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Utah Consolidated Mining Company

This page was last updated on February 15, 2024.

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Overview

Utah Consolidated Mining Company worked several claims in in the Carr Fork branch of Bingham Canyon. It started as the Highland Boy mine, and the surface structures of the Highland Boy mine remained as the symbol of the mining company's operations. In its early years, Utah Consolidated shipped its ore to local mills and smelters by way of team and wagon, by aerial tramway down to Bingham, by railroad cars via the Copper Belt railroad's spur in Carr Fork

In later years, the company shipped its ore by way of aerial tramway to the International smelter on the other side of the Oquirrh mountains, near Tooele. Utah Consolidated later became part of the Utah Metals and Tunnel Company, which itself was later included as part of the Utah Delaware Mining Company and the National Tunnel and Mine Company. This latter company shipped its ore to the International smelter by way of the Elton Tunnel, completed in 1941. In August 1941, the Elton Tunnel opened as a way to transport the ore from the mines in Carr Fork, underground through the 4.5 mile tunnel, to a spur on the Tooele Valley Railway for shipment to the International smelter.

(Read more about the National Tunnel and Mines Co.)

In 1896 Samuel Newhouse began development of the Highland Boy Mine, a mine that had been staked out in 1873. He and his associates formed the Utah Consolidated Gold Mines, Ltd. in Great Britain to promote their interests there. While exploring for gold, large amounts of copper were found and a smelter was soon planned. A smelter with an input capacity of 250 tons per day was completed in May 1899 and was the first copper smelter to be built in Utah. Standard Oil interests purchased control of the company from Newhouse and his associates, also in May 1899, and reorganized the company as the Utah Consolidated Mining Company. In 1898, Newhouse purchased an adjoining group of claims covering 350 acres and organized the Boston Consolidated Mining Company in New York City in November 1898.

The following comes from the 1914 issue of Poor's Manual of Industrials:

Summary of Operations (1898-1948)

The Highland Boy mine was owned and operated by Utah Consolidated Mining Company, which had its own smelter out in the Salt Lake Valley. The smelter-smoke suit of 1904 forced them to build a new smelter on the other side of the mountain, above Tooele, as the International Smelting Company. The Tooele Valley Railway was built to serve the International smelter, which opened in 1910. A lead-silver smelter was added in 1912, and Anaconda bought the entire operation (mine, smelter, and railroad) in 1914.

Ore arrived at the Tooele smelter by three methods. 1) The 20,000 feet long aerial tramway of Utah Consolidated that traversed the ridge from Bingham Canyon; 2) The 11,000 feet long tunnel of Utah Metals Company between its Bingham property and an outlet just two miles from the Tooele smelter; and 3) The Tooele Valley Railway that operated between International and a connection with Union Pacific at Tooele Junction (later Warner), west of Tooele. The railroad had a spur that served the Tooele portal of the Utah Metals tunnel.

Ore continued to arrive at the International smelter from the Utah Consolidated's mines in Bingham Canyon. Through a series of court cases and mergers, Utah Consolidated was combined with several other large underground Bingham/Carr Fork mines, including Utah Apex and Utah Delaware, and in 1937 they all came under the control of a new company known as National Tunnel and Mines Company. In 1944, the company purchased Utah Metal and Tunnel.

In 1937, ground was broken for a 22,000-foot tunnel from the underground mines in the area west of the Bingham mine, at the top of Carr Fork. This was to replace the Utah Metals tunnel, and the Utah Consolidated aerial tramway. Known as the Elton Tunnel, the tunnel was completed in 1941. In 1948, Anaconda acquired full control of all the mines and the smelter, as well as the tunnel company.

Highland Boy Mine

The Utah Consolidated Mining Company had its beginnings with the Highland Boy mine.

The Highland Boy mine was located on the northwest slope of Carr Fork, just above where it met Sapp Gulch. This junction where Sapp Gulch met Carr Fork was where Utah Consolidated built its new tunnel and new surface failities in late 1896, as well as its gold cyanide concentration mill.

(Read more about the Highland Boy Mine, 1873-1896)

Timeline

1873
Highland Boy claim located in Carr Fork by James W. Campbell. (USGS Professional Paper 38)

July 10, 1874
First mention of the Highland Boy mine. "Highland Boy Mine -- Has a shaft fifty feet, tunnels over 200 feet altogether, and discloses a two-foot vein of galena, with irregular quantities of carbonate. Work is vigorously prosecuted, which cannot fail to result in a valuable mine." (Salt Lake Herald Republican, July 10, 1874)

April 28, 1876
"The Highland Boy, owned mostly by Benson and Campbell, is situated on Carr Fork of Bingham, a mile and a half above town. The vein has been large from the start, containing large masses of galena of good quality, and other matter, ... [continues with long description of ore vein and types of ore.] (Salt Lake Tribune, April 28, 1876)

October 1896
Highland Boy Gold Mining Company was organized in October 1896 as the U.S. subsidiary of Utah Consolidated Gold Mines, Ltd. of London. Between 1898 and 1900, the company shipped the majority of the copper from Bingham district, as sulfide ores. By 1901, the Highland Boy mine was the "chief" producer of copper in the Bingham District. (USGS Professional Paper 38, pp. 265, 268)

The Highland Boy mine was a considerable producer of silver-lead ore in 1870-1890. (The Copper Handbook, Volume 11, 1912-1913, page 929)

October 3, 1896
Samuel Newhouse and his associates paid $200,000 for a group of ten mining claims located at the top of Carr Fork. The mining claims included the Highland Boy, the Griffin, the Henry M., the Nina Fraction, the Omaha, the Larena, the Christina, the Larsen, the Annex Fraction, and the Hillside claims. The purchase also included the mill site of the Hillside claim, as well as the Hillside's water rights. The sellers (the Stewart Mining company, and James Campbell) accepted $37,500 for their interests in the Highland Boy mine. During 1895, Thomas Weir had found the previous owners of the various claims fighting among themselves, and determined to bring all of their interests into a single company, after bringing the potential of the combined properties to the attention of Newhouse. Newhouse and his associates announced that they would build a cyanide mill of 200 tons per day capacity. On October 6, 1896, Thomas Weir took the position of manager of the new combined properties. (Salt Lake Tribune, October 4, 1896, "yesterday"; October 6, 1896, "today")

