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To Move A Mountain

Railroads and Mining in Utah's Bingham Canyon

This page last updated on January 14, 2012.

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Copper Era, 1914 to 1981

(Utah Copper, Bingham & Garfield, and Kennecott Copper only)

March 31, 1914
Underground work on Utah Copper's former Boston mine was stopped because enough capping had been removed to allow both mills to be furnished solely from the open cut methods. (Rickard, page 48)

September 1914
Bingham & Garfield was shut down, until April 27, 1915, for lack of traffic. Copper was selling at 18.5 cents per pound, the highest price since 1907. (Eastern Utah Advocate, April 30, 1915) (Was Utah Copper shut down also?)

1914
Utah Copper took 98 percent of its ore from the open cut operations. Bingham & Garfield moved 4,829,877 tons of ore, 2 percent (100,466 tons) of which was ore from other companies. (Engineering & Mining Journal, May 8, 1915, page 824)

1914
Utah Copper's annual report for the year ending December 31, 1913 shows the following:

During the year 1914, two six-wheel switching locomotives and one No. 8 eight-wheel combination revolving locomotive crane and steam shovel were purchased. At the end of the year, the railway and steam shovel equipment consisted of 20 standard gauge steam shovels ; 39 standard gauge switching locomotives; 1 standard gauge Shay locomotive; 11 narrow gauge locomotives; 100 standard gauge 12-yard all-steel dump cars; 117 standard gauge 6-yard wooden dump cars; 144 narrow gauge 4-yard wooden dump cars; 4 flat cars of 100,000 pounds capacity each; 1 engine tender, used for hauling water; and 1 combination locomotive crane and steam shovel.

1915
Transportation of copper ore for Utah Copper was by way of the Denver & Rio Grande and by its own Bingham & Garfield. Other companies were using Utah Consolidated's cable tramway to the International smelter, and the underground Bingham Central Railway, by way of the three-mile Mascotte Tunnel to Lark. (Wegg, page 68)

September 1915
Utah Copper ordered six "6-wheel locomotives" from the Baldwin Locomotive Works. (Delivered in October 1915; numbered as Utah Copper 71-76)

November 17, 1915
Guggenheim Exploration Company sold its interest and holdings in Utah Copper to the Kennecott Corporation. (Salt Lake Mining Review, November 30, 1915)

KENNECOTT TAKES UTAH STOCK. New York, Nov. 17. The Guggenheim Exploration Company, which is a holding company for some of the more important interests represented by the Guggenheims in their various mining operations, is to dissolve, according to announcement made today. The Kennecott corporation, in which the Guggenheims and J. P. Morgan & Co. are said to have large holdings, will take over the holdings of the Guggenheim Exploration Company in UtahCopper, giving its on stock in exchange. Guggenheim Exploration will distribute to its shareholders their pro rata share of holdings of Ray Consolidated, Chino, American Smelting & Refining common and Yukon Gold stocks. In addition, each shareholder of Guggenheim Exploration will receive the option of acceptang $37 cash for each share of the new Kennecott stock. The Guggenheim Exploration Company is a New Jersey corporation and was organized as a holding company, with stock interests in various mines and mining properties in Alaska, Canada and the United States, including Utah Copper, Chino Copper, Ray Consolidated Copper, Yukon Gold and American Smelting & Refining Company. The capitalization of the Guggenheim Exploration Company is $22,000,000 and the par value of the stock is $25. Guggenheim Exploration sold at the high record price of 79 3-8 on the stock exchange yesterday and, with other issues of the same group, has been a market leader. This afternoon, on announcement of the proposed dissolution of the company, that stock, as well as most other copper issues, declined moderately.

1915
Utah Copper's annual report for the year ending December 31, 1915 shows the following (selected excerpts):

During 1915, ten 12-yard, all steel, dump cars were purchased, and fifty standard-gauge, 30-yard, all steel, air-dump cars were ordered and will be delivered about April 30, 1916. Some small improvements and extensions were made in connection with the system of water supply for locomotive and steam shovel boilers. A steel frame, corrugated iron, compressor building was erected, and five 6-room brick cottages for heads of departments were built.

The total amount of capping removed during the year was 5,961,367 cubic yards, being an average of 1,490,342 cubic yards per quarter, and an average of 496,780 cubic yards per month, as compared with an average of 1,427,209 cubic yards and 475,736 cubic yards, respectively, for the previous year. The total amount of capping removed prior to January 1, 1916, was 33,795,410 cubic yards, of which quantity 21,194,751 cubic yards were from the Utah Group and 12,600,659 cubic yards from the Boston Group. At the close of the year, the total area upon which stripping operations had been conducted was 203.24 acres, and the actual area completely stripped was estimated at 96.80 acres.

With the exception of a comparatively small amount of development work in the Boston Mine, no underground mining operations were conducted during the year 1915 and, therefore, practically all of the ore produced was mined by steam shovels. The average cost of mining was 24.41 cents per ton, of which 7.50 cents represent charges for stripping and 0.30 cent charges for development, leaving an actual working cost, including the proper proportionment of all fixed and general charges, of 16.61 cents per ton as compared with 22.62 cents per ton for the year 1914. This very notable reduction was due partly to increased output, partly to an improvement in the working conditions on the various steam shovel levels, and partly to increased efficiency in all departments.

During the year, there were milled at the Magna Plant 5,233,300 tons of ore, an increase of 771,839 tons over the previous year; while at the Arthur Plant, which was not operated until January 25th, 3,261,000 tons were milled, an increase of 1,252,295 tons as compared with 1914. The total ore treated at both plants was 8,494,300 tons, as compared with 6,470,166 tons for the previous year. The Magna Plant treated an average of 14,338 tons daily during the year, and the Arthur Plant an average of 9,563 tons daily during the time it was actually operated.

The average grade of ore milled at both plants was slightly under 1.434% copper, as compared with about 1.425% copper for 1914. The average recovery at both plants was 64.13%, corresponding to 18.39 pounds of copper per ton, as compared to 66.04%, or 18.82 pounds of copper per ton, for the previous year. For the last six months of the year, the average daily tonnage milled was 26,537, or about 33% above normal capacity.

The cost of milling at Magna was 30.91 cents per ton, and at Arthur 39.02 cents, as compared with 34.35 cents and 37.55 cents, respectively, for the year 1914. The average cost of milling at both plants was 34.02 cents per ton, as compared with 35.36 cents for the previous year. The average cost for the first quarter was 41.98 cents ; for the second quarter, 30.98 cents ; for the third quarter, 31.66 cents ; and for the fourth quarter, 34.66 cents. The higher costs for the first and fourth quarters were due to winter weather conditions and the consequent decrease in tonnage treated.

About two-thirds of the capping on the westerly side of Bingham Canyon has been removed. On the lower steam shovel levels, stripping has progressed to such an extent that the quantity of capping to be removed from these during 1916 will be only about one-half that moved during 1915. On the levels near the top of the mountain, where the capping was very thick, there is still a large quantity remaining, and it is on this account desirable to continue stripping operations for a time at approximately the same rate as for the past year. It is not likely therefore that any material decrease in these operations will occur until after the close of 1916.

The Directors have authorized the construction of a leaching plant to treat the oxidized capping which has been, and is being, removed from the ore bodies. It is the intention to build this plant with an initial capacity of from 2,000 to 3,000 tons per day, the arrangement being such that this capacity can be readily increased, if an increase is warranted by the experience gained in the operation of the first installation. Construction on this plant will be commenced as early in the summer of 1916 as weather conditions and preparation of designs will permit. For the purpose of furnishing acid for this plant and supplying other local and some commercial requirements, the Company has undertaken to participate equally with the Garfield Smelting Company in financing the construction and operation of an acid works near the smelter.

