Bert Wynn

Herbert William Wynn (12 Sep 1901 – 22 February 1966) was an English trade unionist and politician.
Wynn left school at the age of thirteen to work at the Moorgreen Colliery. He was a prominent activist during the 1926 UK General Strike, but was subsequently victimised and had to leave Nottinghamshire. In 1927, he found work at the Coppice Colliery, where he was soon elected as checkweighman. He was also active in the Labour Party, and served on Derbyshire County Council for three years from 1927, while also chairing Heanor District Labour Party, and being vice-president of the Ilkeston Divisional Labour Party.
Wynn objected to Ramsay MacDonald's policies and, in protest, he resigned from Labour in 1929 and joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). He subsequently became chair of both the CPGB's Chesterfield area, and its East Midlands district.
During World War II, Wynn was prominent in the "Aid to Russia" campaign, and this raised his profile in the Derbyshire Miners' Association (DMA). He won election to its executive in 1942, beating Harold Neal. The following year, he won the post of treasurer of the DMA, then in 1947 he became general secretary of the reconstituted Derbyshire Area of the National Union of Mineworkers.
By the mid-1950s, Wynn had become disillusioned with the CPGB, and he resigned from the party in 1956, following the Soviet invasion of Hungary. He rejoined the Labour Party, and served as secretary of the Derbyshire miners until his death in 1966.


South Pass City, Wyoming

South Pass City is an unincorporated community in Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. It is located south of the intersection of highways 28 and 131. A former station on the Oregon Trail, it became a ghost town after later gold mines were closed. The entire community is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The closest town is Atlantic City. Some people have returned.
History.
South Pass City developed rapidly as a stage and telegraph station on the Oregon Trail during the 1850s. The site of the first settlement in the area was about south of present-day South Pass City, at what is today known as Burnt Ranch. Burnt Ranch was located where the Emigrant Trails crossed the Sweetwater River for the last time and ascended toward the South Pass.
In August 1861, 25-year-old Samuel Clemens (later Mark Twain) passed through South Pass City via stagecoach with his brother Orion, newly appointed as Secretary of Nevada Territory. Mark Twain later wrote about the experience in Roughing It, first published in 1872: ". . . we hove in sight of South Pass City. The hotelkeeper, the postmaster, the blacksmith, the mayor, the constable, the city marshal and the principal citizen and property holder, all came out and greeted us cheerily, and we gave him good day. He gave us a little Indian news, and a little Rocky Mountain news, and we gave him some Plains information in return. He then retired to his lonely grandeur and we climbed on up among the bristling peaks and the ragged clouds. South Pass City consisted of four log cabins, one of which was unfinished, and the gentleman with all those offices and titles was the chiefest of the ten citizens of the place. Think of hotelkeeper, postmaster, blacksmith, mayor, constable, city marshal and principal citizen all condensed into one person and crammed into one skin. [Fellow passenger] Bemis said he was 'a perfect Allen's revolver of dignities.' [The Allen was a small revolver notorious for sometimes firing all six chambers at once, according to Mark Twain.] And he said that if he were to die as postmaster, or as blacksmith, or as postmaster and blacksmith both, the people might stand it; but if he were to die all over, it would be a frightful loss to the community."
In 1866, gold was discovered in the vicinity, and a year later prospecting began on what would become the Carissa mine. Prospectors and adventurers quickly arrived and founded South Pass City. Within a year, the community's population had swelled to about 2,000. One of those who arrived in 1869 was Esther Hobart Morris. In 1870 she became the first woman in the United States to serve as a Justice of the Peace. At her urging in 1869, William H. Bright, a saloon owner and representative to the Wyoming Territorial Constitutional Convention, introduced a women's suffrage clause into the territorial constitution. When the constitution was approved by Territorial Governor John A.. Campbell in December 1869, Wyoming became the first jurisdiction in the United States to grant women the right to vote, a right which was not granted women nationally until 1920.
Within a decade, the city's population shrank dramatically, as the large gold deposits that had been hoped for failed to materialize. By the mid-1870s South Pass City's population was reduced to about 100 people but apparently grew to 180 by 1901. Over the next century the population of South Pass City declined even further. Many of the city's homes, mercantile stores, hotels and saloons fell into disrepair. A few businesses continued to operate in South Pass City, with the last of the pioneer families finally moving out in 1949.
South Pass City State Historic Site.
By the end of the 20th century, steps were being taken to renew the community, and to develop it as an historic site for destination tourism. The community in the early 21st century consists of two areas: South Pass City, in which a handful of residents live, and South Pass City State Historic Site, which preserves more than 30 historic structures dating from the city's heyday in the 1860s and 1870s. In 1970, the community was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The town has been extensively documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in drawings and in photographs, by HABS photographer Jack Boucher.
Highways.
The road west out of South Pass City intersects with west of town; Wyo. 28 intersects with thirty-five miles north of that intersection.


Assarel mine

The Assarel mine is a large copper mine located in western Bulgaria in Sofia Province. Assarel represents one of the largest copper reserves in Bulgaria as well as in the world, given its estimated reserves of 318 million tonnes of ore containing about 0.36% copper.


Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining is a gold, silver and other precious metals mining company based in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Founded in 1891, Therefor, the second-largest mining company that produces silver in the country is known as the Silver Valley (Idaho). In 1983 this area was designated as a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency, because of land, water and air contamination resulting from a century of mostly unregulated mining.
History and achievements.
Through buying and selling Hecla mining company to various people, it was incorporated in Washington on July 12, 1899, with Amasa Campbell, Patsy Clark, and John Finch as its official founders. James Toner was the first to file a claim on the Hecla Company on May 5, 1855. Edward Moffit was the first manager who saw that they paid their first dividend and began rebuilding the company. James R Smith was the first president of the company. In 1904, Hecla mining company moved its headquarters from Washington to Idaho. Through years of growth, Hecla mining company managed to be listed in New York Curb Exchange and began sending ore to Bunker Hill Mine and Smelting Complex in 1917. Additionally, in 1920, Hecla acquired Federal Mining & Smelting Co.'s claims near Hecla, including the Tiger-Poorman.
Hecla mining company experienced a fire tragedy in 1923, which put them out of business for almost six months. Burkes business district burnt down, which included Hecla’s surface plant. Through insurance, they bounced back to business and rebuilt Hecla’s plant with concrete and steel. Growth was inevitable in the Hecla mining company. In 1930, they gained control of the Polaris Mine and bought the surrounding property. This was a successful move because Polaris could pay dividends for Hecla for the rest of 1940. Hecla company took advantage of the low season, which the country experienced in the 1930s, and it developed new mines, which included Polaris in the 1940s, Hecla began a tailings mill at Osborn, where they processed over 4 million tons of canyons tailings for the next five years. Consequently, more ore had been discovered in 1946 after deepening the silver summit shaft to 3000feet. In 1955, Hecla became the largest shareholder. With Lester Randall as president, the company rose higher because he reconciled Hecla’s balance sheet and sold its interest in exchange for stock. In 1958, Hecla became the principal owner of lucky Friday silver-lead mines after purchasing its shares. Later on, in 1964, the management merged Lucky Friday and silver-lead mines into Hecla mining company, and this allowed Hecla to trade in the New York Curb Exchange. In 1967, Hecla decided to make the most significant move it has ever made in history and agreed to develop the lakeshore copper mine in Arizona, which was unsuccessful due to the low copper prices. Hecla mining company made a considerable loss as a result because the copper mine was closed eventually.
Over the years, the Hecla mining company continued to grow. In 1979, William Griffith was elected as president of the company. He sank a third shaft at lucky Friday, taking it to 6205 feet at 1983. Hecla also acquired the knob hill gold mine and even the whole of random Friday. In 1982, star morning stopped its operations and shut down. Hecla continued to merge and acquire new mines in the years that followed. Hecla has been soaring higher to date, wherein 2011 it landed an environmental suit under the Superfund statute. In 2017, it had reported the full year 2016 production totaling 17.2 million ounces of silver and 233,929 ounces of gold.
Tailing expansion.
Hecla has filed a tailing for Greens Creek and demonstrated a vision of expanding these expansion will be on the current site of Greens Creek with a augmented size of 12.7 acres of land. According to Hecla report will help mining of the site exceed behind 2031 when the current cite will reach full exploitation capacity. Hecla also proceed a plan for such an expansion as follows:
This plan suggest a better proclaims a new way of reduction in the tailing footprints.
Ore processing.
Ore is a natural solid material that contains valuable mineral and metals that can be mined and sold at a profit. The process of ore processing begins with crushing and grinding the ore in to fine powder through the help of a SAG mill. Water is added to form a slurry, where lime is added in to the slurry to leach the gold and silver in to a solution. To remove gold and silver from the solution, carbon is added and is later heated to 600 degrees Celsius to extract gold and silver from the tanks. Pure gold and silver is recovered through a process of rinsing the cathodes, retrieving a muddy sludge and drying it and later heating it to retrieve 99 percent pure gold and silver.
Labor.
Hecla mines a third of all silver produced in the United States Having this in mind, they have a large taskforce to complete its operations. Being a mining company, most of its time is invested to ensure employee safety. Hecla offers direct and indirect jobs and its economic impact can average to over 800 million dollars in wages over a five year period. Hecla has over 1640 employees from all over the world. Nineteen percent of their salaried positions comprises of women and women comprise 9.3 percent of Hecla’s workforce. In 2019, employees worked over 5.7 million man hours and 59000 hours were dedicated to training employees on their safety.
Location sites.
Hecla mines processing also take place in various different sites for processing beside the United States grounds. Some of Hecla mining sites are Casa Berardi, in La Sarre Quebec.This mining site is 100% owned by Hecla, with a production rate of 121,493 ounces of gold.Additionally have some other site in the Greens Creek and Lucky Friday , Lucky Friday is a deep underground site that has been operation since 1942.Unfortunaly due to covid-19 in 2020 the site production had decrease significantly and were only able to produce about 2.0 million ounces of silver that year.


