp. 30-33), Murray Hitzman states "The original Kennecott Alaska deposit. .. provided the muscle for Utah Copper, which launched Jackling's experiment at Bingham Canyon." This was apparently intended to buttress the central theme of the paper. Unfortunately, it is factually incorrect.

The facts are these. After an extensive feasibility study, the Utah Copper Co. was incorporated on June 4,1903. Some of its financing came from the Guggenheim interests. A 300-ton capacity mill was built at Copperton. Asarco got a long-term contract to smelt the concentrates. (Asarco was controlled by the Guggenheim interests.)

In 1908, Stephen Birch approached J.P. Morgan and Co. with an option on what became the Kennecott Mine in Alaska. Morgan referred Birch to the Guggenheims, who agreed to support the project financially and technically.

After an expensive development involving a railway into the Alaskan interior and harbor facilities, the mine went into production in 1913.

Meanwhile, Asarco's Tacoma, Washington, smelter was expanded and a refinery was added to treat the Kennecott concentrates.

Since Asarco was thus smelting and refining the copper not only from Utah, Kennecott Alaska, Ray, Chino, Nevada Consolidated and Braden (Chile), the Guggenheims encouraged a consolidation of the mines themselves. The resulting company needed a name and it was christened Kennecott Copper Corp. This constituted the first corporate connection between Kennecott Alaska and Utah at Bingham Canyon, already a giant.

November 18, 1915
Guggenheim Exploration Company sold its 404,504 shares of Utah Copper Company to Kennecott Copper Corporation, payment being made in Kennecott stock on the basis of 1-1/4 shares of Kennecott for each share of Utah Copper. This gave Kennecott Copper 24.9 percent control of Utah Copper Company. Guggenheim Exploration was to be dissolved in the near future, and this is how Kennecott, owned and controlled by the Guggenheim interests, started its majority interest and ownership in Utah Copper. By December 31, 1916, Kennecott owned 26.7 percent (435,404 shares of Utah Copper's 1,624,490 outstanding stock). (New York Times, November 18, 1915; Moody's Analysis Of Investments, Part II, Public Utilities and Industrials, 1917, page 1337)

December 31, 1915
Utah Copper's annual report for the year ending December 31, 1915 shows the following (selected excerpts):

During 1915, ten 12-yard, all steel, dump cars were purchased, and fifty standard-gauge, 30-yard, all steel, air-dump cars were ordered and will be delivered about April 30, 1916. Some small improvements and extensions were made in connection with the system of water supply for locomotive and steam shovel boilers. A steel frame, corrugated iron, compressor building was erected, and five 6-room brick cottages for heads of departments were built.

The total amount of capping removed during the year was 5,961,367 cubic yards, being an average of 1,490,342 cubic yards per quarter, and an average of 496,780 cubic yards per month, as compared with an average of 1,427,209 cubic yards and 475,736 cubic yards, respectively, for the previous year. The total amount of capping removed prior to January 1, 1916, was 33,795,410 cubic yards, of which quantity 21,194,751 cubic yards were from the Utah Group and 12,600,659 cubic yards from the Boston Group. At the close of the year, the total area upon which stripping operations had been conducted was 203.24 acres, and the actual area completely stripped was estimated at 96.80 acres.

With the exception of a comparatively small amount of development work in the Boston Mine, no underground mining operations were conducted during the year 1915 and, therefore, practically all of the ore produced was mined by steam shovels. The average cost of mining was 24.41 cents per ton, of which 7.50 cents represent charges for stripping and 0.30 cent charges for development, leaving an actual working cost, including the proper proportioning of all fixed and general charges, of 16.61 cents per ton as compared with 22.62 cents per ton for the year 1914. This very notable reduction was due partly to increased output, partly to an improvement in the working conditions on the various steam shovel levels, and partly to increased efficiency in all departments.

During the year, there were milled at the Magna Plant 5,233,300 tons of ore, an increase of 771,839 tons over the previous year; while at the Arthur Plant, which was not operated until January 25th, 3,261,000 tons were milled, an increase of 1,252,295 tons as compared with 1914. The total ore treated at both plants was 8,494,300 tons, as compared with 6,470,166 tons for the previous year. The Magna Plant treated an average of 14,338 tons daily during the year, and the Arthur Plant an average of 9,563 tons daily during the time it was actually operated.