October 27, 1896
Samuel Newhouse transferred his interest in the Highland Boy and other mining claims to the newly organized Highland Boy Gold Mining Company, for the total sum of $1.00. (Salt Lake Herald Republican, October 27, 1896)

November 1896
Utah Consolidated began development work in Highland Boy mine and soon discovered that the ore body contained 25 percent copper. (Hansen, p. 268)

December 1896
Utah Consolidated shipped 5,000 tons of copper sulfide ore from the Highland Boy mine in December 1896. All of this ore production resulted from development work (developing access tunnels) rather than actual mining operation. (USGS Professional Paper 38, p. 85)

December 4, 1896
"The Highland Boy in Bingham is said to be showing up immensely these days. The property is now owned by the United States Exploration company of England, for whom it was recently purchased by Sam Newhouse." (Deseret News, December 4, 1896)

December 16, 1896
The Highland Boy Gold Mining Company was incorporated in New Jersey. (Salt Lake Herald, December 17, 1896)

January 4, 1897
The Highland Boy Gold Mining Comapny filed its articles of incorporation in Utah on January 4, 1897. (Salt Lake Herald, January 5, 1897, "yesterday")

1897
Utah Consolidated constructed a 12,500 foot aerial tramway from its Highland Boy mine down to the Rio Grande Western station at Bingham. (Mines and Minerals, October 1907, p. 106)

April-August 1897
Excavation and foundation work began on the new mill for the Highland Boy Gold Mining company. Machinery for the new mill had been under contract and was being manufactured in Denver by late February 1897. Contracts for the construction of the mill building were awarded on April 19, 1897. By July 3rd, the excavation work was complete and about of the mill building was constructed. Five car loads of machinery were on the ground at Bingham, waiting to be moved to the mill site. The mill was to be ready for operation by August 1st. On August 17th, it was reported that the mill would be completed "within the next twenty days." (Salt Lake Herald, February 28, 1897; Salt Lake Tribune, March 26, 1897, "next week"; April 18, 1897; July 3, 1897; The Sun, July 5, 1897; Salt Lake Tribune, August 17, 1897)

May 1897
Utah Consolidated's Highland Boy mine shipped its first copper ore in May 1897. (Hansen, p. 268) (Research has found that this was a 90-ton test run, made at a different mill, but with ore taken from the Highland Boy mine.)

October 1, 1897
The first combined copper and gold ore from the Highland Boy, about 200 tons, had been successfully processed by the Germania smelter by late September 1897. The straight gold ore was being milled and processed as gold bullion at the new cyanide mill. The first gold bullion bars were produced in about the third week of October, and by the first week of November, two bars had been produced, each weighing 8-1/2 pounds. (Salt Lake Tribune, October 1, 1897; October 10, 1897; Salt Lake Herald, November 3, 1897)

June 7, 1898
"Anticipating his arrival offices had been prepared in the Dooly block, and in them will be future headquarters for the United States Exploration company of London, England, of which Mr. Newhouse is the managing director; the Newhouse smelter and railway of Utah; the Highland Boy and Boston Consolidated Mining companies both founded upon possessions at Bingham and the various other propositions at the head of which is Mr. Newhouse, and that are located in Utah, Montana, Idaho, California, New Mexico and Colorado. In short, Mr. Newhouse had made this headquarters, and from this potnt all else with which he is associated will radiate." (Salt Lake Tribune, June 7, 1898)

September 15, 1898
"The Highland Boy Mining company has decided to abandon the construction of a railroad between the mine and the yards of the Rio Grande Western at Bingham and will, in a few days, said manager Thomas Weir yesterday afternoon, begin the construction of a tramway with which to transport its ore. That this departure from original plans could be ordered by the management has been known for some time, it having been learned that the Rio Grande Western had agreed upon a rate that was perfectly agreeable to both sides. The tramway will cover a stretch of (illegible) feet, and work upon it, says Mr. Weir, will commence as soon as the drawings and details issue from the hands of the engineer, who is designing them." "In the meantime, work on the smelter plant, for which nearly 3,000,000 brick have been ordered, has begun and already the laying of them on offices for those who have charge of construction has been commenced." (Salt Lake Tribune, September 15, 1898)

January 1, 1899
"The Highland Boy people made a very busy time of it in the line of development the past twelve months. One year ago we told of their mill for crushing and leaching ores by the cyanide process, and which had been then running some two or three months. This mill has a capacity of 125 tons per day, and that can be doubled by simply adding to the tankage, cost about $50,000, and is very perfect in its operations. It answered the purpose for the class of ore treated, and was continued in their reduction until in July last, when it was deemed best to close down and hold the ores for future use, since they are of the class which will be wanted in their smelting plant, being constructed south of this city. During the running of the mill it crushed and treated 20,000 tons of ore, of which about 15,000 tons was in 1898 up to July, when the mill was closed down and has so remained ever since. But the stoppage of the mill did not in any way effect the extensive operations of the company in development of the mine and adding to its extent and great value of the group. Tunnel after tunnel was run, frequent crosscuts made, greater depth obtained by running tunnels lower until a vertical depth of 950 feet has been reached in No. 6 tunnel. At the present time no less than five tunnels are being pushed ahead, and crosscuts made every 100 feet. In this work only such ore as is in line of the cuttings is taken out, the balance being left blocked out for stoping. In No. 7 tunnel a fine body of ore was tapped on December 16th, assaying over 12 per cent copper, $4.50 in gold and four ounces silver, that being the greatest strike, and yet the company has shipped 100-ton lots of ore running up to $8.60 in gold, while several other 100-ton lots went up to one ounce in gold. During the past year the company shipped 4000 tons of such copper and gold ore, all of which came from new cuttings, of which the company in driving tunnels and crosscuts made a string of over one mile during the past year, and now have in all over 10,000 feet of cuttings beneath the surface in the group. And the work of exploitation goes steadily ahead with a force of fifty men."

"One year ago the group consisted of ten claims. Since that date there have been added eighteen more, making a group of twenty-eight, covering 235 acres. All of these are patented except one, and that soon will be. Outside improvements about the mine were the erection of ore bins, snow sheds, blacksmith and carpenter shop, betterments to the assay office, etc."