Imperial Metals

Imperial Metals Corporation, known as IMI Imperial Metals Inc. until 2002, is a Canadian metals and mining company. Engaging in the acquisition, exploration, development, mining, and production of base and precious metals in North America, the majority of its holdings and operations are in British Columbia.
In 2016 the Company produced 119.17 million pounds of copper, 94,930 ounces gold and 330,960 ounces silver from its Mount Polley and Red Chris mines.
Operations.
Imperial has one operating mine in British Columbia, two mines in care and maintenance in British Columbia, and two exploration stage projects also in British Columbia currently under development.
Mount Polley Mine (Care & Maintenance As of January 8, 2019).
The Mount Polley Mine located 100 km northeast of Williams Lake, British Columbia is an open pit copper/gold mine that started operation in 1997. Exploration on the property continues concurrent to mining operations with the expected lifetime of the mine expiring in 2025. In August 2014 the Mount Polley Mine was the site of the Mount Polley mine disaster. Since the 2014 disaster the mining company has faced substantial protests mounted by local indigenous activist Kanahus Manuel and other members of the Secwepemc Nation.
Red Chris Project.
The Red Chris project is an operating open-pit copper/gold. The mine property is located outside of the community of Iskut, with the Klappan River flowing through the property less than 20 km from its confluence with the Stikine River. The mine's proximity to the Sacred Headwaters and the transboundary nature of environmental management in this region has raised concerns across the border on the Alaskan panhandle. On February 1, 2015, the Globe and Mail reported that commercial fisherman, native organizations, and the mayors of Sitka and Petersburg have released a joint statement requesting an "equal seat at the table with Canada in discussions about how and if watersheds shared by both countries are developed."


James H. Carson

James H. Carson (1821 – 1853), a Second Sergeant in the US Army, boarded the U.S. Lexington with his regiment and set sail for California in 1846. After passing through Rio de Janeiro and Cape Horn, Carson reached Monterey, California in January 1847. When gold was discovered, many members of the regiment deserted, and eventually Carson did the same. By all accounts, Carson found luck in the mine, and although the exact amount is questionable, he was certainly remembered, as Carson Creek and the hamlet of Carson Hill were named for him. Carson's most noted work, "Early Recollections of the Mines" (1852), documents this time in Carson's life.
Carson continued to prospect, and even helped organize the Carson-Robinson party in an attempt to prospect unexplored territory.
Shortly thereafter, Carson was struck by rheumatism, and went to Stockton to recuperate. While there, the" "San Joaquin Republican" printed 31 articles of his, forming the three series of "Early Recollections of the Mines", "Tulare Plain", "and ""Life in California"."
In 1853, Carson ran for, and was elected to State Assembly on the Democratic ticket. Sadly, before he could take office, another bout of rheumatism struck, and Carson died in April 1853.


Sam Church

Samuel Morgan Church, Jr. (September 20, 1936 – July 14, 2009) was a coal miner and president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) from 1979 to 1982.
Early life.
Church was born in Matewan, West Virginia, in 1936 to Samuel and Helen (Cook) Church. He was one of eight children. His grandfather had been a mine superintendent, and his father had worked as a miner until an accident crushed his foot (forcing him to leave the mines and become a barber). The Churches moved to Virginia in 1944, where Sam worked as a shoeshine boy and pinsetter at a bowling alley. He participated in his first strike at the bowling alley, but the employer fired all the striking workers.
At the age of 20 in 1956, Church moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and took a job at a sugar plant.
Union career.
Sam Church returned to Virginia in 1965 and worked for the Clinchfield Coal Company as an electrician and mechanic. He rose quickly within the union, and was elected a UMWA field representative for District 28 in 1973. Although he supported W. A. Boyle for UMWA president in 1972, he joined Arnold Miller's reform movement after evidence of Boyle's complicity in the murder of Joseph Yablonski became known.
In 1975, Church became an international field representative and a member of Miller's headquarters staff. In 1976, he was named deputy director of the UMWA collective bargaining department, and later that year Miller named Church his executive assistant.
In 1977, Church was elected vice president of the union. When Church punched a former UMWA staffer in a dispute over a leak to the press, Miller asked Church to be his running-mate. But Miller was not in good health, and after a stroke and heart attack in the spring of 1978 he turned day-to-day operation of the union over to Church. Mostly recovered by the fall, Miller exhibited many of his autocratic, defensive habits. He told the union's executive board on October 29, 1979 that he was considering resigning. Then, in the same speech, he accused Church of plotting to against him to seize the presidency of the union.
Miller continued to fight with the union's executive board and leadership, but ill health ended his presidency. In November 1979, Miller suffered a second heart attack while at his home in Charleston, West Virginia. By this time, his political opponents had decided that his erratic behavior and poor physical condition justified putting him on involuntary leave. Church traveled to Charleston, and sitting at Miller's bedside he negotiated Miller's resignation. In return, UMWA's executive board agreed to give Miller the title of "president emeritus for life" and guaranteed him his full salary as well as medical and pension benefits until the end of his term of office (which would end in 1982). Miller resigned the presidency of the United Mine Workers on November 16, 1979, and Church was elected to succeed him.
Two years later, Miller told reporters that he was sorry he named Church his running mate and that he was "not very happy" about Church becoming union president.
UMWA presidency.
Church's tenure as president of UMWA was a difficult one. An epidemic of wildcat strikes and increasing automation severely affected its membership and revenues. Church set out to reverse the union's decline: In 1981, he led the union out on a two-month nationwide coal strike. After union members rejected a tentative agreement, he negotiated a new contract which led to substantial improvements in benefits.
However, when Church ran for re-election as UMWA president in 1982, he was defeated. Union members were upset that Church had not continued to reform the union. And despite Church's victory in the 1981 coal strike, miners felt the union's collective bargaining power and clout at the worksite had not been restored. The 1982 UMWA presidential campaign was hard-fought and bitter. Church and his supporters allegedly accused Church's opponent, Richard Trumka, of having ties to Communist and socialist groups and being ineligible to run for president. In the end, however, Trumka won election by a margin of more than two-to-one.
Later life.
Church remained active in the miners' union after his election loss, however. He became coordinator of the Virginia Coal Miners' Political Action Committee (COMPAC). He also was involved in politics. Church was a former member of the Appalachia, Virginia, town council and Wise County, Virginia, Board of Supervisors.
Church's first marriage produced three children (Samuel 3rd, Melissa, and Suzanne), but ended in divorce. He then married the former Patti Page, an attorney. The couple had one son, Nathaniel.
Church suffered from Parkinson's disease in the last few years of his life, and died in Bristol, Virginia, on July 14, 2009, from complications due to surgery.