The average grade of ore milled at both plants was slightly under 1.434% copper, as compared with about 1.425% copper for 1914. The average recovery at both plants was 64.13%, corresponding to 18.39 pounds of copper per ton, as compared to 66.04%, or 18.82 pounds of copper per ton, for the previous year. For the last six months of the year, the average daily tonnage milled was 26,537, or about 33% above normal capacity.

The cost of milling at Magna was 30.91 cents per ton, and at Arthur 39.02 cents, as compared with 34.35 cents and 37.55 cents, respectively, for the year 1914. The average cost of milling at both plants was 34.02 cents per ton, as compared with 35.36 cents for the previous year. The average cost for the first quarter was 41.98 cents ; for the second quarter, 30.98 cents ; for the third quarter, 31.66 cents ; and for the fourth quarter, 34.66 cents. The higher costs for the first and fourth quarters were due to winter weather conditions and the consequent decrease in tonnage treated.

About two-thirds of the capping on the westerly side of Bingham Canyon has been removed. On the lower steam shovel levels, stripping has progressed to such an extent that the quantity of capping to be removed from these during 1916 will be only about one-half that moved during 1915. On the levels near the top of the mountain, where the capping was very thick, there is still a large quantity remaining, and it is on this account desirable to continue stripping operations for a time at approximately the same rate as for the past year. It is not likely therefore that any material decrease in these operations will occur until after the close of 1916.

The Directors have authorized the construction of a leaching plant to treat the oxidized capping which has been, and is being, removed from the ore bodies. It is the intention to build this plant with an initial capacity of from 2,000 to 3,000 tons per day, the arrangement being such that this capacity can be readily increased, if an increase is warranted by the experience gained in the operation of the first installation. Construction on this plant will be commenced as early in the summer of 1916 as weather conditions and preparation of designs will permit. For the purpose of furnishing acid for this plant and supplying other local and some commercial requirements, the Company has undertaken to participate equally with the Garfield Smelting Company in financing the construction and operation of an acid works near the smelter.

1915-1918
Utah Copper expanded its original tailings pond near Magna from the original 1500 acres to 5000 acres. This forced the Union Pacific (LA&SL) and Western Pacific tracks to be relocated to the north in 1917. The two railroads created a new station named Garfield as a connection to Utah Copper's railroad. This Garfield station remained in place until replaced by a new Garfield created in 1997 when UP moved its mainline again to allow expansion of the Kennecott tailings pond. (Utah History Cyclopedia; Union Pacific condensed track profile)

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, page 33)

September 12, 1916
"In July the Bingham property produced 20,000,000 pounds of copper. On one day, no less than 45,275 tons of ore was mined and loaded on cars. Including the surface capping, there was handled an average of over 67,000 tons of material every day. The company's mills have a rated annual capacity of 20,000 tons per day, 12,000 for the Magna and 8,000 for the Arthur. On one day, these mills treated exactly twice this amount of ore, 40,300 tons, and for the month averaged over 36,000 tons of ore per day. Work was started the last of the month on the active construction of the new leaching plant. The acid plant is about half completed. The production for August exceeded that for July. Handling 67,000 tons of material in twenty-four hours calls for 1340 cars of 50 tons each, or 40 trains of 33 cars each." (Ogden Standard, September 12, 1916)

November 28, 1916
"Changes Are Made To Aid Workingmen -- Garfield, Nov. 27. -- Beginning tomorrow morning there will be added accommodations, by of another shift train, for the men who are employed at Magna, Arthur and the leaching plant. The Salt Lake Route train leaving Salt Lake at 6:45 a. m. will he supplied with extra coaches and will arrive in Magna at 7:40 a. m. The regular shift train, heretofore leaving at 7 a. m , will leave at 7:15, and returning will leave Magna at 5.33 p m. This new arrangement will be in full charge of the Bingham & Garfield railroad and the cars will be set out at Garfield junction. Tickets purchased for use on this shift train will also be good on all Bingham & Garfield trains, as follows. Trains Nos. 109, 110, 111 and 112. After setting out the coaches at Garfield junction, the Salt Lake Route train will continue on its way to the smelter with the men going on the morning shift as usual, the regular Bingham & Garfield shift train picking up the extra coaches at the junction. The same plan will be followed by the 5:25 p. m. Salt Lake Route train." (Ogden Standard, November 28, 1916)

December 31, 1916
Utah Copper's annual report for the year ending December 31, 1916 shows the following:

The equipment used in connection with the removal of capping was increased by the addition of fifty standard-gauge 30-yard all-steel air-dump cars. A large additional area of surface was purchased adjacent to the Company's property, for use as dumping ground for waste.