"The difficult grade and bad road up Carr Fork, at times being so very bad as to stop teams, made it expedient for the company to put in a Bleichert wire rope tram to connect the mine with a loading ore bin at the Rio Grande Western depot. This system of tram consists of a large supporting rope stretched on forty-three towers, from ten to sixty-five feet in height, this rope being stationary, while a smaller one is kept in motion to propel the buckets, suspended on small carriers supported on the large rope. This tram is 12,700 feet long, and has a descent from tunnel No. 6 to the unloading bin of about 1200 feet. Its capacity for carrying ore is guaranteed at twenty-five tons per hour. There are 123 buckets, each capable of carrying 800 pounds of ore. While in sending down ore this tram would generate from 10 to 12 horsepower, which would be enough to take up all supplies for the mine. Manager Thomas Weir deemed it best to put in a twelve-horse steam engine to run the small or propelling wire, and thus maintain a regular speed, sure and safe at all times. This tram is about ready for use. At the lower end the buckets empty their ore into a 600-ton bin, from which it is drawn into railroad cars for shipment. This improvement alone cost $35,000, while the other betterments already named cost a few thousand. Just here it is well to say that the mill may at some future time be converted into a concentrator to handle the low grade copper ores, which will require such process to prepare it for the smelter, which the company is building on Jordan river south of this city. Such a change will make the mill a concentrator of 200 tons crude ore capacity per day. The mine has a remarkable record of having paid a profit on the ore extracted and sold in the development work. President Newhouse and Manager Weir propose pushing ahead with as much if not more energy in the future as they have shown so far in this enterprise." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 1, 1899)

January 23, 1899
"The management of the Highland Boy at Bingham will this week put its tramway that is rapidly approaching completion through its first course of sprouts, and early next month begin the transportation of its ores from the properties to the bins at the Newhouse smelter. At the trial of the tram Joe Dedrich, who superintended its construction, will preside and, everything fulfilling the requirements of the contract, Manager Weir will formally receive it from him. The plant is one of the largest that has ever been undertaken and, according to experienced parties who have looked it over, has no superior, perhaps, in any country. In its construction nothing has been spared and that it will discharge all that is expected of it without a hitch. Mr. Dedrich as well as the owners feels confident. With over 200 persons employed on the smelter and rushing it forward to earliest possible completion, the delivery of ore may commence next month. These bins are capable of holding many thousands of tons and the filling of them will itself be no small undertaking. The Highland Boy alone will have provided it with about 10,000 tons on which to start up its furnaces and with the progress now being made that event is expected to arrive in the early part of June." "It is learned that local parties will, at the right time, propose a proper christening of the new plant in which a large number of representative citizens will be invited to take part, and when a  proper expression of appreciation will be recorded by those in attendance." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 23, 1899)

January 4, 1899
"The annual meeting of the Utah Consolidated Gold Mines company, owner of the great Highland Boy group at Bingham, was held at Winchester House, London, on January 4th, at which time the annual reports of the officers were submitted and the old board, of which Mr. Samuel Newhouse is the managing director, re-elected." (Salt Lake Tribune, February 1, 1899)

(This is the first mention in available online newspapers of the Utah Consolidated company in relation to the Highland Boy mine. All previous mention is for a Utah Consolidated Mining company located in the Tintic District, in association with the Sioux Consolidated Mining company, also in the Tintic District. This Utah Consolidated company of Tintic held its annual meeting at Provo on January 21, 1899)

"The property was originally opened as a gold mine, but subsequently extensive copper deposits were found. The Utah Consolidated Gold Mines Company was organized in 1896 to take over the property of the Highland Boy Gold Mining Company." (Copper Manual, 1906)

February 8, 1899
The Utah Consolidated Gold Mines Company Ltd. was listed on the London stock exchange, and on the Boston stock exchange for the first time on January 5, 1899. (Copper Manual, Volume 2, 1899; Salt Lake Tribune, February 9, 1899)

February 21, 1899
The Standard Oil interests had acquired large blocks of stock of the Utah Consolidated Gold Mines Ltd of London. They had appointed Albert C. Burrage, Charles D. Burrage, Jesse Lewisohm, and Urban H. Broughton as directors to look after their interests. (The Times [London], February 21, 1899)

Samuel Newhouse was the managing director and president of Utah Consolidated Mining Company, the U. S. subsidiary of Utah Consolidated Gold Mines Ltd of London. (Salt Lake Tribune, April 21, 1899)

March 6, 1899
"Bingham is about twenty-five miles southwest of Salt Lake City. There is a wagon road from the station to the mine, and there is also in course of construction a wire-rope tramway, built on the Bleichert system, from the railway station to the mine, a distance of 12,700 feet. The carrying capacity of this tramway, as now being constructed, is twenty-five tons per hour, and it will be completed within the next thirty days." (Salt Lake Tribune, March 6, 1899)

April 24, 1899
Samuel Newhouse was president of Utah Consolidated, and Thomas Weir was general manager. The Standard Oil interests had paid $6 million for controlling interest of the company, and had appointed Albert C. Burrage as new president. Burrage was also one of the largest stockholders and a member of the so-called Standard Oil syndicate. (Salt Lake Herald, April 24, 1899)

(Read more about the control of Utah Consolidated by Standard Oil)

May 1899
Utah Consolidated completed its copper smelter in Murray during May 1899. Construction had begun in August 1898. Utah Consolidated was controlled by Rockefeller interests. (Salt Lake Mining Review, May 30, 1899)

January 1900
Newspaper reports show that 150 men were at working in the Highland Boy mine, and on the aerial tramway. (Salt Lake Herald, January 15, 1900, "Bingham Mining Notes, from the Bingham Bulletin")

Fall 1900
During October 1900 the Utah Consolidated company shut down operations while the company awaited completion of improvements to its smelter out in Salt Lake Valley. During the shut down, and to increase overall capacity, the ore bins at the lower terminal of the aerial tramway were expanded to accept more tonnage. The aerial tramway continued in operation, shipping 3000 tons to the smelter in anticipation of the changes in the tramway. The upper terminal of the aerial tramway was moved from Tunnel No. 6 to the mouth of the Tunnel No. 7 during January 1901. (Salt Lake Herald, October 21, 1900; January 28, 1901)