Martabe mine

The Martabe mine is one of the largest gold mines in Indonesia and in the world. It was a first class operation until it was purchased by an Indonesian company it went down hill no long after that including burning down the gold room.
Background.
The mine is located in the west of the country in North Sumatra. The mine has measured reserves (as of 31 December 2013) of 3.0 million oz of gold and 31.9 million oz of silver; these reserves are included in mineral resources (that may or may not be economic to mine) of 8.1 million oz of gold and 73.8 million oz of silver.
Engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) services for Martabe Mine were provided by Ausenco Limited in 2011.
Martabe mine is owned and operated by a subsidiary of PT United Tractors Tbk, the largest distributor of heavy equipment in Indonesia.


George Bissill

George William Bissill (22 June 1896 – 14 September 1973) was a British miner, painter, and furniture designer. Bissill's paintings are held in a number of important public collections, including the Tate Gallery, National Museum of Northern ireland and the Manchester Art Gallery. Bissill was known for his landscapes and figurative paintings in oil, watercolour and woodcuts.
Early life.
George Bissill was born in Fairford Gloucestershire, but the family soon moved to the mining village of Langley Mill in Derbyshire where his father worked as a railway brakesman. At 13 George was sent down the mines, where he worked, initially with pit ponies, then at the coal face, until 1915 when he joined the Kings Royal Rifles (First Battalion) to fight in the First World War. He had hoped to escape the underground life but as an ex-miner he was immediately trained to be a sapper, tunnelling, defusing mines and laying mines under enemy lines. While working near Béthune in France, he suffered a catastrophic tunnel collapse and later in the war he was badly gassed. In 1918 he was invalided out of the army.
With his army pension, he spent a few months at Nottingham School of Art, but he had already developed his own distinctive style and subject matter, saying later that the pit was the only art school he needed.
London and Paris.
After a spell working as a village postman, during which he exhibited at the Ilkeston Arts Club annual exhibition, he decided to try to take his work to London. He arrived in London in 1922 and took a pitch as a pavement artist outside Bush House, which was just being constructed. There he was ‘spotted’ by a member of the Arts League of Service, who in 1924 took a portfolio of his mining drawings around the country for exhibition.
Soon after this the newly established Redfern Gallery in Bond Street offered him an exhibition, which opened to great critical acclaim in April 1925. Bissill immediately became extremely famous causing a sensation with his pictures of miners toiling underground, a subject matter which was new to the London Art Scene and was ten years before the Pitmen Painters came to fame. The show was reviewed by all the major art critics and newspapers. Other exhibitions at the Redfern Gallery  followed and Bissill worked successfully in London for the next 5–6 years.
Soon after the first exhibition opened in 1925 Bissill met the ballet critic, writer and art collector Arnold Haskell, who took him on a visit to Paris. Here Bissill learnt the art of wood engraving, producing some of his finest work, and expanded his subject matter to include ballet dancers, harlequins, set designs and pictures of Paris life. Exhibiting his work at Le Nouvel Essor gallery he was again commercially  very successful. On his return to London the Redfern Gallery issued a portfolio of his wood engravings, with an introduction by Arnold Haskell.
Furniture Design.
In 1926 Arnold Haskell commissioned Bissill to do the entire interior design scheme for his new Kensington home. Photos show rooms, furnished with Bissill’s pieces in the Art Deco style, with many of his art works on the walls. All of this was lost when, in 1941 a bomb fell, completely destroying the house.
Industrial work.
Bissill created posters for LNER, the Post Office and Shell, for whom he also designed a series of newspaper advertisements. He contributed to the famous “You can be sure of Shell” campaign, with paintings of Wicklow in Ireland and Taynton in Gloucestershire, alongside other artists such as John Piper, Cedric Morris, Edwin Callinan and many others.
Marriage and move to Hampshire.
Bissill moved out of London in the early thirties, craving the countryside and contact with nature. He lived in the small village of Ibthorpe in Hampshire at first and here he married Gladys Swann, whom he had met in London. They moved in 1935 to the nearby village of Ashmansworth and lived there for the rest of their lives. From that time Bissill called himself a ‘Landscape painter’. But he also undertook picture restoration and became well-known as a dealer in the local art salerooms. He spent most of his time painting the local landscape, and his snow scenes became particularly popular. In 1941 he contributed several watercolours to  Kenneth Clark’s Recording Britain project.
George Bissill died in Ashmansworth in 1973, aged 77. His wife Gladys died in 1983. They had no children.


Carfin

Carfin (Scottish Gaelic: "An Càrn Fionn", meaning the White Cairn) is a village situated to the north-east of Motherwell, Scotland. Most local amenities are shared with the adjacent villages of Holytown, Newarthill and New Stevenston which have a combined population of around 20,000 across the four localities.
Local facilities.
Carfin has strong Irish Catholic links, which are exemplified in Carfin Grotto a famous pilgrimage place, with extensive gardens and a visitors' centre with cafe. It was built in the early 1920s, when parish priest, Canon Thomas Nimmo Taylor engaged the unemployed miners of the village to build a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes, allowing people in Scotland to venerate the Blessed Virgin without having to travel to France to do so.
There are many places of worship in Carfin. A church hall is present and a small mosque for Muslims, which in 2006 was moved to a bigger mosque near Mossend, Bellshill. A community church met in the community centre but due to an increase in attendance has moved to a larger community centre in Craigneuk, Wishaw.
The closest secondary school is Taylor High School in nearby New Stevenston. Since this is a Roman Catholic school, the nearest nondenominational secondary school is Brannock High School in Newarthill.
The nearest public house is the Hibernian Social and Recreation Club (The Hibs Club) 200 metres away to the Newarthill side. Half a mile in the opposite direction is the Carfin Vaults. The "Bell Quadrant" is the main shopping area in Carfin. It contains several famous retailers such as Greggs, Farmfoods, Betfred and a Tesco Express. Opposite this site is a Lidl store.
The outskirts of Carfin do offer some interest, with a private golf club/rugby fields/driving range complex situated between Carfin and Holytown. Carfin is also next-door to the new settlement of Ravenscraig, currently under construction.
Carfin doesn't have many sports facilities of note, with nearby Brannock and Taylor High Schools containing both football pitches and athletics tracks. The nearest sports facility is the large Ravenscraig Sports Centre.
The golf course, named after Sam Torrance (Torrance Park), was funded by former Rangers chairman David Murray.
At the 2001 census, Carfin had a population of 1,048 residents.
Transport.
Carfin railway station provides the hub for transport to Glasgow, with the local bus stops providing easy access to Motherwell and surrounding towns. These services operate a restricted timetable on Sundays. The station is in the Newarthill boundary but is named Carfin.


Ducktown Basin Museum


Nautilus Minerals

Nautilus Minerals Inc. was an underwater mineral exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the first company to commercially explore the seafloor for massive sulfide systems, a potential source of high grade copper, gold, zinc and silver.
, Nautilus planned to commence production utilizing a newly constructed mining ship in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea.
In 2015, the company claimed to fall victim to a cyber scam where a payment of $10 million was made to the wrong account. No investigation report was ever made public to shareholders and the company stated it could not give any assurances that internal fraud was prevented. PWC did not record this fraudulent cyber scam in their annual 2015 audit.
As of 2016, the mining ship is being built and scheduled to depart for Papua New Guinea in 2018.
The world's first deep-sea mining robots, built for Nautilus by Soil Machine Dynamics, have been ready to go since 2012.
The company planned to grow its tenement holdings in the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Zealand as well as other areas outside the Western Pacific. The company collapsed due to a lack of liquidity and ability to secure funding. The company's board secured loans through Deep Sea Mining Finance Ltd. DSMF received assets after the company's bankruptcy.
Solwara 1 Resource.
Nautilus's first mining site, Solwara 1, is 30 kilometers off the shore of Papua New Guinea's New Ireland Province.
The company's Solwara 1 Project is located at 1600 metres water depth in the Bismarck Sea, New Ireland Province. It will be the world's first deep-sea mining project. The deposit is a high grade copper-gold seafloor massive sulphide (SMS) resource.
In 2007 the exploration team drilled a 43-101 resource on the Solwara 1 Project using newly developed remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) drills. The resulting high grade copper-gold resource was the world's first Seafloor Massive Sulphide ("SMS") resource statement. In 2010/11 further drilling was conducted at Solwara 1 resulting in an increase in the resource base. Results of the updated resource were as follows (November 25, 2011):
Indicated Mineral Resource: 1,030kt @ 7.2% Cu, 5.0 g/t Au, 23 g/t Ag, 0.4% Zn
Inferred Mineral Resource: 1,540kt @ 8.1% Cu, 6.4 g/t Au, 34 g/t Ag, 0.9% Zn
The 2011 Golders Resource update also saw the companies second resource declared for the Solwara 12 project (230K t), some 25 km NE of Solwara 1, in the zone of Exploration License (EL) 1324.