1915-1918
Utah Copper expanded its original tailings pond near Magna from the original 1500 acres to 5000 acres. This forced the Union Pacific (LA&SL) and Western Pacific tracks to be relocated to the north in 1917. The two railroads created a new station named Garfield as a connection to Utah Copper's railroad. This Garfield station remained in place until replaced by a new Garfield created in 1997 when UP moved its mainline again to allow expansion of the Kennecott tailings pond. (Utah History Cyclopedia; Union Pacific condensed track profile)

March 1916
Utah Copper sent a representative to Montana to study Butte, Anaconda and Pacific, and Milwaukee Road electrification. (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 15, 1916, page 33)

1916
Utah Copper's annual report for the year ending December 31, 1916 shows the following:

The equipment used in connection with the removal of capping was increased by the addition of fifty standard-gauge 30-yard all-steel air-dump cars. A large additional area of surface was purchased adjacent to the Company's property, for use as dumping ground for waste.

It is estimated that approximately three-fourths of the capping has been removed from the ore body as now developed on the westerly side of Bingham Canyon, and that a total of at least 300,000,000 tons of developed ore yet remains in this part of the deposit. On the lower steam shovel levels, the capping to be removed during 1917 will probably not exceed one-half the quantity removed during 1916; but on the intermediate and upper levels, it will be necessary to continue stripping operations during 1917 at about the same rate as for the year 1916. Therefore, it is not likely that there will be any considerable decrease in such operations during the present year.

In order to furnish acid for the leaching plant and mills, as well as to supply some other local and commercial requirements, the Company agreed to participate equally with the Garfield Smelting Company in the construction and operation of an acid plant near the smelter. The construction of this plant was begun on March 8th, 1916, and the work was far enough along by December 22nd, 1916, to permit commencement of acid production. The operations were hampered by the usual difficulties that are to be expected in starting a new plant, as well as by the unusually severe weather that prevailed all winter. The production has now reached a rate of about 75 tons of 50-degree acid per day. This will be increased gradually to the rated capacity of about 150 tons per day, and it is intended that the plant will be enlarged from time to time to meet not only the requirements of the Copper Company and Smelting Company, but to supply such commercial demand as may be found.

April 1917
Utah Copper purchased the last of the Wall claims, ending a long series of court battles over the rights to the claims that made up the original Utah Copper property in 1903. (Engineering & Mining Journal, April 28, 1917, page 769)

September 1917
A 2,000-ton leaching plant was completed at Magna to recover copper from very low grade (less than 1 percent) ore. Construction started in August 1916. (Kennecott notes; Engineering & Mining Journal, July 1, 1916, page 71)

October 1917
New crusher was installed at Arthur. (Kennecott Historical Index)

November 1917
Bingham & Garfield hauled an average of 32,019 tons of copper ore per day. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1918
A new Wellman-Seaver-Morgan single car dumper was installed at Arthur. The mill had originally been equipped with a 10,000-ton steel ore bin fed by bottom dumping ore cars. (Rickard, page 53) (Kennecott's Historical Index says that the dumper was a "Hullett Single".)

January 1918
Operations of new Magna leaching plant began. (Kennecott notes)

January 15, 1919
First operation of new car dumper at Arthur. (Kennecott Historical Index)

February 26, 1919
Magna mill was closed because of drop in copper demand after World War One. The mill had been working full time since opening in 1908 and needed maintenance. The shut down lasted over 2-1/2 years, until November 10, 1922. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 70; Parsons 1933, page 87)

May 28, 1920
An agreement was signed for the operation of Utah Copper ore trains over the Bingham & Garfield, by Bingham & Garfield crews. (Kennecott Historical Index)

September 1, 1920
All Bingham & Garfield locomotives and rolling stock was sold to Utah Copper Company in a move to remove the B&G from interstate commerce, and limit the railway company's net operating income to 6 per cent, the figure established by the federal Interstate Commerce Commission; any amount exceeding 6 per cent was to deposited into a nationwide revolving fund for the benefit of all of the nation's railroads.

February 1921
Magna leaching plant was shut down permanently due to the low price of copper, and the high cost of the leaching operation. The plant was under construction between September 1916 and September 1917, and had been in operation from January 1918 to February 1919 and again in May 1920 through February 1921. (Kennecott notes)

April 2, 1921
Bingham Canyon mine was shut down. (Kennecott Historical Index)

April 4, 1921
Arthur mill was shut down. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1922
First electric shovels were tested at Bingham: two Marion Model 92 shovels with treads and 4-1/2 yard dippers. (USGS Bulletin 398, page 184)  Electric shovels had been used in other parts of the world as early as 1914 (an electric Bucyrus Model 100-C having been used in Sweden). (Engineering & Mining Journal, October 31, 1914, page 767)

April 1, 1922
Bingham Canyon mine operations resume. (Kennecott Historical Index)

April 4, 1922
Arthur mill operation resumes. (Kennecott Historical Index)

July 1922
Modernization of Magna mill began. (Kennecott Historical Index)

November 1922
Magna mill was reopened. (Kennecott Historical Index)

November 1922
Utah Copper was reported as shipping 250 cars per day (about 25,000 tons) by way of the Bingham & Garfield Railway. "None of this immense tonnage has been handled by Denver & Rio Grande Western for three years." (Salt Lake Mining Review, November 15, 1922)

1923
A test precipitation plant was built in the bottom of the pit to recover the dissolved copper in drain water which collected at the bottom of the pit. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 74)

1923
Steam shovels were remodeled by placing them on three caterpillar treads, one on each side at front, and a third in center at rear. (Bureau of Mines IC 6234)

1923
Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Twin car dumper was installed at the Magna mill. Magna had originally been equipped with a 25,000-ton wooden ore bin with three tracks dumping into it. Cars being dumped were either wood or steel and either center-bottom dump or side-bottom dump. Bottom dumping was becoming a problem due to large boulders and wet ore freezing during the winter. The new twin car dumper was capable of dumping 720 cars (48,000 tons) per day. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1923
Two electric shovels and 17 steam shovels were placed on caterpillar treads. Treads had been in use on shovels in other mines in country since 1920. (Kennecott Historical Index)

March 1923
Utah Construction Company began excavation for the new car dumper at Magna. (Mining and Metallurgy, August 1925, page 447)

September 1923
First new electric shovel purchased. (Bureau of Mines Bulletin 273, pages 2,3)

November 12, 1923
First new electric shovel (number 22, a Marion Model 92), of eight purchased new, was placed in service at the north end of K-Level. Fifteen steam shovels had been converted to electric at the Bingham shops. (Kennecott Historical Index) (click here for more information about how Utah Copper numbered the levels of the Bingham mine.)

December 1923
Magna car dumper yard was completed and the new car dumper was placed into service. (Kennecott notes)

1924
A small precipitation plant was built at Copperton to extract copper from waste dump runoff. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 74)

June 16, 1924
Two 70-ton, 600 volts DC electric locomotives arrive for use at the new Magna and Arthur dumper yards. (Kennecott notes)

September 1924
The Magna and Arthur dumper yards were electrified, using 600 volts DC, and the two 70-ton locomotives go into service, one at Magna on September 8th and the other at Arthur on September 10th. (source not recorded) (The two locomotives were purchased second-hand from Manufacturer's Railway in St. Louis.)