It is estimated that approximately three-fourths of the capping has been removed from the ore body as now developed on the westerly side of Bingham Canyon, and that a total of at least 300,000,000 tons of developed ore yet remains in this part of the deposit. On the lower steam shovel levels, the capping to be removed during 1917 will probably not exceed one-half the quantity removed during 1916; but on the intermediate and upper levels, it will be necessary to continue stripping operations during 1917 at about the same rate as for the year 1916. Therefore, it is not likely that there will be any considerable decrease in such operations during the present year.

In order to furnish acid for the leaching plant and mills, as well as to supply some other local and commercial requirements, the Company agreed to participate equally with the Garfield Smelting Company in the construction and operation of an acid plant near the smelter. The construction of this plant was begun on March 8th, 1916, and the work was far enough along by December 22nd, 1916, to permit commencement of acid production. The operations were hampered by the usual difficulties that are to be expected in starting a new plant, as well as by the unusually severe weather that prevailed all winter. The production has now reached a rate of about 75 tons of 50-degree acid per day. This will be increased gradually to the rated capacity of about 150 tons per day, and it is intended that the plant will be enlarged from time to time to meet not only the requirements of the Copper Company and Smelting Company, but to supply such commercial demand as may be found.

1917
The first homes in what was known as Copper Heights were completed. The six homes of Copper Heights sat along the ridge line between the manin Bingham canyon, and Carr Fork.

(Read more about the homes of Copper Heights)

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, page 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, page 71)

October 1917
New crusher was 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, page 53) (Kennecott's Historical Index says that the dumper was a "Hullett Single".)

Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Company

The Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Company was a pioneer manufacturer of steel plant equipment with an international reputation for engineering some of the largest material-handling projects ever built. The firm started in 1896 as the Wellman-Seaver Engineering Company in Cleveland, Ohio, founded by the inventor of the first open-hearth furnace in the U.S., Samuel T. Wellman, his brother, Charles H. Wellman, and John W. Seaver, to engineer and design steel mills and industrial plant equipment. After Thomas R. Morgan joined the firm, it was incorporated as the Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Company in 1903. That enabled it to acquire the Webster, Camp & Lane Company of Akron, manufacturer of mining machinery and iron- and coal-handling equipment. As Wellman-Seaver-Morgan contracted business from all over the world, it concentrated on expanding its material-handling equipment.

One of the company's executives, George Huelett, invented the Huelett unloader, which revolutionized the Great Lakes ore industry. In 1930 the corporate name had been changed to the Wellman Engineering Company. In 1931 excavating buckets were added to its production line when the firm acquired the G. H. Williams Company of Erie, Pennsylvania. In 1954 the Cleveland-based McDowell, Inc., an international construction and engineering firm, acquired Wellman to fulfill McDowell's goal of erecting turnkey plants for basic industries. In 1963 an official merger of the two companies created the McDowell-Wellman Engineering Company, with its headquarters in Cleveland. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, McDowell-Wellman built coal docks and port loading facilities. The Massachusetts firm Helix Technology Corp. purchased McDowell-Wellman in 1978 and sold its bulk material-handling unit and research center to Pittsburgh's Dravo Corporation. In 1980 Dravo reorganized the Cleveland units as the Dravo Wellman Company, which was sold off to Blyden-Alice and left Cleveland in 1988. In 1993 a division of the Swedish firm Svedala Industries, Dravo Wellman retained only a single maintenance engineer in Cleveland.

(Source: OhioLink.edu)

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

January 20, 1918
SPLA&SL discontinued four commuter "switch" trains between Salt Lake City and Garfield on January 20, 1918. These were Trains 55 and 67 between Salt Lake City, and Trains 56 and 68 between Bingham and Salt Lake City. (Salt Lake Republican, January 19, 1918)

(The B&G then moved the trains from the interchange at Garfield to locations for the workers at the Arthur and Magna mills, and the Bingham mine.)

(Other connecting trains were operating between Salt Lake City and Bingham by way of LA&SL and B&G. Trains 109 and 111 departed Salt Lake City at 7:45am and 3:00pm respectively, and arrived at Bingham at 9:05am and 4:25pm respectively. Trains 110 and 112 departed Bingham at 9:25am and 4:50pm, and arrived at Salt Lake City at 10:40am and 6:10pm.)

(In addition, and during the same period, B&G operated shuttle trains between Garfield station and the Garfield smelter. This shuttle service was replaced by an auto bus service in September 1918.)

