The
Kennecott Mines
"Lunch at Bonanza," Chapter 21, "Legacy of the
Chief," pt 3
ABOVE: The Jumbo mine site |
On July 15th, the Erie cross cut
tunnel to the 1500 foot level of Jumbo was completed. Tracks were then
laid so that a battery locomotive could move Erie ore to the Jumbo
thirty-degree incline tunnel, where it would be hauled to the surface
and sent down the Jumbo tram to the mill.
The Jumbo and Bonanza had a cross-cut tunnel at the 600 level. These two
mines were about a mile apart. Mother Lode connected to Bonanza at the
800 level in 1919 and the 1250 level by 1921. With the Erie to Jumbo
two-mile cross-cut completed at the 1500 level of Jumbo, all the
underground workings were finally connected in 1924.
The Glacier Mine was a surface operation that was a mixture of ice and
ore from the Bonanza outcropping. Because it was a rock glacier, the ice
made up forty percent of the volume. A Bagley scraper operated
throughout the 1920s during June, July and August, digging into the rock
glacier. Bonanza mine had several adits in the cirque overlooking the
rock glacier mining operation. One of these portals was the head of a
temporary tram to the Glacier mine, 1000 feet below. Most of the others
were old adits from the early days when Stephen Birch’s first crew began
removing the high-grade ore from the surface. These old tunnels ended as
thousand-foot sheer drop-offs
BELOW: View of the Glacier mine tram head overlooking the Kennicott Glacier |
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