January 10, 1901
"On Saturday the great three-mile aerial tramway will be thrown out off gear, and ore hauling will cease, pending the changing of the mine terminal from No. 6 to No. 7 tunnel, which will probably consume the better part of next week. That piece of work concluded, mine, tramway and smelter will all be in trim to commence earning healthy dividends for the lucky shareholders." (Salt Lake Herald, January 10, 1901, "At the Highland Boy" "Saturday" was January 13, 1901)

August 1901
The Highland Boy aerial tramway was equipped with 115 buckets, moving 275 tons of ore per day. (Salt Lake Mining Review, August 15, 1901, "Prosperity at Bingham")

1903
Utah Consolidated Mining Company was shipping large quantities of ore in 1903, from their Highland Boy mine in Carr Fork. Utah Consolidated Mining Company was a 1903 reorganization of a British company of the same name. The British company had been organized in October 1896 to develop the Highland Boy mine in Carr Fork as a gold and silver property. The Highland Boy mine had been first located in 1873. However, no work was done on the claim, other than assessment work, until 1896 when the British Utah Consolidated company began its development of the property. (USGS Professional Paper 38, p. 265)

1903
Utah Consolidated Mining Company was organized in 1903 in New Jersey as a reorganization of the Utah Consolidated Gold Mines. Ltd., a British company that had been organized in October 1896 as a reorganization of the Sevier Gold Mines, Ltd. Utah Consolidated Mining Company owned 2496 shares of the 2500 shares of the Highland Boy Gold Mining Company. (The Copper Handbook, Volume 11, 1912-1913, page 928)

March 4, 1905
"Few people who observe the buckets of ore gliding down Bingham canyon over the cable of the Highland Boy tramway realize the full significance of the little carriers and their mission, says Charles T. Harte in the Bingham Bulletin. Each one of these buckets carries 715 pounds of ore. Every time a bucket passes down, 30 pounds are added to the world's stock of copper. Every 20 seconds for 21 hours of the 24, a bucket of ore reaches its destination at the depot. Some of the buckets contain as much as $5 worth of copper, gold and silver, others less." "Every day 800 tons of ore are started on their journey to the smelter and every day a profit of $3,200 is derived from this unceasing flow of ore, according to intelligent estimates on present operations." There is sufficient ore now blocked out and ready for extraction to maintain this enormous output for four years." "About 320 men are now employed on mine and tramway and the extraction is about 825 tons." "Much of this ore runs as high as 12 per cent copper." (Deseret News, March 4, 1905, "The Utah Consolidated")

February 9, 1907
Utah Consolidated had surveyors in the field locating a survey line from the mine to the proposed smelter site in Pine canyon, on the Tooele side. The connection was to be made by either an aerial tramway, or by a deep tunnel, with the tunnel being encouraged. "The present annual cost of transporting ore from the Highland Boy mines to the smelter would, it is said, more than pay for one mile of the proposed tunnel." It was known that there were several veins and fissures bearing good copper values along the line of the proposed tunnel. "The lime beds so richly mineralized on the Bingham side are also known to extend beyond the crest of the mountains, and have not yet been explored, although the Bingham Metal Mining company's tunnel is being run for that purpose." (Inter-Mountain Republican, February 9, 1907)

May 24, 1907
"Bingham, May 13 - The cable of the Highland Boy bucket tramway broke near Markham gulch at 4 o'clock this afternoon. When the cable loosened dozens of the heavy ore buckets fell through the thickly settled part of town. One, loaded with coal, crashed through the roof of canyon hall, several were precipitated into the creek bed and others were scattered in various places along the canyon. Fortunately no one was hurt. One tower near the railroad station was torn from its foundation and fell across the street near the railroad station. Another tower near Canyon hall was so badly loosened that it will have to be reset. Telephone wires were cut and the wires of the Telluride Power Company were damaged to such an extent that part of the town was left in darkness. The company has a large force of men employed in repair of the damage. The buckets going to the mine were heavily loaded with coal, causing the cable to break." (Inter-Mountain Republican, May 24, 1907)

December 1907
To solve its smelting problem, stemming from the smoke litigation suit decision in November 1906, Utah Consolidated purchased land in Tooele County "just over the mountain from the mine in what is known as Pine Canyon, and not far from the town of Tooele." The smelter would use plans already drawn up by the Amalgamated Copper Company at Anaconda in Montana. A 10-mile railroad would be built to connect the smelter with the three railroads serving Garfield: Western Pacific; Rio Grande Western; and San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake. (Deseret News, December 14, 1907)

January 1, 1908
Utah Consolidated closed its smelter in Murray. All work at the mine was to be reduced to development work only, pending the opening of a new smelter in Pine Canyon, four miles above the town of Tooele. A tramway over the Oquirrh range was planned, as the best method to reduce the railroad transportation costs of 40 cents per ton being charged by Rio Grande Western to transport ore from Bingham Canyon to the smelters. Judge Marshall's decree was to take effect on January 6, 1908, shutting down all smelters in Salt Lake Valley due to sulfur and arsenic emissions causing damage to farmers' crops. The mining company stated that it could not ship its ore to the newly completed Garfield smelter due to that smelter not having sufficient furnace capacity. The Utah Consolidated smelter had opened in 1899 and was the first copper smelter in the Salt Lake City area. Bingham Consolidated had been the second copper smelter, and the United States smelter was the third. (Deseret News, December 24, 1907)

February 3, 1908
"Utah Consolidated and American Smelting have entered into a contract calling for the treatment of 300,000 tons of ore per year. The mine has 1,000,000 tons of ore in reserve. Development of the lower levels is to be pushed." (New York Times, February 3, 1908)

