A Kennecott story : three mines, four men, and one hundred years, 1887-1997 / Charles Caldwell Hawley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hawley, Charles Caldwell, 1950-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kennecott Copper Corporation--History.

Kennecott Copper Corporation.

Copper mines and mining--United States--History.

Copper mines and mining.

History.

United States.

Physical Description:

xx, 369 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City : University of Utah Press, 2014.

Summary:

"While copper may seem less glamorous than gold, it may be far more important. Copper proved vital to the industrial revolution and indispensable for the electrification of America. Kennecott Copper Corporation, at one time the largest producer of copper in the world, thus played a key role in our economic and industrial development. This book recounts how Kennecott was formed from the merger of three mining operations (one in Alaska, one in Utah, and one in Chile), how it led the way in mining technologies, and how it was affected by the economy and politics of the day. As it traces the story of the three mines, the narrative follows four mining engineers<m>men whose technological ingenuity was responsible for much of Kennecott's success. Accounts of the Guggenheims<m>under whom the mines were united<m>and other investors are also woven into the text. Without their funding, the infrastructure necessary for the mining operations may not have been built. (The railroad required for the Alaska mine alone cost more than three times what the United States had paid to buy all of Alaska only forty-five years prior.) As a geologist with first-hand knowledge of mining, author Charles Hawley aptly describes the technological workings in a way that both geologists and the general reader will appreciate. Through engaging stories and pertinent details, he places Kennecott and the copper industry within their historical context and also allows the reader to consider the controversial aspects of mineral discovery and sustainability in a crowded world where resources are limited. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part 1 Copper and Electricity 13

1 The Dawn of the Age of Electricity 15

2 The Origin of a Copper Empire: Laying Kennecott Copper Corporation's Financial Foundation 20

3 The Apprentices 31

Part 2 Men and Their Mines from 1887 to 1922 47

4 Copper Discoveries in Kennecott Copper Corporation's Homeland: Alaska 49

5 Discoveries at Bingham, Utah 61

6 The Alaska Syndicate 70

7 Stephen Birch: Personable Young Man or Cold-Eyed SOB? 77

8 An Alaska Political Interlude 85

9 Daniel Cowan Jackling: Mining's Henry Ford 92

10 William Burford Braden: El Rey del Cobre en Chile 102

Part 3 Development of Mine Infrastructure and Technology to World War II 113

11 The Human Component 115

12 The Construction Era and Mine Railroads 132

13 New Mines: To Shrink, Cave, or Pit 162

14 Advanced Process Technology Comes to Alaska and the Porphyry Mines 174

15 Copper Mining: A Quarter-Century Appraisal, 1897-1922 187

16 E. Tappan Stannard 199

Part 4 Capital Payback: Traditional and Otherwise 207

17 The Syndicate Is Repaid and Kennecott Copper Corporation Is Formed 209

18 The Beatson Mine: Extra Income 216

19 Chemistry Contributes: Chalcocite and Its Issues 225

Part 5 Mining From 1923 to the Korean War 235

20 Copper: Too Little or Too Much? 237

21 Beginning of the End in Alaska and a Bright Spot in Chile 252

22 Kennecott Goes to War 264

Part 6 Korean War to 1997 279

23 Steel Man Cox: A Change in Direction 281

24 Frank Milliken: Dissendon at Home, Expropriation in Chile 288

25 Barrow and Joklik: Mixed Signals, Real Results 296

26 Legacies 303.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 343-357) and index.

ISBN:

9781607813699

1607813696

9781607813705

160781370X

OCLC:

885231619