Bengalon coal mine

The Bengalon Coal Mine is a coal mine located in East Kalimantan. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 871 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Asia and the world. The mine has an annual production capacity of 4.3 million tonnes of coal.


Crystal Mine

Crystal Mine is located near Juneau in the U.S. state of Alaska. The quartz ledge at the Crystal Mine was first discovered in 1895 by B. Heins. It was so named because of the large pyrite cubes which were found occurring in the surface outcrops of the ledge. Gold was extracted till 1905 from quartz using ten-stamp mill and from about 1,000 feet of underground workings yielded 1,210 ounces of gold. Intermittent production of gold is reported till 1925 but there are no records of the yield. The formation was determined as of 54 to 56 Ma age. The gold yielding resources available from the mine were assessed as 9,000 tons of material with yield of 0.21 ounce of gold per ton.
Geography.
On the sides of many of the pyrite cubes, small particles and crystals of gold may be observed, and this somewhat novel occurrence makes the ore of special mineralogic interest. The mine workings were situated from the wharf at Snettisham and above high tide water. The ledge has a width of from , averaging about , and is exposed for over in length. Fragments of the enclosing andesite are often included in the vein, and these as well as the quartz carry the gold values.
Geology.
The gold deposits were discovered in quartz veins (in undulating form) in a low-angle fault with a strike of S30-50E and dipping 8-35E; the fault itself was identified as in thickness in rock formations of amphibolite as part of the Snettisham ultramafic complex. Sheared and altered amphibolite were the dominant formations in the fault where quartz were not found; the fault zone also had large fillings of weathered calcite orange in colour, with quartz formation located in a limited thickness of few inches to . The composition of quarts varied with 60 percent silicified amphibolite to 100 % of quartzite. The veins were also filled with gauges. Quartz and calcite crystals up to long were common and pyrites covered with euhedral gold crystals were found in 60% of the veins. A remarkable sample of a cubic pyrite crystal from the Crystal Mine, which measures about on a side with large amount of terminated crystals of gold on its surface, is on display in the Smithsonian Institution. Based on detailed geological investigations of the mine, the age of the formation has been determined as 54 to 56 Ma. The gold resources available from the mine was assessed as 9,000 tons of material with yield potential of 0.21 ounce of gold per ton.
History.
Crystal Mine was discovered in 1895 and the ten-stamp mill was installed in 1901. Operations were first undertaken in 1901-2, aided by a 20-stamp mill close to the shore at Snettisham, said to have produced approximately $25,000 work of gold. In 1903, the mine was purchased by the Alaska Snettisham Gold Mining Company and rapid development immediately began. At the close of the year 1903, the work done aggregated of tunneling and drifting along the ledge at different levels. These levels were connected by winzes and much of the intermediate ore was mined. Power was acquired by a flume over a in length, which follows the mountain slope at an elevation of , collecting water from the many small creeks. This was connected with a pipe line, which supplied Pelton wheels at the mill, and a total of 300 horsepower was obtained. In 1904, mining continued, and most of the developed ore is said to have been stamped out and milled. Early in 1905, this company discontinued operations at Snettisham and plans were being made to remove both mill and mine equipment. During this time the ore mined up to 1905 in about 1,000 feet of underground workings yielded about 1,210 ounces of gold.
By 1909, 750 tons of ore had been processed. Work continued intermittently and had finally stopped in 1925. At that time the mine consisted of 2,350 feet of tunnels, 5 stages, a 175 ft upper adit with a stet. Gold produced after 1905 was not recorded.


Tolgus Mount

Tolgus Mount (also Tolgus or Tolgoose) is a village, valley, and district in the parish of Redruth in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is located to the northwest of town of Redruth across the A30 road and falls within the Redruth North ward on Cornwall Council. Historically there were several mines in the area, mining tin and copper.
History.
Historically Tolgus was known for its tin mining and there were several mines in the area including West, East and South Tolgus. The area produced several hundred tons of black tin between 1847 and 1869 and 57 tons between 1847 and 1863 in the East Tolgus Mine and many more tons of copper ore. The South Tolgus Mine was 157 fathoms deep, the West Tolgus Mine 135 fathoms deep and the Great South Tolgus 80 fathoms deep as reported in 1922. In 1884 the manor of Tolgus reportedly consisted of 212 tenements and 1006 acres.
Geography.
Tolgus forms a valley to the northwest of Redruth. It lies in the parish of Redruth to the northwest across the A30 road and is spread over an area which is known as Tolgus with parts such as West Tolgus, South Tolgus, East Tolgus. Paynter's Lane End lies to the northwest and the hamlet of North Country to the northeast. There is a stream running in the area which runs under the A30.
Notable landmarks.
The Cornish Goldsmith's Centre lies the old mill at Tolgus today, although this northern part of the village is closest to North Country and often considered part of it. Tolgus Tin, covering 20 acres, is now a working museum, showcasing the old mining machinery. The land surrounding this mill forms part of West Cornwall Bryophytes Site of Special Scientific Interest.
There is a candle factory at Tolgus Mount "where the path leads towards the Old Portreath Road". There is a house called Tolgus House in the village, occupied by Edmund Percival James in the 1960s. Other features in the area include Brunton's arsenic calciner, Tehidy Holiday Park, Tricky's Hotel, Tolgus Cottage and Dalgover House. There is a full-scale replica of a steam carriage which William Murdoch built as a working model in 1784 called "The Murdoch Flyer" situated in the centre of Tolgus roundabout on the other side of the A30 on the outskirts of Redruth. The road from there leads across the A30 to Tolgus.


Lehigh Coal Mining Company


Chirmiri

Chirmiri is a hill station and a Nagar Nigam in the Koriya district of the state of Chhattisgarh, India.It is famously known for its coal extraction as the area is very rich in coal.
Geography.
The city of Chirmiri is located in the geographical coordinates of 23 degrees 11 minutes and 60 seconds north latitude and 82 degrees 20 minutes and 60 seconds east longitude. The total population of the city stands at 93,366 people. The total population is segmented into 49,128 males and 44,238 females. The town has achieved a high literacy rate with 61,280 total literates in the town. The number of male literates is more than the female literates in the town. As compared to the female literate count of 24,640, the number of male literates is 36,640.
The town of Chirmiri is rich in the coal deposits found in the region. The coal industrial belt has developed in the region owing to the close proximity of the coalmines. The most reputed government undertaking and the largest coal producing industry in India, the South Eastern Coalfields Limited is located in the region. Chirmiri is one of the 13 administrative areas of the coal industry.
One of the chief tourist attractions of the region is the Lord Jagannath Temple that was designed like the temple in Puri in the state of Orissa. The town of Chirmiri is endowed with beautiful landscape that the tourists may enjoy while journeying to the town.
History.
At first, it was privately owned coal-mines. Dadu Lehri, as he is lovingly called, is said to be the founder of Chirimiri. Tata Iron and Steel Company then initiated prospecting of coal but no mining was carried out by them. The Chirimiri colliery was opened in 1930 (production started in 1932), New Chirimiri colliery came up in 1942, Pure Chirimiri colliery in 1945, and North Chirimiri colliery in 1946. Subsequently, New Chirimiri Pondi Hills, West Chirimiri, Duman Hill and Korea collieries started operating. Coal production rose from 264,000 tonnes in 1933 to 3,162,500 tonnes in 1980.
The collieries in Chirimiri Coalfield were owned by several companies and owners such as Chirimiri Colliery Company Pvt. Ltd., Dababhoy's New Chirimiri Ponri Hill Company (Private) Limited, United Collieries Limited, K.N. Dhady and Indra Singh & Sons (Private) Limited. These were nationalized in 1973.
Economy.
Chirmiri is well known for its coal mines (see Chirimiri Coalfield); mining began here in 1925. Chirmiri has a broad gauge railway link, used primarily to transport coal from the region. The coal industrial belt has developed in the region owing to the close proximity of the coalmines. The largest coal producing industry in India, the South Eastern Coalfields Limited is located in the region. Chirmiri is one of the 13 administrative areas of the coal industry.
Demographics.
 India census, Chirmiri had a population of 91,312, 53% male and 46% female. Chirmiri has an average literacy rate of 66% (male 75%, female 56%), higher than the national average of 59.5%. 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Notable places.
For the pilgrims, Chirimiri and places nearby offers temples like:
The Lord Jagannath Temple: This temple was built by the workers from Puri and is the replica of the Puri Jagannath Temple. This temple is a gift to Chirimiri by the Odia community of this region, who put their immense effort to make it a reality.
Kalibadi: The temple is in Haldibadi. It is on a hill and only 1 km. from the main station.
Baigapara: is in the place called Bartunga and also Sati temple which is a very old temple in Bartunga dedicated to Sati maa.
Gufa Mandir: Located in Godaripara
Maha Maya Temple in Ratanpur: It is one of the 52 Shakthi Peeths, in India. The temple is dedicated to the deities Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Saraswathi. The temple was built by the Kalachuri king Ratnadeva in the 12-13th century. The architecture is of the Nagara art, facing north with a big water tank. There is a Shiva and Hanuman temple on the premises. There is a temple dedicated to Kantideval, the oldest temple, built in 1039 said to be constructed by an ascetic known as Santhosh Giri. The temple is guarded by Kalabhairava residing in another temple on the approach road. There are ruins of an 11th-century Kadaeideol Shiva temple on a hill top near a fort.
Amrit Dhara Falls are in Barbaspur. The distance from Chirimiri is about 17 km. There is a famous Shiva temple in Sidh Baba mount, near the water falls. Apart from being a famous water fall, the place is used for picnics by the locals.
Hasdeo River: The local authority has developed the banks of the river and now this is a preferred picnic spot.