July 1925
Six new electric shovels arrive. Three steam shovels converted to electric. The decision was made to electrify all remaining shovels. (Bureau of Mines Bulletin 273, page 3)

On September 21, 1925 Denver & Rio Grande Western sold the Copper Belt Branch, the Yampa Branch, and the upper (in-canyon) portion of the Low Grade Line to the Bingham & Garfield Railway. (D&RGW Agreement 4163 and Deed U-3267) The location of the three lines were interfering with the expansion of Utah Copper's open pit mine. The copper company wanted the freedom to move the trackage around to suit the operations of the mine. The Rio Grande retained its yard and depot at Bingham and 3.3 miles of the Low Grade Line outside of the canyon, which they renamed the Bingham Branch Extension. That portion of the line was being used to serve the loading bins of the Congor and Midas mines and was later abandoned in 1931. By the time of the 1925 sale the Copper Belt Branch was thoroughly intermixed with the trackage of the copper company. The Yampa Branch had not been operated since 1913 and had seen very little traffic since the Yampa Smelter was destroyed by fire in 1909. Most of the other mines were owned by the larger companies but were being worked by leasers. Their ore bins would be served by the Bingham & Garfield, as a common carrier.

The five Shay locomotives purchased by the Denver & Rio Grande as part of its purchase of the Copper Belt Railway had been kept working on the branches in the canyon, above Loline Junction. With the sale of the three branches with steep grades and sharp curves in 1925, Denver & Rio Grande would likely have moved the Shays from their former Copper Belt location at Bingham down to the roundhouse and facilities at Welby. Three of the Shays, road numbers 1, 2, and 4, were sold for scrap within a year and a half. The two others, numbers 3 and 5, were kept in service for another eight and ten years respectively, when they too were sold and cut up for scrap.

By 1926 Utah Copper was shipping 50,000 tons per day over the Bingham & Garfield Railway, compared to the 35,000 tons that the Copper Belt had shipped during the entire month of October 1904.

1926
Capacity of Magna and Arthur mills were raised to 50,000 tons per day. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1926
Construction of "model" townsite of Copperton was begun. (Kennecott Historical Index)

late April 1926
Utah Copper ordered two locomotives for motive power tests in the Bingham Canyon mine, to be delivered within 90 days; one was to be a 60-ton oil-electric at a cost of $65,000 (road number 600) and the other was to be a 75-ton combination trolley electric/battery electric at a cost of $50,000 (road number 700). Both locomotives to be used on 'J' and 'K' stripping levels. No mention of tests involving steam motive power. (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 30, 1926)

"Large shovels at Bingham are already electrified." (Salt lake Mining Review, April 30, 1926)

July 1926
An ALCo-General Electric-Ingersoll Rand 60-ton oil-electric locomotive number 600 was received. (construction serial number 10028/16680) (builder's data)

May 16, 1927
First electric locomotive, number 700 (GE construction serial number 10258), was put into service on the K-Level dump line and comparative tests between diesel and electric were begun. Electric power to the locomotive was 750 volts DC and came from portable towers of the same design as those being used for the 550 volts DC for the electric shovels. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1927
The first electric locomotive at the Bingham mine was put into service in 1927 on "G" level dump. (Kennescope, no date)

1928
The conversion of the 90-ton shovels from the steam railroad type with 3-1/2 cubic yard buckets to electric with caterpillar treads and 4-1/2 cubic yard buckets had allowed a 68 percent increase in productivity, from 2,350 tons to 3,966 tons per shovel per day. Twenty three all-electric shovels were in service, eight using AC controllers and fifteen others using DC controllers. (Kennecott Historical Index)

June 1928
Utah Copper announced that they would replace their steam railroad locomotives with combination electric trolley and battery locomotives, some of which would be built with an additional cable reel for "extension cord" operation. (Kennecott Historical Index)

September 1928
The first of the new electric locomotives arrived. The first to arrive was number 702. Apparently number 701 was wrecked en route and Utah Copper never replaced it. (GE builder data)

Battery Locomotives

In 1928, Kennecott Copper ordered four 700-series electric locomotives with on-board batteries. These locomotives weighed 85 tons and operated on 750-volt overhead trolley wire with considerable further range whilst running on batteries. The locomotives provided several decades of service using Nickel-iron battery (Edison) technology. The batteries were replaced with lead-acid batteries, and the locomotives were retired shortly afterward. Three out of the four locomotives were donated to museums and are currently displayed at Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad, Iowa, Northwest Railway Museum, in Snoqualmie, Washington and at the Western Railway Museum in Rio Vista, California. (source)

1929
Precipitation plant at Copperton was replaced by a more modern one of greater capacity. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 74)

September 23, 1929
Electric locomotives placed in service in Bingham & Garfield Bingham yard as switchers. (Kennecott Historical Index)

October 1929
Last (number 741) of the initial 40 (road numbers 701-741) electric locomotives was received. (Kennecott Historical Index)

December 19, 1929
Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) was placed in service at the pit. Forty-one (41) 85-ton electric locomotives are in service. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1930
Sixty miles of track were in service in the pit with an average daily production of 40,000 tons of ore and 30,000 cubic yards of waste removed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

January 25, 1930
Arthur mill was shut down for rehabilitation. All ore was then treated at Magna. The Arthur remained closed until September 1936. (Kennecott Historical Index)

March 1930
Grading work was begun at Arthur to raise the dumper yard to the level of the car dumper. The project was completed in May. Up to this time the dumper was about ten feet above the tracks of the dumper yard and an electric pusher "mule" was used to push the ore cars up to the dumper. The "electric mule" cable car pusher had become troublesome in the winter and could not handle the desired increased dumping rate. The cost of the project was $100,000 and it allowed for increased daily capacity of 500 cars, or 40,000 tons. (source not recorded)

November 1932
A ten-feet wide, electrified railroad tunnel under all of the mines in Bingham Canyon was proposed in a request for a $2.5 million government loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. The tunnel was to be 30,000 feet in length and would connect the bottom workings of a "dozen" mines, allowing them to haul their ores down to the new tunnel, rather than hoisting their ore up several hundred feet at great expense. (New York Times, November 19, 1932, "Mine Tunnel Loan Sought")

1933
Bingham Canyon mine and Magna mill operations were at one-fifth of capacity, with staggered shifts to retain as many workers as possible. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 71)

April 1, 1935
Ore Delivery Department (Utah Copper's operation of the Bingham & Garfield) was placed under the administration of the Department of Mills. (Kennecott Historical Index)

September 1, 1936
Arthur mill reopened, after being shut down for nearly six years. The Arthur foundry reopened in October 1932, after closing in January 1932. (Kennecott Historical Index)

November 10, 1936
Utah Copper Company was sold to Kennecott Copper Corporation. Kennecott had organized a new Utah Copper Company in Delaware, as a subsidiary, on November 6, 1936 for the purpose. The original Utah Copper Company had been organized in New Jersey in 1904. On April 29, 1915, Kennecott Copper Corporation had been organized in New York to acquire the worldwide Guggenheim copper interests, including all of the interests of Kennecott Mines Company in Alaska (including its Copper River & Northwestern Railroad) and 25 percent interest in Utah Copper Company in Utah, along with 96 percent interest in Braden Copper Company in Chile. In 1923 Kennecott Copper Corporation acquired 77 percent control of Utah Copper Company and by 1925 Kennecott had acquired 95 percent interest in Utah Copper. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 68; Kennecott Historical Index)

1937
Ohio Copper Company sold all of its surface rights and minerals rights to Kennecott. Ohio retained its dumps and leaching plant at Lark, which were later sold to United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company in 1950. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 88)

February 1937
A second order of electric locomotives (road numbers 742-760) began to arrive, with delivery continuing through October. This second order was delivered as 85-ton locomotives. During 1937 the other 41 locomotives, delivered as 75-ton units, were reballasted to 85 tons. For operations in the pit, two locomotives are needed for each shovel in service. Each locomotive handled a train of twelve (12) empty cars. (Kennecott Historical Index)

