The Kennecott Mines
| ABOVE: Stephen Birch, Founder, President and Chairman of the Board, Kennecott; president and director of the Alaska Steamship Company; chairman of the board of Braden Copper Company (the big one in Chile); a director of the Alaska Development and Mineral Company; the Bankers Trust Company of New York; the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company; the Colorado & Southern Railroad Company; and the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. 1872-1940. | ||
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“By now, all of you are aware why I
came here with Mr. Jackling. Our consulting engineer Mr. Bateman first
called my attention to the need to reevaluate this great interior Alaska
mine group in relation to our worldwide system, including the Bingham,
Ray, Chino, Ely and Braden Mines. “It has been a great run. Much more so than we ever had dreamed. This mine, as you all know, was my first. It is the one which I hold dearest because my career really began right here close to the spot where I now stand. The Bonanza-Jumbo for a brief time was a top producer worldwide. We suspected at the beginning and we know now that the richness of the ore here has never been surpassed and probably never will be. “But the Bonanza and Jumbo have already seen their heyday. We have no reason to believe that any new significant ore bodies will be discovered in either of those mines. You will soon be asked to begin preparing a plan of retreat for these two mines. “With the completion of the Jumbo to Erie crosscut, we have discovered four new veins. There remain other areas which have not yet been fully prospected. However, there has been nothing which appears to approximate the ore-bodies of the Jumbo or Bonanza. I have concluded that it is unlikely that any really large deposits exist in the still unexplored area between Jumbo and Erie. Nevertheless, I am directing Bill Douglass to concentrate core-drilling in that area and develop prospect drifts and cross-cuts where they can be justified." |
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| BELOW: The Erie Mine overlooking Root Glacier. |