October 1, 1908
"J. B. Risque, general manager of Utah Consolidated Mining company, went to Tooele yesterday to pay to the farmers of that region the first payment of 10 per cent of the price agreed upon for the lands taken under option by his company in view of its building a new smelter in Pine canyon, five miles from Tooele City. The options would have expired today, it is understood." Because this purchase option for the property in Pine canyon was "taken up," Utah Consolidated abruptly ended on Tuesday September 30th, its negotiations with American Smelting for a five-year extension of the contract signed earlier in the year. The property in Pine canyon consisted of 1,600 acres, along with a smoke easement of 30,000 acres." "The company proposes building a smelter of 1,500 tons a day capacity, at a cost of about $3,000,000. The plant will be only about three miles from the company's Highland Boy mine, with which it will be connected by an aerial tramway, which will transport the ore to the smelter at a fractional part of what the company formerly paid to the Rio Grande railroad to haul ore to the Highland Boy smelter." "The site of the new smelter, being several miles up the canyon from Tooele valley, it is believed that the damage to farms will be slight, if there is any damage. It is the intention to build an electric railway from the smelter to the town of Tooele, where employees will live, so that the population of that town will be largely increased. Railroad spurs will be built to the smelter from both the Gould and Harriman lines." (Inter-Mountain Republican, October 1, 1908)

December 9, 1908
At the International smelter..."The first work started for the plant was begun on Dec. 9, 1908." (Deseret News, August 27, 1910, "International Plant Makes First Copper")

1909
The Utah Consolidated smelter at Murray was demolished, "razed," in 1909. (The Copper Handbook, Volume 11, 1912-1913, page 928)

December 18, 1909
"Enormous ore bodies have been blocked out by the Utah Consolidated Mining company during the year. This has long been known as the Highland Boy and probably has more underground than any mine in Bingham. In all it has over 15 miles of underground work." "The Utah Consolidated will shortly have finished a new $100,000 tramway system connecting its mine with the International Smelter in Pine canyon. This goes up over the mountain near Clipper Peak at the head of Carr Fork." (Deseret News, December 18, 1909)

April 21, 1910
Utah Consolidated was only making small shipments of ore to the Garfield smelter, with the ore being the highest grade ore coming from development work, pending the opening of the new smelter in Pine Canyon near Tooele. (Deseret News, April 21, 1910)

July 24, 1910
"The first furnace was started July 24, 1910. The first slag was dumped on Aug. 15." (Deseret News, August 27, 1910, "International Plant Makes First Copper")

August 27, 1910
On August 27, 1910, at 1:30 p.m. ("this afternoon") the first molten copper came out of the new International smelter at Pine canyon near Tooele. The molds used for blister copper was poured into molds that had formerly been used at the Highland Boy smelter in Salt Lake valley. "The building of the plant required 9,900 tons of steel, 3,000 of which came from the old Highland Boy plant." "By Oct. 1, the entire plant will be in operation handling all the ore that is sent it. By that time both the South Utah Mines and Smelters and the Utah Consolidated will be consigning a large tonnage." "The first work started on Dec. 9, 1908." "The first furnace was started on July 24, 1910. The first slag was dumped on Aug. 15." "The tramway from the Utah Consolidated mine over the mountain in Bingham to the plant is now working smoothly although it has not entirely worn off the edges. During the week the tram made a record of putting 850 tons of ore in the smelter bins in eight hours and 17 minutes. It is making an average of 100 tons an hour and there is no doubt but what with three shifts 2,000 tons every 24 hours could be handled." (Deseret News, August 27, 1910, "International Plant Makes First Copper"; article includes a detailed description of the smelting process)

September 29, 1910
"Tooele, Sept. 28 - The tramway between the International smelter at this place and the Consolidated Mining company's Highland Boy mine at Bingham is now operating satisfactorily. It is on an air line from the mine to the smelter, four miles in length, with a net difference in elevation of 1,300 feet." "The tramway is a Bleichert patent system, designed and built by the Trenton Iron company. It consists of 79 towers, varying in height from 10 to 90 feet, according to the contour of the ground. It has nine intermediate stations besides the two terminals." "The ore is carried in buckets having a capacity of eight cubic feet, which, with this weight ore, makes approximate load of 1,150 pounds per bucket. There are 212 of these carriers on the line, moving at a speed of 600 feet per minute, which delivers the ore at the smelter at the rate of 100 tons per hour." "The line is operated in three sections in order to equalize the tension in moving cable or traction rope, due to the precipitous ground over which the line travels. The first two sections are motor driven, 29 horsepower being required. These two sections are coupled by means of two grip sheaves, keyed to the shaft at control station No. 1. Section No. 3 operates by gravity, generating 75 horsepower, which pumps back the current into the power line, and thus supplies the 20 horsepower necessary to control station No. 1, and gives a surplus of 55 horsepower, which returns to the main power line." "Control No. 1, located at the top of the mountain, reaches an elevation of 8,200 feet above sea level and 1,500 feet above the mine." "Construction of the tramway has been going on for about eleven months. The heavy snows of last winter delayed the work from time to time and added very materially to the cost of the operation. At one time it was necessary to dig a tunnel about one hundred and twenty-five feet long, through a large snow drift at the head of Sap gulch, in order to get construction material to the summit. To give one a better idea of the size of this undertaking it might be well to state that over fifteen carloads of machinery were used in the construction." "But this is all worth while, when one considers that the ore is now being transported for about 10 cents a ton, while the railroad rates are nearly fifty cents a ton." (Salt Lake Herald, September 29, 1910)

October 15, 1910
"This aerial tramway is 21,100 feet in length, with a fall between terminal stations of 1,325 feet. It was designed for a capacity of 100 tons per hour." "When running at full capacity it is estimated that about seventy-four horsepower will be generated, with no back freight on the line. The power developed, however, may vary considerably, according to the conditions under which the line may happen to be operated. At times, when carrying back freight, for instance, power may be required, and electric motors have been provided which operate in such a way that they serve as controllers, or motors, as conditions may apply." "The line is divided into three sections. Section 1, which is 4600 feet in length, extends from the loading terminal to the summit of the mountain, which has an elevation of 1,455 feet above the loading station. Section 2, which is 3,760 feet long, extends from the mountain summit to an intermediate station 1,500 feet below. Section 3, covering the balance of the distance, 12,740 feet, has a fall of 1,219 feet." "The track cables are of the Bleichert patent lock-coil construction, one and one half inch in diameter on the loaded side, and one inch in diameter on the empty side. The traction rope is one and one-sixteenth inch in diameter, of the Seale construction. The cables and traction rope are carried on eighty-two supports..." "...there are six tension stations, where the cables are parted and either anchored, or weighted, as the case may be; one of these being a double tension station (cables of both sections are weighted), one is a double anchor station (cables in both directions anchored), and there are four combined anchor and tension stations. From tension station No. 2 to the summit the line makes a clear span of about 1,100 feet." "There are 222 carriers in all (210 on a line and twelve at the stations), with 8-cubic foot steel buckets and patent automatic under-hung grips, and these carriers are moved at the speed of 600 feet per minute." (Salt Lake Mining Review, October 15, 1910)