February 25, 1937
Utah Copper offered $600,000 for Ohio Copper's property in Bingham Canyon. Utah Copper needed the surface for expansion of its open pit mine, and a portion of the underground workings for the proposed vehicular tunnel between Bingham and Copperfield. The vehicular tunnel would allow Utah Copper to close the county road at the bottom of Bingham Canyon. (Deseret News, February 25, 1937)

December 1937
Seventy five (75) miles of track had been electrified. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1938
The original Kennicott copper mine in Alasaka was closed. The profits from this mine in Alaska between 1911 and 1938 were reported as the reason the Kennecott Copper Coproration took full ownership of the Utah Copper Company, making it the Utah Copper Division of Kennecott Copper Corporation. (Deseret News, June 8, 1998)

June 16, 1938
Bingham Canyon mine and both mills were completely shut down, after operating at one-fifth capacity for almost five years. (Kennecott Historical Index)

August 1, 1938
Bingham Canyon mine and both mills operations resume. (Kennecott Historical Index)

February 4, 1939
Copperton vehicular tunnel was opened for traffic. The 6,975 tunnel had been completed in December 1938 and was built at a cost of $1.4 Million. The tunnel rose from 6,100 feet elevation at Bingham to 6,600 feet at Copperfield, at a 6.4 percent grade. Utah Construction Company had begun construction in March 1937 and made a perfect hole-through on February 19, 1938. The old county highway in the bottom of the canyon was closed and the tunnel was deeded to Salt Lake County as its replacement. The tunnel was used by about 850 cars that first day and could accommodate 1,100 cars per day. (source not recorded)

mid February 1939
A fill was begun to connect the east and west sides of C-Level, across the old county highway. Auto traffic was now using the new Copperfield vehicular tunnel. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1940
Utah Copper waste trains began filling Carr Fork with waste. (Kennecott Historical Index)

May 1940
Ore Delivery Department became Ore Haulage Department. (Kennecott Historical Index)

September 1940
American Institute of Mining Engineers (AIME) met in national convention at Salt Lake City, Utah. (Mining and Metallurgy, Volume 21, 1940)

Late 1940
During late 1940 Utah Copper was the largest producer of non-ferrous metals in the United States, with a daily ore production of 70,000 tons, with 90,000 tons of waste being removed. Utah Copper employed 4,300 persons, including those working for the Bingham & Garfield. The total tonnage mined to January 1, 1940 was 641,268,375 tons, of which a little less than half (295,648,575 tons) was copper ore. there were twenty-one levels on the mine's west side, and twelve levels on the east side, along with three sub-levels, below the A-level. The bottom level of the mine was at 6,190 feet elevation. Electric shovels in the mine were loading 6,300 tons in each eight-hour shift. The new full-rotation shovels, using five-cubic yard dippers, were loading up to 10,000 tons per shift. Waste rock was being hauled in trains of eight to ten, thirty-cubic yard dump cars. There was a total of 166 miles of standard gauge railroad track in the Utah Copper operation: 98 miles of mine tracks; 33 miles of mainline to the mills; and 35 miles of yard, loading, storage, and side-tracks. (Mining and Metallurgy, Volume 21, December 1940, page 550)

May 1941
Construction of the 100,000 kilowatt Central Power Station began. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 75) (click here for more information about the Central Power Station)

1941
Switchback from M-Level down to G-Level was completed. (Kennecott notes)

late 1941
Dry Fork was completely filled with waste. (Kennecott Historical Index)

In early November 1941 a record was set when on one single day the Bingham & Garfield moved 105,000 tons of ore to the mills. Of the 1,150 cars of ore shipped in that single 24 hour period; 667 cars went to Magna and 483 cars went to Arthur. At the time, in November 1941, the United States was producing thirty percent of world's copper and Bingham was producing one-third of the United States' production. (Salt Lake Tribune, November 9, 1941)

February 15, 1942
Utah Copper locomotive 105 had a boiler explosion that killed both the engineer, Joseph Poulsen, and the fireman, Rhys Thomas. The brakeman, Edward Anderson suffered minor burns because of his location in the brakeman's shanty atop the locomotive tender. The explosion took place at 8:05 a.m. on Saturday February 15, 1942 while the locomotive was inside Tunnel No. 3 on the former Bingham & Garfield line in Bingham Canyon. The locomotive was at the head of a train of 52 empty ore cars returning to the Bingham copper mine from the mill at Magna. (Salt Lake Telegram, February 21, 1942) The usual operating practice was for the locomotive to travel tender first when returning to the mine, putting the brakeman ahead of the locomotive when the explosion took place.

March 1942
Four new 90-ton electric locomotives arrived (road numbers 761-764). An additional 100-ton electric locomotive (road number 600) arrived, set up for 600 volts DC, and was put into service at the mill car dumpers. The additional locomotive allowed higher dumper production by doing away with dumping delays due to shift changes and the dumpers being idle while the dumper locomotive went after another cut of cars. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1943
The car dumper at Arthur set a record when it dumped 633 cars of ore in 24 hours. (Kennescope magazine, March 1957, page 9)

June 1943
The cross-canyon connection was completed (at the site of the old Yampa Smelter) between the new 6040-Tunnel and the new Ore Haulage Central Yard, near Dry Fork. Two short tunnels are built through the fill to cross over the highway and the Denver & Rio Grande Western line. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1944
There were 120.2 miles of track in the pit and the canyon. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1944
The 6040-Tunnel was completed; 3,975 feet long. (Kennecott Historical Index)

March 24, 1944
Central Power Station at Magna went into service at a cost of $8 Million. The boilers could use either natural gas or coal. (Kennecott Historical Index) (click here for more information about the Central Power Station)

March 1944
Supposedly an additional order was placed with Baldwin for two very large steam locomotives of the 2-8-8-4 type (very similar to B&O's EM-1 2-8-8-4, known as "Eastern Yellowstones"). This either proposed or actual purchase was mentioned in a lengthy article on the history of Mallets by Henry B. Comstock (who as also editor at the time) in the March 1944 edition of Railroad Magazine. (Railway Preservation News, "The 26th and 27th EM-1 2-8-8-4s," July 9, 2011)

(Wikipedia 2-8-8-4 "Yellowstone" article)

1945
Kennecott put its first Centralized Traffic Control control panel into service. It controlled railroad traffic between lower Bingham Canyon and Copperton. (Kennescope magazine, December 1954, page 15)

May 8, 1946
Construction of new Copperton low line began. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1947
Central Power Station was expanded to 110,000 kilowatts. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 75) (click here for more information about the Central Power Station)

January 1, 1947
Utah Copper Company became the Utah Copper Division of Kennecott Copper Corporation. (Kennecott Historical Index)

March 1947
The CC line was completed, for connection to the new Copperton low line. (Kennecott Historical Index)

October 22, 1947
Ore Haulage employees went on strike. (Kennecott Historical Index)

November 6, 1947
Ore Haulage strike ends. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1948
Construction began on the Garfield Refinery. (Kennecott Historical Index)

Operations of the Copperton Low Line began on April 1, 1948. (Strack, 1983 research notes)

April 30, 1948
Bingham & Garfield operations cease. (Kennecott Historical Index)

May 2, 1948
New Copperton low line began operation. The maximum grade for the new line was 1.35 percent while the maximum grade of the Bingham & Garfield was 2.5 percent. The lower gradient of the new line allowed longer trains and therefore more ore to be delivered to the mills. Seven 3,000 hp electric locomotives were purchased for service on the new Copperton line; enough to operate the low line trains and to provide locomotives for the car dumpers at the two mills. To allow the new locomotives to be used on the car dumpers, the dumper yards at Magna and Arthur were converted from 600 volts DC to 3,000 volts DC (the same as the Copperton low line) and the three 85-ton (numbers 737, 738, 740) and single 100-ton (number 600) were reassigned to the Bingham pit. Number 600 was renumbered to 765 upon reassignment. (source not recorded)