March 21, 1918
The United States Railway Administration (USRA) took over the operation of America’s railroads (including Bingham & Garfield) to improve the efficiency of America’s railroads during World War I. It continued to operate and “administer” the railroads until March 1, 1920.

(Read more about federal control of Bingham & Garfield, and the actions Utah Copper took in 1920 to take over the railroad company's operations.)

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. The shut down lasted over 2-1/2 years, until November 10, 1922. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 70; Parsons 1933, page 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
All Bingham & Garfield locomotives and rolling stock were sold to Utah Copper Company, to remove the B&G from interstate commerce, and limit the railway company's net operating income to 6 per cent, the figure established by the federal Interstate Commerce Commission; any amount exceeding 6 per cent was to deposited into a nationwide revolving fund for the benefit of all of the nation's railroads.

1921
During 1921, Utah Copper was using 21 steam shovels, and 49 standard gauge steam locomotives and 11 narrow gauge steam locomotives. (Moody's Manual Of Railroads And Corporation Securities, Twenty-Third Annual Number, Industrial Section, Volume II, K to Z, 1922, page 1235)

February 1921
Magna leaching plant was shut down permanently due to the low price of copper, and the high cost of the leaching operation. The plant was under construction between September 1916 and September 1917, and had been in operation from January 1918 to February 1919 and again in May 1920 through February 1921. (Kennecott notes)

April 1921
"Utah Copper company which produces most of the copper in Utah, was active in January, February, and March of 1921, and produced nearly 24,000,000 pounds of copper, but the mine was closed in April." "Utah Consolidated Mining company, a producer of both copper and lead closed its mine at Bingham in February." "The United States Mining company has continued to ship lead-zinc ore from Bingham, but the Utah Apex and Utah Consolidated mines, both large producers of lead, were closed." (Ogden Standard Examiner, July 13, 1921, citing a July 13 report by USGS, "Metal Output To Drop Low, Utah's Production This Year To Show Big Dropping Off")

April 1, 1921
"Effective April 1, the mines and properties of the company were closed down and will remain closed and the production of copper will be entirely suspended until general conditions warrant resumption." (Ogden Standard Examiner, May 19, 1921)

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

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

May 19, 1921
"There was removed during the quarter (January-March 1921) a total of 304,461 cubic yards of capping, being an average of 101,437 cubic yards per month, as compared with 487,358 cubic yards and 162,453 cubic yards, respectively, for the fourth quarter of 1920. The ore delivery department transported a total of 1,276,461 tons of ore, being an average of 14,183 tons per diem. the Bingham & Garfield railway, operating in its own common carrier capacity, transported a total of 159,411 tons of merchandise, freight, or an average of 1771 tons per diem." (Ogden Standard Examiner, May 19, 1921, citing the 1920 Utah Copper annual report)

1922
First electric shovels were tested at Bingham: two Marion Model 92 shovels with treads and 4-1/2 yard dippers. (USGS Bulletin 398, page 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, page 767)

Electric Shovels in Camp

Electric Type of Shovels Proving Extreme Adaptability -- Electric shovels are very efficient type of shovels.

There are two kinds: One is manufactured by the General Electric Company and which is a direct current type; the other of the alternating- current type, is made by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co.

The officials of the Utah Copper Company wishing to improve and enlarge their operations, planned to substitute electrical shovels for those propelled by steam when a thorough test of the electrical type has been made.

The efficiency of the electrical shovels compared to steam shovels is known in other fields, but has never been adapted to mining. The only mine that is using electrical shovels for the past nine years is the Chili Copper Company, in Chili, an open pit mine.

The Utah Copper Company by adapting the electrical shovel hopes to save ten cents a ton in the mining of its ore. No coal, no water, no firing and no watch ing of shovels during idle shifts will be necessary.

Repairs will be less. During a temporary shut down there will be no energy lost as there is with steam shovels because it will not be necessary to keep steam up. No time will be lost for repairing and washing of the boilers.

Main electrical transmission lines have been laid along the edge of the banks. Power is conducted to the shovel operating in 5000 volt flexible armored cables.

The new shovel is equipped with four and a half ton all manganese steel dippers. Dippers on steam shovels have a capacity of three tons. The twenty four foot boom is capable of making three cycles a minute. A carload of ore carrying forty eight tons can be loaded in four and a half minutes.

The electrical shovel with caterpillar tractor equipment travel as easy and efficient over the slope as when rails were laid; the danger of operating them is reduced in that there is no need of keeping four men in the pit ahead of the shovel laying rails. But three men make up the entire crew of the electrical shovel of the caterpillar type as compared with the crew of ten necessary to man one of the old style steam shovels.