Alabastine Mine

The Alabastine Mine is an underground gypsum mine in Wyoming, Michigan, originally dug by hand in 1907. The mine once included an underground stable for the mules used to haul the gypsum.
Plaster production.
The gypsum from this mine was used to manufacture plaster, both for exterior use as stucco and for a tinted interior wall covering known as 'alabastine'.
Use as a Fallout Shelter.
New access elevators to the mine were constructed in order to convert the mine to a storage area. Parts of the mine served as a Cold War fallout shelter.
Storage Facility.
Since 1957, the mine has been operated by Michigan Natural Storage as a storage facility. It leases space to a firm that provides microfilm records storage for many Michigan courthouses.


Ogra mine

The Ogra mine is a large salt mine located in central Romania in Mureș County, close to Ogra. Ogra represents one of the largest salt reserves in Romania having estimated reserves of 100 billion tonnes of NaCl.


Chirimiri Coalfield

Chirimiri Coalfield is located in Koriya district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh in the valley of the Hasdeo River, a tributary of the Mahanadi.
Other coalfields.
There are several other coalfields in the region. Kotma sub-basin of Sohagpur Coalfield is from Chirimiri Coalfield. Jhilimili Coalfield is north of Chirimiri railway station. Sonhat Colliery lies north-east of Chirimiri.
History.
Tata Iron and Steel Company initiated prospecting of coal but no mining was carried out by them. The Chirimiri colliery was opened in 1930 (production started in 1932), New Chirimiri colliery came up in 1942, Pure Chirimiri colliery in 1945, and North Chirimiri colliery in 1946. Subsequently, New Chirimiri Pondi Hills, West Chirimiri, Duman Hill and Korea collieries started operating. Coal production rose from 264,000 tonnes in 1933 to 3,162,500 tonnes in 1980.
The collieries in Chirimiri Coalfield were owned by several companies and owners such as Chirimiri Colliery Company Pvt. Ltd., Dababhoy's New Chirimiri Ponri Hill Company (Private) Limited, United Collieries Limited, K.N. Dhady and Indra Singh & Sons (Private) Limited. These were nationalized in 1973.
The Coalfield.
Chirimiri Coalfield is a part of Central India Coalfields. The latter is spread over the districts of Surguja, Koriya (both in Chhattisgarh), Shahdol and Umaria (both in Madhya Pradesh). There are fourteen coalfields in this group, namely Korar, Umaria, Johilla, Sohagpur, Sonhat, Jhilimili, Chirimiri, Sendurgarh, Koreagarh, Damhamunda, Panchbahini, Hasdeo-Arand, Lakhanpur and Bishrampur. The group covers an area of about with estimated reserves of 15,613.98 million tonnes. The deposits are at a depth of 0–1200 meters. Therefore, extraction is mainly amenable to underground mining except a few blocks in eastern part of these coalfields which have opencast potential.
Chirimiri coalfield is spread over of hilly country and includes both the sections – Kurasia and Chirimiri. Total reserves in Chirimiri coalfield have been estimated to be around 312.11 million tonnes.
According to Geological Survey of India reserves of non-coking coal up to a depth of 300 m in Chirimiri Coalfield was 362.16 million tonnes.
Transport.
Chirimiri is connected to Anuppur by the Annupur-Chirimiri branch line in 1939.
From Bilaspur, it is 180 by road, and 237 km by train.


Kiseljak mine

The Kiseljak mine is a large copper mine located in the south of Serbia in Jablanica District. Kiseljak represents one of the largest copper reserve in Serbia and in the world having estimated reserves of 300.5 million tonnes of ore grading 0.27% copper.


James E. Hyslop

James Edwin Hyslop (7 November 1861 – 15 August 1931) was a Scottish businessman and landowner, who settled in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, and owner of several mines.
Childhood.
Hyslop was born in Kirkhill, Highland, Scotland on 7 November 1861, son of William Hyslop and Margaret Gowenlock Hyslop. James came from a wealthy and influential Scottish family, which owned several properties and businesses in the UK. James lived his youth in the city of Church Stretton, England, where he lived with his seven siblings. At the age of 19 years James moved to Oxford, England, to study mining engineering at the University of Oxford, from which he graduated with honors.
Migration and fortune.
He arrived in Mexico in 1895, to Parral, Chihuahua, as the San Francisco del Oro mining company manager in Chihuahua, Mexico with several mines in the country and seven mines abroad. In 1903, he occupied the "Hacienda De Santiago", famous hacienda built in the Spanish Viceroyalty inherited from his father in law, William Christian Beckmann, where various agricultural, livestock and textile activities were practiced. It was established as the official residence of his family.
By 1907, Hyslop was a very successful businessman with investments in diverse industries such as mining, livestock and agriculture. He managed holdings primarily in the State of Chihuahua which led him to become a great landowner.
Family.
Hyslop married Maria Beckmann, a young woman of German descent, from a wealthy family of Chihuahua. James and Maria fathered seven children, Margaret, William, Mary, Letitia, James, Beatrice and Henry.
Death.
In El Paso, Texas, on 15 August 1931, Hyslop suffered a heart attack.


West Cornwall Bryophytes Site of Special Scientific Interest

The West Cornwall Bryophytes Site of Special Scientific Interest is a group of seven locations of former mining activity, that form a single SSSI and Important Plant Area in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The site is noted for its biological characteristics and derives its name from the rare bryophyte species found there.
Geography.
The SSSI comprises seven individual sites, spread over a radius around the towns of Camborne, Redruth and Helston, totalling an area of .
Wildlife and ecology.
All of the areas making up the site are situated on disused mining land. The copper laden spoil tips, along with the derelict mine buildings, support populations of rare bryophytes (mosses and liverworts). As a result, Plantlife has designated the whole site an Important Plant Area.
The site mainly supports the nationally rare liverwort species of "Cephaloziella integerrima", "Cephaloziella massalongi" and "Cephaloziella nicholsonii", as well as the nationally rare moss "Scopelophila cataractae". The populations found here represent 20% of the total known populace of these species within Britain. "Cephaloziella integerrima" has only been found in two other sites within the British Isles.
At the Godolphin Bridge location, the nationally rare "Pohlia andalusica" and the nationally scarce "Bryum donianum" and "Cephaloziella stellulifera" can be found, along with "Cephaloziella massalongi", "Fossombronia caespitiformis" and "Scopelophila cataractae".
The Dolcoath Road area supports the nationally rare "Cephaloziella integerrima" and "Cephaloziella nicholsonii", as well as the nationally scarce "Cephaloziella calyculata" and "Pohlia andalusica".
On both of the Tolgus Tin Works sites grow the four main bryophyte species along with "Pohlia andalusica", which produces capsules only at this location in Britain.
The West Basset Stamps location supports the three main liverworts along with "Pohlia andalusica", "Cephaloziella stellulifera" and the nationally scarce mosses "Bryum pallescens" and the capsule producing "Gymnostomum viridulum", again only at this site in Britain.
Poldice Valley supports "Cephaloziella nicholsonii", "Cephaloziella stellulifera", "Pohlia andalusica" and "Bryum donianum".
On the exposed areas of the spoil tips on Porkellis Moor can be found the three main liverworts as well as "Pohlia andalusica".