October 1948
A new 1500 hp diesel-electric locomotive, road number 901, was purchased. (Baldwin Model DRS6-4-1500, Baldwin construction serial number 73474) The locomotive was built by Baldwin in March as a demonstrator and Kennecott "bought it on the spot" after seeing a demonstration of the unit on the Western Pacific at Tooele. (Dolzall, pp.86,87)

December 13, 1949
The new 1500 hp diesel-electric locomotive, road number 902, was placed into service at the Magna yard. (ALCo Model RS-2, ALCo construction serial number 77563) (source not recorded)

September 1, 1950
First cathodes are pulled from acid bath at refinery for melt down. (Kennecott Historical Index)

October 2, 1950
First shipment of finished copper was made from the refinery. (Kennecott Historical Index)

April 15, 1951
The new Lark tunnel for United States Smelting, Refining and Mining was "bored through" on Sunday April 15, 1951. The work had started two and a half years before, with Kennecott paying the full cost of $6 million. The length was reported as 21,014 feet, or 3.9 miles. Construction was being completed by Utah Construction company. The tunnel was at the 5600-foot level, and a shaft would be completed to connect the new tunnel with the old Niagara tunnel at the 6688-foot level. Work began in November 1948, and was scheduled for completion in summer 1952. (Deseret News, April 16, 1951)

June 30, 1951
Bingham & Garfield was "liquidated", corporation dissolved. (Kennecott Historical Index)

July 1951
Utah Construction Company finishes work on refinery. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1952
Chevron Fertilizer Plant -- Located just north of the pre-1997 South Tailings Impoundment and mostly buried by the North Tailings impoundment was the Chevron Fertilizer Plant and its wastes. The plant, built in 1952, was originally a joint venture of Kennecott, ASARCO, and Stauffer Chemical. The plant treated phosphate ores with sulfuric acid to produce phosphoric acid and dry phosphate fertilizer products. Annual production ranged between 10,000 and 70,000 tons/year. Wastes included 300,000 tons/year of phosphogypsum. Chevron bought the facility in 1981. They ceased production of the phosphoric and acid and dry phosphate in 1986. Then they leased the land to FCI Agri-chem who mined the phosphogypsum tailings at the site for use as soil additives. The wastes covered about 385 acres and was thought to be about 6 million cubic yards. Kennecott bought the land in 1994 for use in the North Expansion and dismantled the plant in 1995 retaining only the administration building. There were 4 above ground fuel oil storage tanks that were removed and contamination in the footprint excavated and placed in a land farm at the site. There were also reports of the burial of Picloram at the site, but an investigation did not find any traces of this pesticide. (source)

March 1952
Four new 125-ton locomotives (numbers 800-803) arrive, to handle the projected increase in tonnage because of the new 5840-Tunnel going into service, (later numbers 866-869, and finally numbers 766-769). (Kennecott Historical Index)

August 1952
The 5840-Tunnel in completed and placed in service. The tunnel was 7,000 feet long. Tracklaying in the tunnel began in January and was completed in March. (Kennecott Historical Index)

December 1952
A new 1500 hp diesel-electric locomotive, road number 903, arrived (EMD Model SD7, construction serial number 17411) (Ardinger locomotive roster)

December 30, 1952
Wreck in Magna yard involving Denver and Rio Grande Western GP7 number 5112, with its train, and Kennecott Baldwin number 901 and Alco number 902, with their train, resulted in $52,600.00 damage to Kennecott equipment. The permanent result from this wreck was that number 901 was retrucked with four-wheel "B" trucks replacing its original six wheel "A-1-A" trucks. (Kennecott Historical Index)

On the night of December 30, 1952, Kennecott Copper Baldwin DRS-6-4-1500 number 901 and Alco RS-2 number 902 were switching the Magna yard of this large copper mining company. Without checking the lone occupancy block signal for this yard that sits on a curve, the two units and several loaded ore cars proceeded eastbound to set the loads out for a later train. After traveling only a few hundred feet, the train collided at a low yard speed with the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s Magna Local, just entering Kennecott trackage to make its own set outs. Thankfully, no one was injured, but severe damage was done to the Kennecott Baldwin unit, which was in the lead. The damage incurred was in excess of $52,000 to the Kennecott locomotives and cars, and included a bent frame, and a cracked truck frame for 901. Over the previous four years, since October 1948, when they had purchased the former demonstrator unit “on the spot” during tests on the nearby Tooele Valley Railway, Kennecott had noticed that the tractive effort for this A1A-equipped unit left something to be desired. Rather than have the cracked A1A truck repaired, Kennecott ordered replacement two-axle trucks from Baldwin, and installed them under the unit after the needed other repairs were completed by the company’s Magna shops. Both D&RGW GP7 5112 and Kennecott Alco 902 suffered only minimal damage and were returned to service. After receiving its new trucks, Kennecott 901 remained in service on the Ore Haulage Division for another 25 years, receiving a chopped short hood in 1972. In April 1977, it was transferred 16 miles south to the company’s open-pit mine, renumbered to 734 (2nd), and used as a switcher until its retirement in 1980. It was donated to the local Promontory Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in early 1983. In late 1983, the chapter traded the unit to a local scrapper in return for saving Utah Railway RSD-5 306.

1953
5,605 tons of concentrate from Magna and Arthur were shipped to Kennecott's smelter in McGill, Nevada due to a one and a half day, and another five day strike at the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) smelter at Garfield, Utah. (Kennecott Historical Index)

March 26, 1953
First ore and waste trains operated through the new 5840-Tunnel. (Kennecott Historical Index)

October 1953
Two tunnels are completed on the H-Dump line. (Kennecott Historical Index)

November 3, 1953
Work began on moving the G-Level bridge in Carr Fork. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1954
Statistics for the Ore Haulage "Copperton low line" for 1954 show that the average locomotive made 1,237.9 trips; the average train was 64.46 cars long; and total tonnage for the year was 41,078,212 tons. 311,924,300 tons had been hauled since start up in May 1948. (Strack, 1983 research notes)

1954
Kennecott placed its third CTC control panel into service, controlling the upper east side switchbacks to the 'H' level, high above the lower part of Bingham Canyon and the town of Bingham itself. (Kennescope magazine, December 1954, page 15)

(The first CTC panel went into service in 1945 and controlled the tracks down low in the lower canyon between the 6040 tunnel and the new Central Yard. The second CTC panel was installed in 1949 and controlled the Copperton Line between the mine and the mills.)

February 14, 1954
Moving of the G-Level bridge was completed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

August 1954
Switchback from K-Level down to the H-Level was completed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1955
Eighty percent of all ore mined was moved through the 6040 and 5840-Tunnels. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1955
Three (3) Marion Model 151-M and two Bucyrus-Erie Model 190-B electric shovels were placed into service. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1955
Kennecott Copper purchased the Butterfield mine of Combined Metals Reduction Company, located in Butterfield Canyon. At the time, it was the second-largest lead-zinc producer in the country. (Utah Mining Industry, Utah Mining Association, 1967, page 63)

December 1955
The following is a summary of 1955.

By the end of the year the Utah Copper Division had spent $5,306,500 in expanding facilities and improvements. The biggest single chunk was $1,800.000 to enlarge casting facilities at the Garfield refinery. It enables Utah Copper to produce more varied shapes of saleable copper. The project included construction of an 80 by 208 foot brick, reinforced concrete and steel addition. Also the Installation of a vertical casting wheel.