(Andrew Hodges for "The Coppertonian," the newspaper of Bingham High School.)

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

April 4, 1922
Operations at the Arthur mill resumed. Production at the Bingham mine was to be between 2,000 and 3,000 tons per day for the next several weeks. A total of 550 men were employed by Utah Copper Company: 170 men at the Bingham mine; 80 men on the Bingham & Garfield Railway; and 300 men at the milling plants. Three shovels were at work in the Bingham mine; one making a grade change on the 'F' level, and two loading ore. (Weber River Independent, April 7, 1922, citing a statement from Utah Copper Company, April 4 was a Tuesday)

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

October 22, 1922
Robert C. Gemmell passed away. Mr. Robert C. Gemmell became General Superintendent of Utah Copper on January 1, 1906. With Jackling he visited the Mesabi iron mines in Minnesota to observe the methods of steam-shovel mining then in vogue on the range. He kept at the job successfully until the time of his death in 1922.

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

November 1922
Utah Copper was reported as shipping 250 cars per day (about 25,000 tons) by way of the Bingham & Garfield Railway. "None of this immense tonnage has been handled by Denver & Rio Grande Western for three years." (Salt Lake Mining Review, November 15, 1922)

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, page 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, page 14)

The following additional information comes from Bureau of Mines Information Circular 6234, published in 1930.

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, page 447)

July 27, 1923
"Bingham -- Ground is being broken for the erection of a clubhouse (Gemmell Memorial Club house) by the Utah Copper company on the site of the old Shawmut mill." (Beaver County News, July 27, 1923)

July 30, 1923
"Ground is being broken for the erection of a clubhouse by the Utah Copper company at Bingham on the site of the old Shawmut mill near the present tramway terminus. The building, 120 by 80 feet, which will be one of the finest of its kind in the west, will be called the Robert C. Gemmell Memorial in honor of General Manager Gemmell, who died recently. The Gemmell Memorial, to be erected at a cost of over $125,000, is but part of the building program now being executed by the Utah Copper company in retaining its position as one of the best equipped mines in the world." (Salt Lake Mining Review, July 30, 1923)

(Robert C. Gemmell passed away on October 22, 1922)

(The Gemmell building remained until it was demolished to make way for a new road in Carr Fork in December 1975. -- Kennescope magazine, January 1976, courtesy of Tim Dumas)

September 1923
First new electric shovel purchased. (U. S. Bureau of Mines, Bulletin 273, pages 2,3)

November 12, 1923
"The first electric shovel, No. 22, was placed in service at Bingham on the north end of 'K' level. It was a Marion Model 92 with General Electric DC electrical equipment." (Utah Copper Chronology, Memo to NWA from R. J. Corfield, dated 11-6-53; courtesy Steve Richardson)

Another source, informally known as the "Kennecott Historical Index" and maintained at the Arthur engineering office, noted that shovel No. 22, a Marion Model 92, was one of eight purchased new. Fifteen steam shovels had been converted to electric at the Bingham shops. (Kennecott Historical Index)

December 12, 1923
"The second electric shovel, No. 23, went into service on the 'J' Level. This was also a Marion Model 92 wiith Westinghouse AC electrical equipment for comparison of AC versus DC. Power for these two shovels was over a 5500-volt AC line on wooden poles set in the ground." (Utah Copper Chronology, Memo to NWA from R. J. Corfield, dated 11-6-53; courtesy Steve Richardson)

(Read more about how Utah Copper numbered the levels of the Bingham mine)

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, page 74)

(Read more about leaching, and the preciptation plants at Bingham)

March 12, 1924
Upper Carr Fork -- After the main B&G 'A' Level bridge at the mouth of the canyon was completed in 1911, the first railroad bridges across Carr Fork (the 'J' and 'L' steel bridges), were completed in 1924 and 1925, after Utah-Apex Mining company granted surface rights on the north side of Carr Fork, to Utah Copper to serve as dumping grounds. The initial rights to build railroad tracks were granted in March 1, 1924, and subsequent surface rights for dumping grounds were granted on March 12, 1924. Construction of the 'J' and'L' Dump lines along the north slope of Carr Fork, as well as the 'J' and 'L' railroad bridges, started soon after. (Kennecott engineering department documents)

(Read more about the railroad bridges in Carr Fork)

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

(The two locomotives were purchased second-hand from Manufacturer's Railway in St. Louis.)