Banpu

Banpu Public Company Limited is an energy company based in Thailand. Its three core businesses are energy resources (coal and gas); energy generation (conventional and renewable); and energy technology (wind and solar solutions, storage systems, and energy technologies). Banpu is headed by CEO Somruedee Chaimongkol. In the 2012 Forbes Global 2000, Banpu was ranked as the 1707th -largest public company in the world.
History.
Banpu was founded by members of the Vongkusolkit and Auapinyakul families on 16 May 1983 as Ban Pu Coal Company Limited. The company was created to subcontract a coal mining operation at Banpu Mine (BP-1 Mine) in Li District, Lamphun Province. On 4 May 1989, Banpu was listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). Its name was changed on 29 July 1993 to Banpu Public Company Limited.
In 2005, Banpu entered into a joint venture with Thai-Lao Lignite Co., Ltd. and Hong Sa Lignite (Lao PDR) Co., Ltd. to develop the project, but this agreement was terminated in 2006. A UNCITRAL arbitration found that the Lao government illegally terminated concession and ordered Laos to pay US$57 million in damages plus interest. Laos is refusing to pay.
In 2010 Banpu bought the Australian mining company Centennial Coal Company Ltd.
Current CEO of Banpu Somruedee Chaimongkol assumed the position on 10 April 2015.
Banpu decided to launch a new corporate branding attributes in 2018, the "Banpu Heart".
Operations.
Power generation.
Banpu Power Public Company Limited or Banpu Power (BPP) was established in 1996 (then named "Cogeneration PLC") as a subsidiary of Banpu PCL. BPP's generating capacity as of early-2019 is 2,140 megawatts. Its goal is to expand that number to 4,300 MW by 2025. Renewable power projects account for 20 percent of BPP-generated electricity.
Coal mining.
It is the largest coal producer in Thailand and also has coal mining operations in Indonesia and China, and coal-fired power generation operations in Thailand and China. Banpu plans also to invest in the Hong Sa lignite mine and power plant project in Laos.
Banpu's main coal resources are in Indonesia (26 million tonnes), Australia (14 million tonnes), and China (4.7 million tonnes). It expects its sales to rise to 45 million tonnes in 2018, up from 42 million tonnes in 2017.
Due to its coal mining operations, Banpu was named on a 2019 list of the 100 companies "...responsible for most of the world's greenhouse gas emissions".
Centennial Coal.
Centennial Coal Company Ltd operates five mines in New South Wales (NSW) supplying coal for export and approximately 40 percent of NSW's coal-fired electricity. The company sells approximately 40 percent of its coal to export markets, primarily for use in power stations and steel mills in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Europe.
Centennial Coal has been responsible for more than 900 pollution notices between 2000 and 2013 from the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). In 2015 it was responsible for a major release of coal fines into the Wollangambe River and World Heritage listed areas of the Blue Mountains National Park. Centennial Coal has been dumping mine effluent into the Wollangambe River for approximately 30 years, effectively killing large sections of it. Between 2000-2015, Centennial's Clarence Colliery has been cited for more than 65 non-compliance breaches of its licence. As of 2015, Centennial Coal has applied to extend the Springvale Mine, undermining swamps of "National Environmental Significance" and dumping up to 50 million litres a day of mine effluent into the Coxs River which also flows through the Blue Mountains World Heritage area and into Sydney's drinking water catchments.
Corporate issues.
Financials.
Banpu reported revenues of 123,345 million baht for its fiscal year ending 31 December 2018. Net income was 6,694 million baht, total assets 274,312 million baht, and total equity 83,060 million baht. Banpu's coal business accounted for 87% of its revenues for the year.
As of 31 December 2018, Banpu employed 6,037 persons, nearly half of them at its coal operations in Indonesia. Banpu employed 383 persons in Thailand, 6% of its workforce.
Remuneration of the twelve directors on the Banpu board totaled 48 million baht. The eight senior managers earned 110 million baht in salary and bonuses.
Recognition.
Banpu has been selected for a fifth consecutive year as a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI). It was ranked Gold Class in the Coal and Consumable Fuel sector by Robeco Sustainable Asset Management. Banpu also received the Sustainability Awards Honor and was listed as a Thailand Sustainability Investment (THSI) by the Stock Exchange of Thailand.


Novo Brdo mine

The Novo Brdo mine is one of the largest lead and zinc mines in Kosovo. The mine is located in Novo Brdo in Pristina district. The mine has reserves amounting to 2.7 million tonnes of ore grading 4.43% lead, 5.42% zinc and 140.6gr/t silver thus resulting 119,600 tonnes of lead, 146,300 tonnes of zinc and 380 tonnes of silver.


Sijiaying mine

The Sijiaying mine is a large iron mine located in northern China in the Inner Mongolia. Sijiaying represents one of the largest iron ore reserves in China and in the world having estimated reserves of 2.2 billion tonnes of ore grading 30% iron metal.


Thomas L. Golden

Thomas L. "Tom" Golden was a miner from Georgia, United States, who was one of the earliest prospectors in present-day Jefferson County, Colorado. Golden arrived in the then-Kansas Territory in 1858 around the beginning of the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. He later partnered with George A. Jackson, a native of Glasgow, Missouri who discovered gold at the confluence of Chicago Creek and Clear Creek on January 7, 1859.
The city of Golden, Colorado is named after him.
History.
Golden arrived at today's Jefferson County late in 1858, joining prospectors mining placer gold at a sandbar on Clear Creek just east of North Table Mountain. There on November 29, 1858, Golden became the founding Treasurer of Arapahoe City, the first town in what would become Jefferson County. He met Jackson when the latter arrived at Arapahoe City in late December 1858, and they became prospecting partners seeking the mother lode from which the placer gold deposits washed down. The two made their base camp in the valley west of the Table Mountains from which to prospect in the mountains.
On January 7, 1859, Jackson made a major strike on Chicago Creek, near today's Idaho Springs. He told no one but Golden about the location, writing in his diary, "Tom Golden is the only man who knows I found gold up the creek, and as his mouth is as tight as a No. 4 Beaver trap, I am not uneasy." After Jackson and others followed up on his discovery later that year, it helped set the gold rush into full boom.
In mid-June, 1859, while returning from the mountains, the partners stopped on Clear Creek and Jackson fished for their lunch. He was caught in a flash flood, and Golden stayed with him, though he was certain for three to four minutes that Jackson would perish. They returned to their camp in the valley to discover a new town was being laid out there. At Jackson's suggestion it was named for Tom Golden.
Golden helped lay out the townsite, but did not remain there. He teamed with others in July to establish Golden Gate City nearby at the mouth of Golden Gate Canyon. Golden opened a storage and commission business and is said to be the first in the area to advertise his prices. Around 1860, Golden was elected to the legislature of the provisional government of Jefferson Territory, organized by area citizens in hopes of federal recognition. Golden's correspondence may be read in the "Missouri Republican" and "Western Mountaineer", two newspapers from this time.
On September 24, 1860, Golden was married to Miss Fletcher at Nevada City. He was referred to by the title of Captain, though the presumable military origin of this rank remains unknown. Golden left the area around 1861, shortly after the American Civil War began. Many Colorado Southerners were harassed by their Northern neighbors, and Golden was rumored to have returned home. George A. Jackson, also from the south, joined the Confederate Army, but returned after the war and spent the rest of his life around Colorado.
Finding that Golden was not a landholder in the town, some historians later speculated it might not have been named for Golden, but instead after gold. However, a 1904 account written by George West, who helped lead the town's organization, proves the town was indeed named for the Colorado pioneer.