Although crippled by a 47-day strike that cut copper production by an estimated 70,000,000 pounds, Utah Copper Division actually produced more copper in 1955 than last year. The 1955 production Is expected to reach 468,200.000 pounds, compared with 423,066,857 in 1954. The strike intensified the world-wide copper shortage, sending copper prices to an all-time high.

Utah Copper spent 3-1/2 million dollars for five 7-yard shovels, four electric locomotives and 50 dump cars of 40-yard capacity needed to step-up waste removal at the mine. Another $1,600,000 was spent for improvements in the mill flotation department. Expanded facilities at the Kennecott research center on the University of Utah campus totaled $81,500, and miscellaneous improvements $45,000.

In addition to copper, Utah Copper Division produced 24,987,000 pounds of molyhdenite vital in the production of steel. A total of 22,297,572 pounds was produced in 1954.

Copper ore mined and milled during 1955 is expected to total 27,780,000 tons. This compares with 24.079,400 tons mined and milled in 1954. To reach copper ore, 50,458,000 tons of waste material were removed in 1955, a big increase over the 35.856,641 moved the previous.year. (Deseret News, December 14, 1955)

1955-1956
Kennecott Copper sold the town of Copperton to its residents. (Deseret News, October 23, 1984)

November 1955
Four new 125-ton electric locomotives were placed into service. (Kennecott Historical Index)

(Road numbers 804-807, later numbers 870-873, finally numbers 770-773)

1956
Thirty (30) 40 cubic yard waste dump cars were purchased. (Kennecott Historical Index)

April 28, 1956
Ore Haulage has Sperry Rail Service test its rails. (Kennecott Historical Index)

July 1956
Morrison-Knudsen Construction Company began work on two connections across Carr Fork to allow removal of the old Bingham & Garfield Carr Fork bridge; one to connect the 6340-Level (old A-Level) and Bingham yard, and the other to connect the Apex yard and the D-Dump line. (Kennecott Historical Index)

July 1956
Article about Arizona's copper railroads, including Kennecott's Ray Mines Division, in the July 1956 issue of Trains magazine, page 27.

September 1956
Utah Construction Company was awarded the contract to build the new 5490-Tunnel. Construction of the tunnel was planned as early as 1947, to further reduce costs of hauling the ore uphill, out of the pit, only to move it downhill, out of the canyon, to the mills. (Kennecott Historical Index)

October 8, 1956
The visitor observation center for the public at Copperfield was closed and work to dismantle it began on October 21, 1956. (Kennecott Historical Index)

(Was the vehicular tunnel between Bingham and Copperfield closed at the same time?)

1957
By 1957 there were 75 electric locomotives working in the Bingham mine. A typical day shift today finds some 56 engines at work: 16 hauling ore, 27 assigned to waste haulage and 13 doing tramp work such as working with line cars, locomotive cranes, repair crews and other miscellaneous work. (Kennescope, no date)

January 17, 1957
First waste train used 5840-Tunnel. (Kennescope, February 1957)

early 1957
The new 6340-Level (old A-Level) connection was completed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

Work was began to dismantle the Carr Fork bridge in April 1957. (Strack, 1983 research notes)

April 1957
The D-Level bridge across Carr Fork was dismantled. (Kennecott Historical Index)

May 17, 1957
The new, temporary public observation platform above Carr Fork was removed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

Spring 1957
Kennecott opened a new vistor observation center at the Apex Yards in Carr Fork.

June 16, 1957
The switchback between the new 5840-Yard and the 5790-Level was completed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1958
During the year, Utah Construction Company made 8,875 feet of progress on the new 5490-Tunnel. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1958
Seventy five percent of all ore mined came from below the 6340-Level. Seventeen percent of ore mined moves through the 6040-Tunnel with forty percent moving through the 5840-Tunnel. (Kennecott Historical Index)

May to July 1958
The removal of the Carr Fork bridge and the A-Level machine shops was completed in July and August 1958. (Kennescope magazine, July 1958, inside front cover; Deseret News, August 29, 1958)

June 1, 1958
Notices were given to residents, renters, and lessors in Copperfield, Upper Main Canyon, and Carr Fork and Highland Boy to vacate their dwellings by August 1, 1958. (Kennecott Historical Index)

October 1, 1958
Kennecott purchased the Robbe Precipitation Plant at Copperton. For the previous twenty-two and a half years Kennecott had been leasing the plant from a private owner. (Kennecott Historical Index)

January 1, 1959
Kennecott Copper Corporation purchased the Garfield smelter of American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) (source not recorded)

February 1959
The new 5490-Tunnel was completed at a cost of $12 Million. The tunnel is 18,000 feet long. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 72)

August 10, 1959
Strike at Utah Copper Division began. (Kennescope magazine, January-February 1960, page 2)

1960
Central Power Station was expanded from 100,000 kilowatts to 175,000 kilowatts, to furnish power to the smelter. (Kennecott Historical Index) (click here for more information about the Central Power Station)

January 30, 1960
Strike at Utah Copper Division ended. First shift after callback was on Saturday January 30. A total of 366 cars of ore sat idle at the Copperton yard during the strike, during which snow accumulated and melted down into the load, cementing the load into the ore car. gas heaters were used to thaw the ore, but one car load at Magna dumped its load in a single piece damaging the dumper. The repairs required 7-1/2 hours to repair. The Central Power Station at Magna was started on January 29, and smelter operations started on February 1. Production at the Refinery started two weeks later due to the time needed for purified copper to build up on the cathodes. (Kennescope magazine, January-February 1960, page 2)

November 1960
Kennecott began buying the properties in the town of Bingham Canyon, Utah. By November 7th, one-third of the town had been purchased, mostly residential properties. Negotiations were under way for the purchase of business, commercial, and municipal real estate, with projected completion of late 1961. "By the end of 1961, Bingham will no longer exist." (Deseret News, November 7, 1960)

December 1960
In December 1960, the New York Times carried a news item stating that the town of Bingham would "vanish" during 1961, as the bulldozers and power shovels of Kennecott removed the buildings along Main Street. The decline of Bingham was due to the recently settled strike at the mine. Because of the lack of business caused by the strike, many of the town's shopkeepers and property owners decided to sell out to Kennecott. The mining company announced that it would remove the buildings it owned to allow Main Street to be widened. Bingham's population was shown as being 2,500. For the first time in recent memory, Christmas 1960 would be the first without a community Christmas tree. (New York Times, December 11, 1960, "Town in Utah Is Due to Vanish Under Shovels and Bulldozers")

1961
There were 38 shovels working 33 ore shovel shifts and 33 waste shovel shifts per day. Most shovels were served by three trains per shift, using the 75 pit locomotives with 258 40-cubic-yard waste dump cars and 825 100-ton ore cars. (Kennecott Historical Index)

1961
270,000 tons of waste was removed to mine 90,000 tons of ore needed for the mills. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 72)

May 7, 1961
First ore train used the new 5490-Tunnel, seven weeks after "breakthrough" of the tunnel into the pit. The train was loaded with ore that had been stockpiled from the excavation in the pit for the tunnel portal. (Kennescope magazine, June 1961, page 26; with small photo of empty ore train being pulled by locomotive 869 exiting tunnel)

May 27, 1961
The first train of ore from other levels in the pit moves through the new 5490-Tunnel to Copperton. The track had been connected (using a spiral excavation) with the track of the 5640-Level on May 21st, and electrified on May 25th. (Kennescope magazine, June 1961, page 26)

July 1961
Article about Kennecott's Nevada Mines Division in the July 1961 issue of Trains magazine, page 33.