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.

October 6, 1924
The Gemmell Memorial Club House was opened to the public. "The new edifice will be one of the finest club rooms in the country, being equipped with everything necessary for the comfort of the workers of this great institution." (Bingham Bulletin, October 3, 1924)

Groundbreaking for the building was on July 27, 1923. Named for Robert C. Gemmell, who had died on October 22, 1922. At the time of his death, Gemmell had been General Manager of Utah Copper, and managing director of the entire Utah Copper holdings.

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

July 8-10, 1925
The annual convention of the American Society of Civil Engineers was held in Salt Lake City, with special meetings and dinners held in other Utah cities and locations. With the formal closing of the convention, large numbers of delegates took side trips provided for them. Among the side trips was a tour of Utah Copper's Bingham Canyon mine. Following are highlights taken from the official souvenior booklet produced for the tour.

August 1925
The following highlights come from "Electric Shovels and Caterpillar Tractors at Bingham," Mining and Metallurgy magazine, Volume 6, Number 224, August 1925, page 373.

On September 21, 1925 Denver & Rio Grande Western sold the Copper Belt Branch, the Yampa Branch, and the upper portion of the Low Grade Line, from a station called Midas to the Cuprum yard. The trackage was sold to Utah Copper, in the name of its Bingham & Garfield Railway subsidiary. (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 7.6 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 of the Bingham Prospect Mining company near where the line crossed Midas Gulch, 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 Railroad 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.

Cuprum Walk-Up Hotel

When Rio Grande Western completed the new Cuprum yard in 1907, it included numerous buildings needed for the operation of a busy railroad yard, all placed on the mountain side. Within five or six years, the railroad built a large hotel owned by the railroad but operated as a boarding house. Photos dated 1914 show the building, but earlier photos do not. Its purpose was to provide a place for railroad employees to stay between their shifts while away from their homes down in Salt Lake Valley.

When the tracks and yard were sold to Utah Copper in 1925, the railroad hotel was also sold, and was operated as a hotel for the public. The difficulty was that there was no access except by a steep trail up from Bingham, hundreds of feet below.

In May 1923, prior to the sale by the railroad, Mrs. Charles Van Tromp offered a lease of the "Walk-up Hotel" at Cuprum. The hotel had 13 rooms. Mrs. Van Tromp's husband Charles had been killed on April 4, 1922 in an accident at Helper, near Price, when his speeder collided with a train. He was 70 years old at the time. Newspaper accounts used both "Van Trump" and "Van Tromp" in their reporting, but genealogy sites use Van Tromp, as does the newspaper ad for the lease of the hotel.

Research in online newspapers for references to a hotel or boarding house at Cuprum has found that there were several "cottages" where at least two individual families lived, but so far the newspaper ad quoted below from Mrs. Van Tromp is all that has been found about a hotel or boarding house.

"To lease - The Walk-Up Hotel - Consisting of thirteen rooms to be leased for 1 year. Newly painted and renovated throughout. A good boarding house trade established. - Mrs. C. Van Tromp, Cuprum, Bingham." (Bingham News, May 12, 1923)

As a side note, additional research has found an item in the December 21, 1929 issue of the Deseret News that the Utah Copper precipitation plant at Cuprum began operating in Spring 1929. The new plant had a daily capacity of processing 2 million gallons per day, with the 1929 spring run-off percolating down through the waste dumps yielding 50,000 pounds of copper per day.

Between the 1923 newspaper ad from Mrs. Van Tromp, and the 1929 news items about the precipitation plant at Cuprum, and after 1929, there was no mention in available online newspapers about Cuprum. This makes sense because after Utah Copper bought the site in 1926, it was no longer anything other than part of the rail system of the Bingham mine.

Photos by Utah Copper of the vicinity as late as September 1939 show the large hotel or boarding house building still in place. A photo dated April 1940 show that the building had been removed.

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)

1926
Utah Copper completed six dwellings "on Terrace Heights at Copperfield." The new apartments would accomodate twelve familes. (Bingham News, November 13, 1926)

(Read more about Copperfield and Terrace Heights)

1926
The following highlights come from the article "Shovel Operations of Utah Copper" in the January 1926 issue of Mining and Metallurgy magazine.

February 17, 1926
The worst snowslide so far in Bingham Canyon's history came down Sap Gulch in upper Carr Fork. The slide buried a large portion of the community of Highland Boy, and resulted in the deaths of 39 persons, and displaced 25 families from their homes.