October 22, 1910
"The tramway is running every other day to its full capacity. Three reverbatories and three converters are running turning out blister copper." "The smelter is receiving about 6 cars of South Utah concentrates per week and a heavy tonnage from the Iron Blossom is coming in regularly." "There are about 4000 tons of cleanings from the old Highland Boy to treat which along with other ore coming from South Utah concentrates and Iron Blossom and small shipments from outside points will give the smelter a heavy tonnage for some time to come." (Tooele Transcript, October 22, 1910, "Smelter Notes")

1912
The Bingham-New Haven, organized on October 12, 1902, working the Zelnora claim in upper Carr Fork, was reported as having an aerial tramway connecting its mine at the top of Carr Fork, with loading bins on the Copper Belt railroad. In 1912, an agreement was made with Utah Consolidated to allow underground access to Utah Consolidated tunnels, which in turn allowed access to the Utah Consolidated aerial tramway to the International smelter near Tooele. The underground connection was completed in December 1912, and a new smelting contract was signed with the International company in 1913. The action reduced transportation costs by 20 cents per ton. (The Copper Handbook, Volume 11, 1914, page 119)

1913
Utah Consolidated shipped 181,077 tons of 1.98 percent copper ore during 1913 from the Highland Boy mine to the International smelter, via their aerial tramway. (Wegg, p. 46)

1914
Utah Consolidated was reported in 1914 as owning 5000 shares (of 100,000 shares, or 5 percent) of International Smelting and Refining Company, the smelter that processed all of Utah Consolidated's ore. The cost of those shares were reported as having been $500,000, with dividends returning $40,000 per year. (The Copper Handbook, Volume 11, 1912-1913, page 928)

(At the same time, Utah Consolidated was owned 35 percent by the Standard Oil group, which also owned about 55 percent of International Smelting. About 40 percent of International was owned by Amalgamated Copper, which in turn, owned Anaconda Copper.) (All one big happy family, except for the few public shareholders who had fantasies of being part of the same group, and who picked up the few pennies that the big boys dropped as they scooped up the dollars.)

(Read more about the International smelter at Tooele)

1914
The aerial tramway between Utah Consolidated's Highland Boy mine and the Rio Grande Western station at Bingham was reported in 1914 as being 12,700 feet in length. (The Copper Handbook, Volume 11, 1912-1913, page 928)

During 1915, a total of 85,000 tons were shipped over the Utah Consolidated's aerial tramway between Bingham and the International smelter. (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 15, 1916, "The Camp Of Bingham In 1915")

1915
Utah Consolidated purchased the adjacent (to the north) Bingham Copper Boy property. (Engineering & Mining Journal, May 27, 1916, p. 945)

Apex Law Suit (1918-1922)

July 1918
Utah Consolidated Mining Company filed a suit against Utah Apex Mining Company for encroaching its ore body. Utah Apex filed a counter-suit, alleging that the ore body in question, known as the Yampa limestone, was altered mineralized to the point that the "vein" was not continuous and extra lateral rights did not apply.

The district court and the appeals court found in favor of Utah Apex. The result was an agreement in 1922 that Utah Consolidated would pay Utah Apex for the value of the ore already extracted.

(Read more about the Utah Consolidated vs. Utah Apex suit.)

Utah Apex and Utah Consolidated both shut down those areas of their mines that were subject to the suits and counter-suits. The shut downs continued until the U. S. Supreme Court found in favor of Utah Apex in March 1922.

August 2, 1918
Utah Consolidated bought the old Yampa properties, which were entirely surrounded by Utah Consolidated. (Salt Lake Mining Review, September 30, 1918, page 27, "Utah Cons. Dividend"; December 30, 1918, page 22, "Utah Mining Dividends")

January 30, 1919
As part of a trespass and encroachment apex rights settlement with Utah Consolidated, Utah Metal and Tunnel Co. received unlimited rights to "use Utah Consolidated's workings in carrying on its mining operations." The settlement also included the exchange of small portions of each company's surface boundary lines. Mining crews of the two companies came together in the same ore body in November 1917. (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 30, 1919; February 15, 1919)

(This was after a trespass and encroachment law suite was settled in late 1918. The predecessor company, Bingham-New Haven had been using the interconnected underground workings since 1912 to ship its ore to the Utah Consolidated's aerial tram to the International smelter above Tooele.)

(Utah Metal and Tunnel began using the Utah Consolidated aerial tramway to Tooele in January 1919. The company had never used its drain tunnel to Middle Canyon to transport its ores. The tunnel was completed in June 1913, and remained in use as a drain tunnel.)

February 1921
"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." "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." (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 3, 1921
Utah Apex and Utah Consolidated stopped shipping ore. Of 1,200 miners employed by both companies, only 75 remained on the payroll. (Des Moines Register, April 4, 1921; Los Angeles Times, April 4, 1921, with identical wording)

May 19, 1921
"MINING COMPANY SHOWS BIG LOSS -- SALT LAKE, May 19 -- A net loss of $196,140.08 resulted through the operations of the Utah Consolidated Mining company at Bingham during 1920, according to the company's annual report filed yesterday. Income from sales of metal was,$2,023,5679.28. Total output of the mine was 57,747 tons of copper ore and 44,427 tons of lead ore, which yielded 3,187,493 pounds of copper, 9,999,350 pounds of lead, 273,730 ounces of silver and 4,697 ounces of gold. Exploration and development work totaling 10,431 feet was done, according to the report of R. H. Channing; Jr., president." (Ogden Standard Examiner, May 19, 1921)

November 30, 1921
"The Highland Boy mine, owned by the Utah Consolidated Mining Company, is situated in Bingham, Utah, at the head of Carr Fork Canyon. The mine has been in operation since 1896 and has produced notable amounts of copper and lead. The normal output is 700 to 1000 tons per day of copper ore which is heavy sulphide, direct smelting ore; an aerial tramway, four miles in length, affords transportation to the International smelter at Tooele, Utah." (Salt Lake Mining Review, November 30, 1921; the remainder of the article covers, in great detail, the stoping methods used inside the mine itself)

March 1922
The Utah Consolidated mine at Bingham was closed in March 1922 due to low metal prices. (Mining & Scientific Press, January 21, 1922, page 96)

(Utah Copper shut down its Bingham Canyon mine in April 1921, and restarted operations in April 1922.)