1962
Kennecott acquired rights of United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company on their 7,400 acres located in Bingham canyon, including their Lark concentrator. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 72)

1962
Operation of precipitation plant produced 20 million pounds of copper, about 5 percent of 1962 production. (Arrington: Richest Hole, page 74)

1963
Kennecott Copper Corporation purchased the Knight Ideal Coal Company in Utah. Although Knight Ideal had considerable reserves, it was a small concern and its production was very limited. This property purchased so as to gain coal reserves which would provide a hedge against rising natural gas costs, both which serve as fuel for Kennecott's Central Power Station at Magna, Utah. Kennecott's experience managing this coal company and an involvement with the coal industry would later, in 1968, be the basis for Kennecott's purchase of Peabody Coal Company. (Kennecott Copper Corporation Vs. Federal Trade Commission, Docket 71-1371, United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, September 15, 1972; F.T.C. 467 F.2d 67, 1972)

February 1963
Ore Haulage began ore car construction program, using jigs and all welded construction. (Kennecott Historical Index)

February 23, 1963
Kennecott announced a $100 Million expansion project, to be completed by early 1967. The Kennecott board of directors had approved the expansion program on February 15, 1963. (Kennescope, March-April 1963, page 3)

March 1963
A new 2400 hp diesel-electric locomotive, road number 904, arrived (EMD Model SD24, construction serial number 28170) (Ardinger locomotive roster)

Fall 1963
Truck haulage began in upper levels of mine, with removal of rails as truck haulage progressed. (Kennecott Historical Index)

"In the fall of 1963, a program was begun to increase production from 90,000 tons of ore per day, to 108,000 tons per day. because of the limitations of rail haulage, along with advances in truck technology, truck haulage will replace rail haulage for waste removal in upper levels of the mine."

late 1963
New haulage truck maintenance shop was built at Yosemite Gulch, above former location of Copperfield. (Kennecott Historical Index)

March 18, 1964
A 300-foot gap was opened near the northeast corner of dike for Kennecott's tailings pond by a flood caused by spring runoff. Kennecott utilized a fleet of fourteen bulldozers, four cranes, and fifteen large 65-ton haul trucks to build a temporary dam at the site. The Arthur concentrator was shut down immediately, and operations were projected to resume by March 21. (Deseret News, March 18 and March 20, 1964)

May 1964
Production figures provided by J. P. O'Keefe, general manager of Kennecott's Utah Copper Division:

August 1964
The contract for the construction of the Bonneville crushing and grinding plant was awarded to Western Knapp Engineering, of San Francisco. The projected cost was reported as being $20 million. The output of the new crushing and grinding plant was to be processed by the floatation mills at the Magna and Arthur concentrators. Site preparation for the 70-acre site in Little Valley above Magna, was to begin in October. The finished plant was scheduled for completion in mid-1966. (Davis County Clipper, August 21, 1964)

February 1965
Bechtel Corporation was awarded contract to build new $4 Million precipitation plant at Copperton. (Kennescope, March/April 1965)

March 1965
Seventy-nine haulage trucks were on the property. (Kennescope, March/April 1965)

March 1965
Track and electrification are removed down to the E-Level on the east side. Ore from the west side above the E-Level will hauled down the new Carr Fork haulage road to a reload point. (Kennescope, March/April 1965)

March 1965
Western Knapp Engineering Company was at work on the site of the new Bonneville crusher. (Kennescope, March/April 1965)

March 1966
New waste dump car repair shop was built at Dry Fork, replacing the one above the mine office. (Kennescope, March/April 1966)

March 1966
Proler Steel Corporation began construction of scrap metal de-tinning plant at junction of old Bingham highway and Lark highway. The plant will furnish scrap iron to new precipitation plant. (Kennecott Historical Index)

June 1966
Two 70-ton diesel-electric locomotives were transferred from Nevada to operate as switchers at the new precipitation plant at Copperton. (Kennecott Historical Index)

June 1966
Kennecott re-opened its visitor observation center at a new location at a reported cost of $100,000. The old location was closed during 1965. The new location had a paved parking lot, high fences for safety, and a shelter with a sloped roof.

June 1966
The Bingham copper mine had the following basic information during 1966:

July 1966
Kennecott's Magna car shop completed 160 new ore cars in just 7-1/2 months as part of the expansion program. (Kennescope, July-August 1966, page 6; the quantity indicates that the shop forces had completed five cars per week, or about one car per day.)

September 1966
New Bonneville crusher was placed into partial operation. (Kennescope, September/October 1966)

November 2, 1971
As part of its regular municipal election, the residents of Bingham Canyon voted on a ballot to disincorporate the town. The latest census reported the population to be 31 residents. (Deseret News, September 9, 1971) Of the 13 registered property owners, the vote to disincorporate was reported as being 11 in favor, and two against. (Deseret News, January 2, 1996)

November 22, 1971
Town of Bingham "ceases to exist" upon it being disincorporated. (Deseret News, March 26, 1985; January 2, 1996)

March 1972
During March 1972, while talking to Jay Richardson in his office about the arrival of Chino electric number 4, the following information was shared:

July 1972
An article about railroads in Utah showed traffic figures for Kennecott's private electrified railroad as being 1,196 cars moved per day, with about 85 tons in each car. A average of 108,000 tons were moved every day. "Kennecott officials claim their road to be the one of the world's busiest." (Deseret News, July 22, 1972)

April 20, 1977
Baldwin number 901 transferred to mine; renumbered to Kennecott number 734. (Kennecott notes)

June 7, 1977
Kennecott Copper Corporation's sale of Peabody Coal Company was made final on June 7, 1977. The initial announcement of Kennecott's purchase of Peabody was made in July 1966, and the final purchase completed in March 1968. The sale was opposed by the Federal Trade Commission, which in May 1974 issued a order for Kennecott Copper to divest Peabody Coal. The forced sale was completed on June 7, 1977. (part from New York Times, June 8, 1977)

Kennecott Copper Corporation Ownership of Peabody Coal Company, 1966 to 1977

July 15, 1966 — The boards of directors for both Kennecott Copper Corporation, and Peabody Coal Company announced that they had approved an preliminary agreement for Kennecott to purchase Peabody. At the time, Peabody was second largest producer of soft coal in the nation, at $208 million in 1966 revenues, and Kennecott was the largest producer of copper in the nation, at $666.2 million in 1966 revenues. (New York Times, July 16, 1966, "yesterday")

March 17, 1967 — The boards of directors for both Kennecott Copper Corporation, and Peabody Coal Company announced that they had reached a final agreement for Kennecott to purchase Peabody. Kennecott had just recently sold its interests in Kaiser Aluminum, and had reached a final settlement for the sale of 51 percent of its interests at Braden, Chile, to the Chilean government. (New York Times, March 18, 1967, "yesterday")

March 29, 1968 — Kennecott's purchase of Peabody was made final. (New York Times, March 21, 1968, announced on March 20) The sale was reported as having a final figure of $285 million in cash, and the assumption of $36.5 million in liabilities. (New York Times, March 20, 1970)

May 12, 1971 — The Federal Trade Commission issued an order and decision that Kennecott's purchase of Peabody violated federal antitrust laws, putting too much control of the nation's coal reserves in the hands of a single company. Kennecott was ordered to divest itself of all interests in Peabody. (New York Times, June 8, 1971)

April 1, 1974 — The federal Supreme Court declined to review the decision of the U. S. Court of Appeals that upheld the FTC's order that Kennecott divest itself of Peabody. (New York Times, April 2, 1974)

June 7, 1977 — The Federal Trade Commission approved Kennecott's sale of Peabody Coal to Peabody Holding Company, a consortium made up of Newmont Mining Company (27.5 percent), Williams Companies (27.5 percent), Bechtel Corporation (15 percent), Boeing Company (15 percent), Fluor Corporation (10 percent), and Equitable Life Insurance Company (5 percent). The purchase price was reported to be $1.2 billion. Included in the sale was $100 million from Dampier Mining Company, a subsidiary of Broken Hill Properties, for Peabody's assets in Australia. Kennecott announced that proceeds of the sale would be used to enhance their copper business, and to diversify to reduce their dependence on the cycles of the copper business. (New York Times, June 8, 1977)

Between 1978 and 1981, Kennecott corporate management was distracted by an attempted hostile takover by Curtiss-Wright Corporation. All of the activity seems to have taken place in the corporate boardrooms and courtrooms of New York City. The result was that in 1981, Kennecott Corporation's financial condition was so weakened that another corporate takeover, by Standard Oil of Ohio, changed the company and its ability to remain as the nation's foremost supplier of copper.