April 24, 1926
"The Utah Copper Company has ordered one 60-ton oil-electric locomotive from the American Locomotive Company, the General Electric Company and the Ingersoll-Rand Company, which companies co-operate in its manufacture." (Railway Age, April 24, 1926, page 1177)

April 30, 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 (given road number 600) and the other was to be a 75-ton combination trolley electric/battery electric at a cost of $50,000 (given road number 700). Both locomotives to be used on 'J' and 'K' stripping levels. No mention of tests involving steam motive power. (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 30, 1926)

"Large shovels at Bingham are already electrified." (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 30, 1926)

May 15, 1926
The order by Utah Copper for a 60-ton "oil-electric" locomotive was announced by the builder, a joint combination of Ingersol-Rand, American Locomotive Co., and General Electric. The following highlights are taken from the article.

July 1926
An ALCo-General Electric-Ingersoll Rand 60-ton oil-electric locomotive number 600 was received. (GE construction serial number 10028; Alco construction serial number 66680)

August 24, 1926
Date of photo showing the new 'D' bridge being built across Carr Fork.

February 15, 1927
The following item about "oil-electric" locomotives comes from the Salt Lake Mining Review, February 15, 1927, reporting that Utah Copper's locomotive was in service at Bingham, being one of 13 locomotives in service nationwide.

Growing Importance To Industry Of New Oil-Electric Locomotives -- The recent introduction of oil-electric locomotives is a development which is of importance in considering future railroad fuel consumption. This locomotive is a self-contained power unit in which a Diesel-type oil driven engine operates a generator which furnishes power to railway motors which are geared direct to the driving axles. After four months service in the manufacturer's plant, the first locomotive of this type was placed in service by the New York Central railroad on June 9, 1924, being used in switching freight cars in New York City.

At present, ten 60-ton and three 100-ton locomotives of this type are in use, eleven of which are in switching service in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Paul; one in Utah Copper mining operations; and one by a California lumber company. Of the thirteen locomotives in use, ten were placed in operation during 1926.

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 tests between diesel and electric 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)

1927
The first electric locomotive at the Bingham mine was put into service in 1927 on "G" level dump. (Kennescope, no date)

October 2, 1927
The Highland Boy Community House was dedicated. The community house was a major landmark in the community of Highland Boy in upper Carr Fork for 30 years.

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)

March 27, 1928
D&RGW converted a retired engine tender for use as a water car for added capacity of its 3400-series 2-8-8-2 (Class L-95) locomotives assigned to the Bingham Branch. (D&RGW AFE 3711, courtesy of Jerry Day)

May 1928
The New York Times reported on May 2, 1928, that Kennecott Copper Corporation owned 97-1/2 percent of Utah Copper Company, which in turn owned 43 percent of Nevada Consolidated Copper Company. (New York Times, May 2, 1928)

May 1, 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. (Salt Lake Tribune, May 1, 1928; May 6, 1928)

May 8, 1928
Utah Copper ordered 20 electric locomotives. The first locomotive was to be shipped about August 1, 1928. (Boston Globe, May 8, 1928)

Electrical Infrastructure

With the planned arrival of new electric locomotives, and the already existing 23 electric shovels, the infrastructure of electric power distribution at Bingham needed to be expanded to serve the growth. Beginning in June 1928, Utah Copper cleared a spot on the hill side above the Bingham & Garfield yard at Bingham and began construction of an electrical power distribution station. The site included two new all-brick buildings, with a substation between them. Photos of the construction, dated between June 1928 and July 1929, show the equipment being installed and being made ready for the arrival of the new locomotives and more electric shovels.

Utah Power & Light delivered a commercial electric power feed of 130,000 volts AC to the Central Power Station at Magna. From there the power was stepped-down to 44,000 volts AC and sent to five substations at the Magna and Arthur mills, and to two substations at Bingham. The new site at the B&G yard was one of the two substations at Bingham, and included electro-magnetic switch gear and controllers in the two new buildings. Outside of the buildings was a large cooling tower and a large electrical distribution yard with the needed transformers to convert the power from AC to DC for use by the locomotives and shovels.

The May 6, 1928 and October 26, 1930 issues of the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper described the site. The 44,000 volts of electrical power was transmitted to Bingham by way of what was called "a double circuit copper line." At Bingham the power was "again transformed from 44,000 volts to 550 volts alternating current and by means of four 1000 kilowatt synchronous converters, converted from alternating current at 550 volts to direct current at 750 volts." The new substations at Bingham were "of the most modern design requiring no operators." They were "entirely and completely automatically controlled machines starting and stopping as the load on the hill fluctuates frm no load to maximum."