March 6, 1922
The U. S. Supreme Court refused to hear the four Utah Consolidated vs. Utah Apex extra lateral (apex) rights cases. (258 U.S. 619; 42 S. Ct. 272; 66 L. Ed. 794)

After The Apex Law Suit

July 1922
"The new mill of the Utah Consolidated, situated at Tooele a short distance from the International smelter, and which started operation the beginning of June is giving excellent results, and will gradually be brought up to its capacity of 1,000 tons daily. The mill is a Callow pneumatic-flotation plant, and was designed and built by the General Engineering Co., of Salt Lake City. Ore is sent from the mine at Bingham to the mill by aerial tramway over a distance of four miles and this is stored in a storage bin of 1,200 ton capacity." (Engineering and Mining Journal-Press, Volume 114, Number 2, July 8, 1922, page 77)

October 1922
"The Utah Consolidated is employing a large force in its mine and mill, and is shipping 600 tons of ore daily over its tramway to Tooele. Much of this ore is being milled at the new milling plant, and the rest goes directly to the smelter." (Engineering and Mining Journal-Press, Volume 114, Number 15, October 7, 1922, page 651)

November 1922
Utah Consolidated was reported as shipping 800 tons daily to the new mill at Tooele, which had gone into operation in June 1922. (Salt Lake Mining Review, November 15, 1922)

February 18, 1924
International Smelting foreclosed on Utah Consolidated Mining Co. for the $1.3 million mortgage it held, from a note that was issued on January 27, 1922 (when the district court initially decided on the damages). The foreclosure was filed in the U. S. District court. The mortgage was written to include all parcels and property as collateral, including the concentrating mill adjacent to the International smelter. All property to be sold as a single unit, to satisfy the mortgage in the amount of $1.3 million. (Ogden Standard Examiner, February 19, 1924; Salt Lake Mining Review, February 29, 1924)

The loan was made to Utah Consolidated to pay the award to Utah Apex from the March 1923 apex rights decision.

"Litigation with Utah Apex which turned out unfavorably for Utah Consolidated was undoubtedly expensive and it is not surprising that the company should be found short of funds, especially in view of the poor copper market of recent years which has resulted in larger and stronger companies showing large deficits in net the past two years." "The company has paid the judgment obtained by the Utah Apex Co. out of $1,300,000 borrowed from the International Smelting Co. and current assets. The money loaned by the Anaconda interests was on a mortgage on the properties. There is also due the Utah Metals Selling Co., another Anaconda subsidiary." "The Anaconda people are pressing Utah Consolidated for their money but before foreclosing on the properties, it has been suggested that the stockholders of Utah Consolidated be given the opportunity to provide the total $1,654,819 needed to satisfy the company's creditors." (Salt Lake Mining Review, February 29, 1924, page 17)

March 6, 1924
International Smelting was granted foreclosure proceedings by Judge L. B. Wight of the Third District Court. Sale to be held on March 21, 1924. (Ogden Standard Examiner, March 6, 1924)

March 31, 1924
The property and assets of Utah Consolidated Mining Company were sold at a Sheriff's sale on the steps of the Salt Lake city and county building. The successful bid was for $1 million, and came from International Smelting Company, a subsidiary of Anaconda Copper Company. (Salt Lake Telegram, March 31, 1924)

The property and assets of Utah Consolidated Mining Co. included 49 patented mining claims in Tooele County and 10 patented mining claims in Salt Lake County, together with a concentrating mill adjacent to the International smelter on the Tooele side, along with the aerial tramway between the mill and the mine in Bingham canyon. The property also included 76 acres at the site of the former smelter in Murray. The sheriff's sales to place on the same day (March 31, 1924) in both Tooele at 10 a.m., for the Tooele County assets, and in Salt Lake City at 2 p.m. for the Salt Lake County assets. (Tooele Transcript, March 28, 1924)

Utah Delaware Mining Co.

March 1924
Utah Consolidated Mining Company was reorganized as the Utah Delaware Mining Company, a full subsidiary of International Smelting Company, the Utah operating company of Anaconda Company.

March 20, 1924
Utah-Delaware Mining Company was incorporated in the State of Delaware. (State of Delaware, Delaware Division of Corporations, File 166222)

October 30, 1925
"More than 400 men are now employed at the Utah-Delaware mine, formerly known as the Highland Boy. Copper as well as lead ore is being shipped. For a time the shipment of copper ore was discontinued, but was resumed about September 1. All ore from this property is shipped by tramway to the smelter near Tooele." (Salt Lake Mining Review, October 30, 1925)

April 25, 1926
Utah Metal and Tunnel Co. was shipping high grade silver-lead ore to the International smelter at Tooele, by way of the aerial tramway. The ore was being mined by sixty men, working for leasers. (Bingham Bulletin, April 25, 1926)

June 25, 1926
"Lead, lead-zinc and copper ores from the mines of the Utah Delaware Mining company and the Utah Metal and Tunnel company in the Bingham district are transported to the Tooele plant over a tramway which passes over the Oquirrh mountains at an altitude of 1450 feet above the loading station at the Highland Boy mine and descends 1800 feet to the terminal bins at the smelter. Intermediate bins also allow diversion of any ore to the concentrator. The total length of the tramway is four miles." "The ore is carried in buckets of 1200 pounds capacity, spaced 200 feet apart, traveling at a rate of about 600 feet per minute." "Upon arrival at the smelter the ore is dumped from buckets into the concentrator terminal bins of 2000 tons capacity, or into the smelter terminal bins. From these latter bins the ore is drawn into special 50-ton motor dump cars, weighed, and delivered to smelter receiving bins." (Garfield County News, June 25, 1926)

September 8, 1932, 3 p.m.
A fire destroyed 100 homes along a one-third mile stretch of Carr Fork, between the mines of the Utah Delaware and Bingham Metals companies. No one was injured, except for minor burns and abrasions. Included among the structures destroyed was the tramway terminal at the Utah Delaware mine, along with snowsheds, 400 tons of ore and 4000 feet of tramway cable, resulting in $30,000 in damages to the Utah Delaware company. (Salt Lake Telegram, September 9, 1932; the article includes a detailed description of other properties destroyed by the fire.)