November 1977
Kennecott tested a General Electric 144-ton center cab in Bingham Mine service during November 1977. The test was a failure, with the GE taking 28 minutes to move the same train that the then-new 779-789-class high cab GP39-2s took only eight minutes to move.

1979
The production for 1979 could be the best since 1974. (Deseret News, May 2, 1978)

January 12, 1979
Electric power was cut off to the Ore Haulage catenary; dumpers and road trains are completely dieselized. (Ore haulage logbook)

(The author was employed by Kennecott from early March to late April 1979 as a railroad brakeman. Several tours of duty were spent as a flagman protecting the crews of Wasatch Electric as they removed the catenary the tracks of the Ore Haulage department between the Bingham mine and the mills at Magna (Fogerty), Arthur, and Bonneville.)

September 1979
Wasatch Electric completed removal of the overhead catenary on the Copperton low line. The project had been started in March. (Interview with Bruce Morrison, 1979)

1979
38 million tons of ore mined in 1979 by Utah Copper Division of Kennecott Copper Corporation. 160 million tons of overburden removed. 12 pounds of copper per ton of ore. 206,000 tons of copper produced; 120,000 tons of copper produced in 1978. New smelter went on line in 1977-1978. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 2, 1980)

May 6, 1980
Kennecott Copper Corporation changed its name to Kennecott Corporation at its 65th annual stockholder's meeting. (Deseret News, May 7, 1980;  Salt Lake Tribune, May 7, 1980)

At the same time, Kennecott created a position for a Chief Executive Officer, and reorganized its major business units. The mining operations and mineral interests were organized Kennecott Minerals Company. A second unit was called Kennecott Engineered Systesm Company, and a third unit was called Kennecott Development Company, which was sold to Kennecott's subsidiary Carborundum Company in September 1980. (part from New York Times, May 16, 1980 and September 10, 1980)

The first locomotives with the KMC name were two GP39-2s delivered in February 1982.

July 1, 1980
Operations shut down due to strike. (Ore Haulage logbook)

September 1980
Work began on the North Ore Shoot Extension, mining ore for the production of copper, gold, silver, and molybdenum. A study completed in 1980 projected that the Bingham Mine would have to convert partially to underground operations and build new concentrators. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 18, 1981)

September 9, 1980
Strike over, operations start up. (Ore Haulage logbook)

September 10, 1980
A strike at Kennecott ended; the strike had lasted 71 days (10 weeks); workers returned for morning shift on September 10, 1980. Strike began on July 1, 1980; 40,000 workers from 11 companies in nine states; Kennecott was the largest company. Other strikes: eight months in 1967; 29 days in 1971; six days in 1974; 19 days in 1977. (Deseret News, September 10, 1980;  Salt Lake Tribune, September 10, 1980)

October 14, 1980
The first units of the third order of seven high cab GP39-2 locomotives arrive at Dry Fork shops. (Road numbers 705-711)  (Interview with Mike Minor, 1983)

November 1980
Kennecott is nation's largest copper producer. (Deseret News, November 11, 1980)

November 1980
Kennecott to use headframe to mine North Ore Shoot. (Salt Lake Tribune, November 19, 1980)

January 28, 1981
After a three-year battle in corporate boardrooms and federal district courtrooms, a hostile takeover of Kennecott Copper Corporation by Curtiss-Wright Corporation failed. On January 28, 1981 both companies jointly announced that neither would attempt to take over the other for the next 10 years. (New York Times, January 29, 1981)

Curtiss-Wright Hostile Takeover Attempt, 1978 to 1981

January 12, 1978 — Kennecott Corporation completed its purchase of Carborundum Corporation, which upset several of Kennecott's larger shareholders who threatened suing the corporation for wasting corporate assets. Kennecott was cash-rich due to its forced divestiture of Peabody Coal Company in June 1977, at a reported price of $1.2 billion. Frank Milliken, Kennecott's president since 1961, became Kennecott's Chairman and CEO, while William Wendel, Carborundum's president for 15 years, became Kennecott's president. Both were reported as planning to retire at the end of 1979.

In 1977 Kennecott had paid $567 million in cash for Carborundum Corporation, in a move that upset several shareholders. Kennecott had 7,400 employees in Utah and was the nation's largest producer of copper. (New York Times, November 17, 1977; March 21, 1978, "eight days ago")

March 13, 1978 — Curtiss-Wright Corporation began its unsuccessful hostile takeover of Kennecott Corporation by purchasing the legal limit of 9.9 percent, and notifying the Securities and Exchange Commission of its intention to purchase additional shares. Curtiss-Wright also announced its intention that upon control of Kennecott, it would divide the company into pieces and sell them off for profit. Kennecott had 7,400 employees in Utah and was the nation's largest producer of copper. (New York Times, March 21, 1978, "eight days ago")

The takeover bid was settled on December 16, 1978 by Kennecott allowing Curtiss-Wright to control seven of the 18 seats on Kennecott's board of directors. The result of Curtiss-Wright's control of Kennecott was that Frank R. Milliken, president and CEO of Kennecott from 1961, was forced to accept retirement in 1979. It was Milliken's purchase of Carborundum Corporation that had started the initial attempt by Kennecott shareholders and Curtiss-Wright.

In November 1980, Kennecott announced a planned takeover of Curtiss-Wright Corporation in retaliation of a rumored second takeover attempt by Curtiss-Wright upon expiration in May 1981 of the two-year agreement, ending the initial Curtiss-Wright takeover bid.

January 8, 1981 — Kennecott formally withdrew its bid to buy 49 percent of Curtis-Wright. (Salt Lake Tribune, January 9, 1981)

On January 28, 1981, both companies jointly announced that neither would attempt to take over the other for the next 10 years. (New York Times, January 29, 1981)

March 2, 1981
Mitsubishi of Japan took a one-third interest in Kennecott's Chino Mines Division in New Mexico. The agreement giving Mitsubishi one-third interest in Chino was signed on March 2, 1981. (Deseret News, March 2, 1981) Kennecott Corporation announced in December 1980 its intent to form a partnership with Mitsubishi for Chino Mines Division. Mitsubishi was to acquire a one-third interest in Chino, which produced 62,000 tons of copper in 1979, compared to Utah Copper Division production of 206,000 tons of copper in same year. (Salt Lake Tribune, December 23, 1980)  Mitsubishi's one-third interest in Chino is $116 million, to pay for modernization. One-third of copper production to go to Mitsubishi. No change in name, all 1,800 employees will remain as Kennecott Minerals Company. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 3, 1981)

June 4, 1981
Standard Oil Company of Ohio (SOHIO) bought Kennecott Minerals Company (KMC); British Petroleum (BP) owned 53 percent of SOHIO; British government owned 25 percent of BP, Bank of England owned 20 percent. (Salt Lake Tribune, September 24, 1981)

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