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. (GE builder data)

September 30, 1928
"Two storage battery type locomotives (Utah Copper 701 and 702) have been delivered to the Utah Copper Company by the General Electric Company. The engines are so designed that they may be operated either from storage batteries or trolleys. They are to be used on the Utah Copper hill in Bingham. The locomotives were shipped to Salt Lake from the General Electric factory in Erie, Pa., and it is understood that more deliveries will be made next month." (Salt Lake Mining Review, September 30, 1928)

(Kennecott 701 was wrecked on September 1, 1928 while in transit to Utah Copper, scrapped by Utah Copper on June 1, 1931. -- Information from Kennecott internal records, research done on February 18, 1983)

Battery Locomotives

In 1928, Kennecott Copper ordered four 700-series electric locomotives with on-board batteries. These four locomotives (Utah Copper 700, 702, 703, 724) weighed 85 tons and operated on 750-volt overhead trolley wire, with further range while running on batteries. The locomotives provided several decades of service using Nickel-iron battery (Edison) technology. The batteries were reportedly replaced with lead-acid batteries at a time later in their careers. All four locomotives were retired in 1982-1983. Three out of the four locomotives were donated to museums and are currently displayed at Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad, Iowa, at the Northwest Railway Museum, in Snoqualmie, Washington, and at the Western Railway Museum in Rio Vista, California.

(see also: Wikipedia article about Battery Locomotive)

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

1929
An excellent description of mining operations at Utah Copper's Bingham mine was included on nine pages as part of the larger Bulletin 298, published in 1929 by the U. S. Bureau of Mines. (U. S. Bureau of Mines, Bulletin 298, Methods, Costs and Safety of Stripping Ore, 1929)

Early 1929
"Electrification of the mine at Bingham was completed early in the year and a new record of more than 141,000 tons of ore and waste in one day was made on May 16." (Ogden Standard Examiner, January 19, 1930)

Early April 1929
"The new precipitation plant at the mouth of Bingham canyon was placed in operation in early April. The plant has a capacity of more than 5,000,000 gallon of copper-bearing water a day and makes a recovery of about 97 percent of the copper." (Ogden Standard Examiner, January 19, 1930)

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.

May 3, 1932
Kennecott Copper Corporation, which owned 98 percent of Utah Copper Company, offered to acquire Nevada Consolidated Copper Company, at the rate of one share of Kennecott for two shares of Nevada Consolidated. At the time, Kennecott, through its Utah Copper subsidiary, owned 45 percent of Nevada Consolidated. (New York Times, May 4, 1932, "yesterday")

June 11, 1932
Kennecott's offer to exchange its stock for Nevada Consolidated stock was set to expire on June 15, 1932. To allow for stockholders who were abroad, Kennecott's offer to exchange its stock for that of Nevada Consolidated was extended through July 15, 1932. By June 11, 1932, Kennecott, through its Utah Copper subsidiary, owned 75 to 80 percent of Nevada Consolidated. On July 15, the offer was extended to September 15. (New York Times, June 11, 1932; July 17, 1932)

February 3, 1933
Kennecott Copper Corporation owned 98-1/2 percent of Utah Copper Company. After the distribution of Nevada Consolidated Copper to Utah Copper stockholders (in other words, Kennecott) on or before February 14, 1933, Kennecott would own and control 87 percent of Nevada Consolidated Copper Company. One year before, at the end of 1931, Utah Copper held 31 percent of Nevada Consolidated. (New York Times, February 5, 1933)

November 1932
A ten-feet wide, electrified railroad tunnel under all of the mines in Bingham Canyon was proposed in a request for a $2.5 million government loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. The tunnel was to be 30,000 feet in length and would connect the bottom workings of a "dozen" mines, allowing them to haul their ores down to the new tunnel, rather than hoisting their ore up several hundred feet at great expense. (New York Times, November 19, 1932, "Mine Tunnel Loan Sought")

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, page 71)

May 16, 1934
D&RGW retired its 60-foot turntable at Bingham. (D&RGW AFE 5227, courtesy of Jerry Day)

April 1, 1935
Utah Copper's operation of the Bingham & Garfield, known as the Ore Delivery Department, 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, page 68; Kennecott Historical Index)

(Continue reading about Bingham history after 1936)

(Read more about Kennecott parent companies)

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