March 12, 1937
National Tunnel and Mines Company was a merger of Utah Apex and Utah Delaware mining companies.

"UTAH MINING FIRMS AGREE UPON MERGER -- Utah-Apex, Utah-Delaware Plan To Resume Operations -- PORTLAND, Me., March 12. (AP) — Stockholders of the Utah-Apex Mining company voted here today to merge with the Utah-Delaware Mining company to form the National Tunnel and Mines company for operation of copper, lead and zinc mines in Utah and California." "Little more than an hour was required to effect the consolidation and elect officers under a previous joint agreement by respective boards of directors." "By the consolidation agreement, Utah Apex will be the surviving corporation, continuing under the name of the National Tunnel & Mines company. The new corporation will have authorized stock of 1,050,000 shares a without par value, 528,200 shares will be issued to the stockholders of Utah Apex in a share-for-share conversion plan. 328,000 will be issued to the holder of outstanding shares of Utah-Delaware, Inc., International Smelting and Refining company in conversion of a like number of fully paid and non-assessable share of Utah-Delaware now outstanding. The remaining 200,000 shares of the new corporation will be issued in conversion of a like number of partly-paid shares of Utah-Delaware Mining company, for which the Anaconda Copper Mining company has subscribed at the rate of $5 per share." "SHUT DOWN IN 1932 -- Properties of the two companies were shut down in 1932 because of the low price in metals." "The agreement proposed construction of a 22,000-foot drainage it and transportation tunnel through the joint properties." (Ogden Standard Examiner, March 12, 1937)

Each of the predecessor companies remained until all stock was purchased, or exchanged. Although Anaconda held as much as 98 percent control of the companies, there were thousands of individual stockholders, and the account books remained open several years after the merger.

Utah Consolidated became part of Utah Delaware Mining Company, which is known to have been a subsidiary of Anaconda Copper, as was the International smelter. In 1931, Utah Metal and Tunnel Company settled with Anaconda's Utah Delaware company in a dispute of encroaching mine claims, by giving Utah Delaware 250,000 shares of the Utah Metal company. In March 1934, the owners of the Utah Metal company were looking for financing to repurchase those shares. (Deseret News, March 20, 1934) (In the January 15, 1930 issue of "The Mining Journal," both companies were shown as being operated by International Smelting Company.)

After Utah Delaware

December 6, 1940
National Tunnel and Mines was shown as being a subsidiary of Anaconda. (Salt Lake Tribune, December 6, 1940)

In August 1941, the Elton Tunnel opened as a way to transport the ore from the mines in Carr Fork, underground through the 4.5 mile tunnel, to a spur on the Tooele Valley Railway for shipment to the International smelter.

(Read more about National Tunnel and Mines, and the Elton Tunnel)

Utah Consolidated Aerial Tramway

June 1909
The route for the aerial tramway has been surveyed between the Highland Boy mine of Utah Consolidated, and the new smelter in Pine Canyon near Tooele. The terminal will be on the property of the smelter. (Salt Lake Herald, June 20, 1909)

May 13, 1910
The new aerial tramway received its first trial run "today." There are 78 steel towers on concrete foundations. The daily capacity was put at 1500 tons per day. The ore bins at the smelter were to be filled beginning any day, with Utah Consolidated on contract to furnish 1200 tons per day. "The tramway will affect the company a large saving over freight tariffs to the Garfield smelter." (Salt Lake Herald, May 13, 1910)

July 14, 1910
First ore was received at the International smelter, by way of the aerial tramway from Highland Boy. The tramway was 20,000 feet long and was constructed to transport ores from the Utah Delaware Mining Co. in Highland Boy in Bingham Canyon. (Mining, Smelting and Railroading in Tooele County, page 72)

July 1, 1926
"Lead, lead-zinc and copper ore from the mines of the Utah Delaware Mining Company and the Utah Metal and Tunnel Company in the Bingham District are transported to the Tooele plant over an aerial tramway which passes over the Oquirrh mountains at am altitude of 1450 feet above the loading station at the Highland Boy mine and descends 1800 feet to the terminal bins at the smelter. Intermediate bins also allow diversion of any ore to the concentrator. The total length of the tramway is four miles." "The ore is carried in buckets of 1200 pounds capacity, spaced 200 feet apart, traveling at a rate of about 600 feet per minute." "Upon arrival at the smelter the ore is dumped from the buckets into the concentrator terminal bins of 2000 tons capacity, or into the smelter terminal bins. From these latter bins the ore is drawn into special 50-ton motor dump cars, weighed, and delivered to the smelter receiving bins." (Richfield Reaper, July 1, 1926)

April 1937
Work began on the construction of what would later be named the Elton Tunnel, to replace the aerial tramway. The tunnel was a project of the National Tunnel and Mines Company, a subsidiary of International Smelting Company, which also controlled the Utah Delaware Mining Company and the Utah Apex Mining Company.

August 21, 1941
The Elton Tunnel was formally opened during a ceremony on August 21, 1941. The tunnel connected the underground mines between the upper parts of Carr Fork, and the Tooele Valley to the west. The tunnel was named for J. O. Elton, General Manager of International Smelting and Refining Company, and its National Tunnel and Mines Company subsidiary which built the tunnel. The tunnel was 24,000 feet long (about 4.5 miles) and took four years to complete. (Deseret News, August 21, 1941)

More Information

Anaconda In Utah -- Information about Anaconda and how in later years, after 1941, it operated the mines shown above, until operations were shut down in 1981.

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