Chris Butcher

Chris Butcher was miner at the Bevercotes Colliery who during the UK miners' strike (1984–85) actively campaigned against the strike. Due to prematurely grey hair, he acquired the nickname "Silver Birch".
He was involved in organising legal action to block the National Union of Mineworkers, who were running the strike.


Copper Basin (Tennessee)

The Copper Basin, also known as the Ducktown Basin, is a geological region located primarily in Polk County, Tennessee that contains deposits of copper ore and covers approximately 60,000 acres. Located in the southeastern corner of Tennessee, small portions of the basin extend into Fannin County, Georgia and Cherokee County, North Carolina. The basin is surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest and the cities of Ducktown and Copperhill, Tennessee and McCaysville, Georgia are located in the basin.
Copper was first discovered in the basin in 1843, and by the 1850s large mining operations, spearheaded by German-born businessman Julius Eckhardt Raht, were taking place. The mines were seized by the Confederacy during the American Civil War and were the source of about 90% of the copper used by the Confederate Army. After the Civil War, smelting operations, which were used to separate sulfur from the copper ore, resulted in acid rain in the area, and, combined with the logging of nearby forests to fuel the smelters, resulted in a massive environmental disaster that left the surrounding landscape barren for more than a century. Several different mines, the largest of which was the Burra Burra Mine, operated in the basin.
By the 1950s, mining operations in the Copper Basin began to decline, with the final mine closing in 1987. Today, the Ducktown Basin Museum chronicles the geological record and history of the mining operations in the basin.
Geography and geology.
The Copper Basin is located in a broad valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains, part of the southern Appalachian Mountains near the borders of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. The basin, actually an area of low hills rather than a true basin, is surrounded on all sides by mountains, including Pack Mountain to the east, Stansbury Mountain to the north, Little Frog Mountain to the northwest, and Big Frog Mountain to the southwest, some more than above sea level. A series of hills rise above the basin to the south. The basin has an average elevation of above sea level.
The Ocoee River flows through the southwestern section of the Copper Basin, entering from Georgia, where it is known as the Toccoa, and exiting via a scenic gorge between Big Frog Mountain and Little Frog Mountain to the west. The river's Copper Basin segment is located at just over upstream from the river's mouth along the Hiwassee River near Benton, Tennessee. The Tennessee Valley Authority's Ocoee Dam Number 3 created a reservoir that extends into the Copper Basin.
Ducktown is located in the center of the Copper Basin near the juncture of Tennessee State Route 68 and U.S. Route 64. The city of Copperhill is located on the southern portion of the basin near the Tennessee-Georgia border, and directly borders McCaysville, Georgia. Other communities include Postelle in the northwest section of the basin, Isabella in the eastern portion, and Harbuck, Turtletown, and Farner just north of the basin. The Copper Basin is also included in the Cleveland, Tennessee metropolitan area.
Most of the rocks in the Copper Basin are metamorphic rocks deposited during the Lower Cambrian period, but also include some igneous rocks. The metamorphic rocks are part of the Great Smoky formation. About two thirds of this metamorphic rock is greywacke, and it is also made up of arkose, conglomerate, greywacke conglomerate, schist, mica schist, garnet schist, slate, and staurolite. The igneous rock consists predominantly of gabbro. The first copper ores were deposited during the Ordovician period, when igneous rocks were advancing into the area. During this time, limestone in the area was metamorphosed into marble. Additional ore was formed after the end of the Carboniferous period. The rocks in the Copper Basin are some of the oldest rocks that were deposited during the Paleozoic era. The copper is located in three paralleling veins within the basin.
Mining history.
Pre-mining period.
The Copper Basin was officially part of Cherokee lands until 1836, when the Cherokee relinquished control of the basin to the U.S. government through the Treaty of New Echota. The Cherokee were recorded to have inhabited the basin until the late 18th century. The Cherokee village of Kawa'na, which translates into "Duck Town" in English, is believed to have been located on the Ocoee River in the basin, and was documented in Cherokee annuity distribution rolls in 1799. The village is believed to have been named after a Cherokee Chief named Duck, although this has never been confirmed. Copper from the basin was reportedly used by the Cherokee on a limited basis. The basin became part of the Ocoee District, which mostly consisted of what is now Polk County. While most Cherokees in the area were forced out as part of the Cherokee removal of 1838, some managed to avoid detection and would later aide in road construction and mining operations.
Early mining history.
Copper was first discovered by a European American in the Copper Basin in August 1843 in a creek southwest of what would eventually become the Burra Burra Mine by a prospector who was reportedly panning for gold. This discovery sparked interest among regional entrepreneurs and opportunists, although the lack of major roads in and out of the basin complicated early mining operations. The first mining operations began in 1847, and that same year the first shipment of copper out of the basin took place. This consisted of 90 casks shipped by mule to Dalton, Georgia, about away, where the nearest railroad was located at that time. The first purchase of land in the Copper Basin for mining activities occurred in 1849 when a British agent bought for a price of $30,000. The Hiwassee Mine, the first deep underground mine in the basin, was opened in 1850.
In 1851, work began on a road through the Ocoee Gorge to connect the Copper Basin with the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad in Cleveland, Tennessee to the west, which had been completed that same year. This road, which became known as the Old Copper Road, was completed in 1853, and is now part of U.S. Route 64. The first smelter was constructed onsite in 1854, and began operations two years later. This was done in an effort to reduce transportation costs. By 1857, four additional mines, the Tennessee, Mary's, Isabella, and Eureka were in operation in the Copper Basin. In 1858, three companies, the Union Consolidated Mining Company, the Burra Burra Copper Company, and the Ducktown Copper Company, were formed to operate different mines in the basin and consolidate the small companies that operated these mines. This early mining was accomplished with the use of picks and shovels, and mules were used transport copper ore out of the mines in carts. Mules and oxen were also used to power whims, which were used to raise the ore out of the mines.
A total of nine separate ore deposits were discovered and worked within the basin. In 1860, several additional small-scale mining operations in the basin were consolidated into the Burra Burra Copper Company, which was placed under the direction of mining engineer Julius Raht. In 1861 a rolling mill was constructed in Cleveland to process copper ore. At the beginning of the American Civil War, most of the shareholders of the mines were Unionists, who closed the mines and fled the area. In January 1862 the Confederacy seized control of the mines, halting private operations, and began using the copper from the basin solely to produce weapons for the war effort. Shares from the Burra Burra Copper Company and the Union Consolidated Mining Company were then sold at public auctions to Confederate sympathizers. By 1863 mining operations had largely ceased in the basin, partially due to the fact that many of the miners joined the Confederate army. Between November 25 and 27, 1863 during the Chattanooga Campaign, Union cavalrymen led by Col. Eli Long raided Cleveland, destroying portions of the railroad and the copper rolling mill. This raid, as well as the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, resulted in restoration of the mines to Union Control. This proved a major blow to the Confederate war effort, as about 90% of their copper came from the Copper Basin.
Mining operations resumed shortly after the war ended, and in 1866, Raht, who had fled to Cincinnati during the war, reopened the mines. Refining operations began in the Copper Basin in 1871. Steam engines were first used in the mining operations during this time, and as a result, the mines were more productive. Between 1866 and 1878, the mines produced a total of of copper ore. By the late 1870s, however, the mines, lacking a cost-effective method of transporting the ore out of the basin, were forced out of business. As a result, the last mines were completely idled in 1879.
Expansion of mining operations.
In the summer of 1889, the Marietta & North Georgia Railroad and the Knoxville Southern Railroad built a rail line connecting the Copper Basin to Knoxville to the north and Marietta, Georgia to the south, and mining operations resumed the following year. A railroad station was constructed in McCay's, and the name was changed to Copperhill in 1908. The London-based Ducktown Sulphur, Copper and Iron Company (DCS&I) reopened the Mary Mine in 1890, and the following year the open-roast heap smelting process was first used in the basin. In 1899, the Tennessee Copper Company (TCC), which had been founded earlier that year and had purchased most of the mining operations in the Copper Basin, constructed a smelter at Copperhill and began work on the Burra Burra Mine at Ducktown. This mine would eventually become the most productive mine in the basin. The company's open roast smelting method released large amounts of sulfur dioxide into the air, killing off all vegetation in the Copper Basin region. After being sued by local farmers and the state of Georgia over damage caused by the pollution, the Tennessee Copper Company began to recapture the sulfur dioxide in 1907 and convert it into sulfuric acid, which they successfully marketed.
Despite the revival of the mining industry, many problems ensued. Beginning in September 1899 several employees of the DCS&I, which had a policy of not employing unionized members, struck after the company fired workers who had formed the Copper Mine Workers Union, and were subsequently terminated. After the intervention of law enforcement, the strike was settled three months later when the DCS&I reaffirmed their policy of not hiring union members.
The Tennessee Copper Company eventually merged with the DCS&I, and the merged company began to diversify. Along with copper and sulfuric acid, the company built a flotation plant to produce copper sulfate in the 1920s. Iron and zinc concentrates were also produced. The DCS&I was reorganized into the Ducktown Chemical and Iron Company (DC&I) in 1925. In 1936, TCC took over the DC&I, and by this time the cities of Ducktown and Copperhill were mostly company towns. J.N. Houser, the head of the TCC at this time, further expanded the products produced in the basin and allowed the employees to unionize.
In 1937, due to a dispute between the three unions representing the miners, the TCC employees were essentially divided when two of the unions joined the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and the other, the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW), joined the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The unions fought for control of the entire company, and two subsequent elections were held by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The first election was won by the AFL, but dismissed after allegations of mismanagement and election fraud. The second election was won by the CIO, but this failed to resolve the dispute. As a result, a strike, organized by the IUMMSW, began on July 14, 1939. The strike mostly ended in late August when the TCC reopened the mines and the NLRB rejected a petition by the AFL for a third vote. Members of the IUMMSW gradually returned to work, but continued to demand that the TCC join the IUMMSW, and the conflict continued. On April 1, 14, and 24, 1940, a total of six explosions, perpetrated by striking miners, damaged three separate transmission lines operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that supplied power to the basin, briefly cutting power to the basin and forcing the closure of the mines. The following year eight members of the IUMMSW were convicted in federal court for conspiracy against the United States for this, which was subsequently upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. This conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1943. The strike officially lasted until May 5, 1940, when members of the IUMMSW agreed at a meeting to end the strike.
On January 5, 1943, an explosion in the Boyd Mine killed eight and injured 12, and left a total of 34 workers trapped for several hours. A ninth victim died in a hospital almost two weeks later. The explosion was the result of a detonation of dust and sulfur fumes in the mine that had been dispersed by a routine blasting operation. The explosion stopped a ventilation fan which brought fresh air into the mine, resulting in a reversal of the air current. As a result, the cause of death of the eight miners killed initially was a combination of asphyxia and dust inhalation, and a total of 17 of the survivors were treated for symptoms caused by these same conditions. The survivors who were trapped were able to open a compressed air line that provided an adequate supply of oxygen until they were rescued. This was the worst mining-related accident to occur in the Copper Basin. Despite this, the mines in the Copper Basin had a much better safety record than most mining operations, with very few deadly accidents occurring.
Later years.
World War II brought a brief increase in demand for products from the Copper Basin. A sulfuric acid plant was constructed in Copperhill in 1942, and by 1949 liquid sulfuric acid was being produced. Faced with decreasing demand and increasing foreign competition, however, the mining industry began to decline in the Copper Basin in the 1950s. The Burra Burra mine, which had grown into the largest mine, closed in 1958. In 1960 the Central Mine, the last major mine in the Copper Basin, began operation. The Tennessee Copper Company was purchased by Cities Services Corporation on June 14, 1963. A strike in 1969 resulted in an eight percent pay increase for employees and an increase in paid benefits. During the Vietnam War, sulfuric acid produced in the Copper Basin was supplied to the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant in Chattanooga. At the beginning of the 1970s, the company announced plans to expand, but faced financial problems into the decade. Two strikes, in 1974 and 1977, the latter of which lasted four months, also led to the decline in mining activities in the basin, as well as anger and division amongst locals, especially those who did not support the strikes. The Tennessee Copper Company was purchased by a group of investors in September 1982 and the name was changed to the Tennessee Chemical Company. The Tennessee Chemical Company immediately began contesting its property tax requirements, which resulted in Polk County laying off 20% of its government employees, resulting in further turmoil amongst local residents.
The company announced plans to shut down all mining operations on January 22, 1985, and the final mine closed on August 27, 1987. The Tennessee Chemical Company filed for bankruptcy on April 10, 1989. The sulfuric acid plant continued to operate until 2000, with raw materials acquired elsewhere.
Environmental issues and reclamation.
In the early years of the mining operations, the forests in the Copper Basin were logged to fuel the smelters. As early as 1861, trees were becoming scarce, and in 1876, the companies began importing logs from Fannin County, Georgia. The smelting process released sulfur gas, which reacted with water vapor in the atmosphere, forming sulfuric acid and precipitating as acid rain. This subsequently killed the majority of the vegetation in the basin, and ran off into the Ocoee River and surrounding tributaries, killing most aquatic life. This also resulted in erosion of the topsoil, much of which ended up in the Ocoee River. The reddish-brown landscape that resulted, which consisted mostly of iron and copper ore, was often compared to a desert and the surface of Mars, and was distinctly visible from space. A total of 32,000 acres were affected.
The state of Georgia began suing the Tennessee Copper Company in the mid 1880s, claiming that the mining operations were causing damage to forests and crops in northern Georgia. In 1904, smokestacks were constructed to disperse the pollution; this, however, only worsened the problem. That same year, in "Madison v. Ducktown Sulphur, Copper & Iron Company", the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed an injunction that would have forced a cessation of the mining operations until the pollution was mitigated. The lawsuits culminated in 1907, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in "Georgia v. Tennessee Copper Company" that the state of Georgia could order the Tennessee Copper Company, via injunction, to mitigate the pollution from the mining activities. The following year, facilities were constructed to condense the fumes into sulfuric acid, and as a result, this injunction was never enforced. Two additional Supreme Court cases related to this injunction, "Wetmore v. Tennessee Copper Co." and "Ladew v. Tennessee Copper Co.", both in 1910, followed. In both of these cases, the court held that jurisdiction on the part of the plaintiffs was improper, as they were not residents of the circuit court's jurisdiction.
Reforestation and reclamation efforts in the Copper Basin began in the 1930s. In 1939, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Copper Company began a joint effort to plant replacement trees, and the soil was treated with lime to remove the acidity. A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was established in the basin in 1941 to aid in the reforestation efforts. By the 2000s, the area had been mostly reclaimed.
Recent history.
The Ducktown Basin Museum was established in 1978 by a group of local citizens intent on preserving the legacy of the Copper Basin. The museum was moved to the building that formerly housed the headquarters of the Tennessee Copper Company at the Burra Burra Mine in 1982. It features exhibits on the history of the mining operations in the basin and the geology of the area, as well as artifacts from the mining activities.
The Burra Burra Mine was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Many of the structures from the mining operations still remain.
The basin was the site of a large flood in 1990 that inundated most of the business districts of Copperhill and McCaysville, resulting in a years-long legal battle between the two cities and forcing Copperhill into bankruptcy.


Huanuni tin mine

The Huanuni tin mine, Huanuni is a large Bolivian mine situated about 60 km south of Oruro, Bolivia on the way to the famous "Villa Imperial de Potosí", as the city was and is known since colonial times. The mine is situated in Bolivia's tin mining heartland. It was originally owned at the turn of the 20th century by Don Vicko Orlandini (Don Vincenzo Orlandini), who was a member of one of Bolivia's famous tin mining families, and also owner of El Porvenir-Cataricahua, in Huanuni, Oruro, Bolivia. The Huanuni mine was later sold to Simón Iturri Patiño, a well-known tin baron.
The mine was discovered by chance in the 19th century, and was mined for a long time simply with the aid of simple tools; the means of transport were donkeys. From 1930 to the late 1940s the Huanuni mine took Catavi mine`s title of the largest underground tin mine in the world. This title would belong to the Huanuni mine to the end of the 20th century. Thousands of Bolivian mine workers still go underground every day.
Using traditional mining methods, the average lifespan of a mine worker from the local community was traditionally 46 years . Lifespan and pay have until nowadays increased dramatically , as average lifespan has increased to over 60 years. Currently, the Huanuni Mine is still Bolivia's largest underground tin mine and the world's richest cassiterite deposit.