United States Mining Company

Compiled by Don Strack

This page was last updated on August 4, 2011.

(This is a work in progress; research continues.)

Overview

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Timeline

March 26, 1899
The United States Mining Company was organized on March 26, 1899 by A. F. Holden, who "visualized the possibilities of the intensely mineralized Bingham area especially those related to the Jordan broad lode and the principal fissures. With an abiding faith in this well defined lode he concentrated his efforts in the acquisition of properties located on this lode, also, the consolidation of three richly mineralized groups of mining claims in Bingham all of which were located upon the Jordan limestone". (Billings)

April 10, 1899
United States Mining Company was organized on April 10, 1899 to consolidate the Jordan and Galena (24 claims), Niagara (23 claims), and Telegraph (15 claims) properties, located in Galena Gulch and Bear Gulch. The Niagara group was purchased from the Niagara Mining and Smelting Company which had been working the former Spanish group. (USGS Professional Paper 38, p. 233; Wegg, p. 37; Wilson thesis, p. 4)

May 5, 1902
Tower foundations for the United States aerial tramway are under way, progressing from both ends. "About thirty carloads of timbers and lumber will be required. Of these, five have been delivered, while ten more are on the road." (Salt Lake Herald, May 5, 1902)

June 23, 1902
"Five towers of the United States company's tramway are completed. One near the upper terminal station is seventy-two feet high." (Salt Lake Herald, June 23, 1902)

November 1902
United States Mining Company completed its smelter in Midvale in November 1902. (Hansen, p. 274)

November 9, 1902
"The cheering information was brought in from the properties of the United States company at Bingham yesterday that the big aerial tramway is being rapidly adjusted to a point where it will do its work without a hobble. On Friday sixty buckets of ore containing 1,000 pounds each were sent over the line in a single hour from one of the upper spurs, and during next very few days there is little doubt that the entire system will be in perfect working order. The difficulty has been to make the clutches hold the great buckets firmly in place on the carrying cable, but that trouble is now practically overcome, and when final tests are concluded the maximum loads of between 1,200 and 1,400 pounds will be handled with perfect safety." "Some idea of the carrying capacity of these buckets can be understood when it is explained that the buckets on the Highland Boy tram are calculated to carry, when loaded to the brim, 700 pounds, or hardly 50 per cent of the maximum load of the United States company's. At the same time, it is understood that the disabled. The filling of the bins with ore from the Bingham mines will probably begin tomorrow. (Salt Lake Herald, November 9, 1902)

November 24, 1902
"Up to Wednesday night the ore delivered at the depot by the United States tramway and run down to the smelter amounted to forty carloads of fifty tons each. The tramway is working steadily and gradually increasing delivery. (Salt Lake Herald, November 24, 1902)

December 1902
The new United States aerial tramway was delivering about 300 tons of ore per day to the lower terminal at Bingham, with 45 tones coming from the Old Jordan mine. (Salt Lake Mining Review, December 15, 1902, "Around The State")

January 1, 1903
No ore was shipped until January 1, 1903; all work was done in development and overhaul of the underground workings and overhaul and improvement of the surface workings. The improvements included construction of an 11,400 foot long aerial tramway, with a capacity of 50 tons per hour, from Bear Gulch to the Rio Grande Western at Bingham. (Engineering and Mining Journal, February 11, 1904, p. 121)

April 5, 1903
"Four new towers for the United States tramway are being delivered along the line and will soon be in place. By their installation the grade will be equalized and transporting capacity materially increased." "From the united States mines 600 to 650 tons of ore are now being shipped daily, and another 100 tons will no doubt be added when the additional tramway towers are up. The number of men employed at the mines is 175 to 180." (Salt Lake Herald, April 5, 1903)

April 30, 1903
"During 1902 these mines were connected with the Rio Grande Western railway, a distance of about three miles, by a Bleichert wire rope tramway. This tramway was installed with an estimated capacity of sixty tons per hour. Owing to certain chnages which have been found necessary since the erection, the tramway has not been able to handle the estimated capacity. Additional towers, strengthening certain parts and some minor chnages in design, will, we believe, make the tramway satisfactory in all respects. We expect to have these changes completed before June 1st of this year." (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 30, 1903)

May 31, 1903
"The United States tramway was started again yesterday, extensive alterations having been completed." (Salt Lake Herald, May 31, 1903)

June 15, 1903
"The United States tramway having been readjusted and strengthened, it is now transporting about 500 tons of ore daily, filling the smelter's present demands upon the Bingham mines, and is said to have a daily capacity of nearly 1,500 tons." (Salt Lake Herald, June 15, 1903)

December 26, 1903
"Hundreds of heavy timbers have been delivered at the headhouse site of the Old Jordan tramway during the past 10 days. Reconstruction has fairly begun, and the new structure will be completed at the earliest possible date." (Deseret News, December 26, 1903)

February 19, 1904
"The new headhouse for the Jordan branch of the United States company's aerial tramway at Bingham was completed yesterday, so the entire system is again in operation." (Salt Lake Herald, February 19, 1904)

July 29, 1904
"The main driving cable of the United States company's Bingham tramway parted yesterday morning and caused considerable damage to the upper main head house, as well as the terminal at the Bingham depot end. Superintendent Andrew Mayberry had one of his hands badly injured by a flying bolt at the upper terminal and will be compelled to go it single handed for some time to come." "As it happened, the United States company will not be handicapped at all in the tramnsportation of its ore, as an accident at the Utah Copper company's pumping plant will necessitate a few days' close down of the big concentrator, thus relieving the cars on the Copper Belt used to supply the plant with ore. Under these conditions, Superintendent Mayberry was able to have the cars go into the service of the United States company for the time being." (Salt Lake Herald, July 29, 1904)

September 10, 1904
"It is expected that the branch bucket tramway to connect the Galena mine with the Old Jordan tramway will be completed in October. Contracts for material will soon be filled." (Deseret News, September 10, 1904)

October 2, 1904
"The United States company's new aerial tramway that is being insatlled to handle the ores of its Galena mine and deliver them at the Old Jordan headhouse on the man line, is nearing completion. C. E. Allen, general superintendent of the company, stated yesterday that the line would be ready to go into commission in possibly ten days." "This line of tramway will be 1,640 feet long. Its operation will be practically automatic. It is a double rope, reversible, self-dumping equipment, and to operate it one man on a shift will be all that is required. All the lead ores of the company's Galena mine will be sent over the line to the Old Jordan connection with the main line to the loading station at Bingham, so the cost of the transportation from this property, like the others of the company, will be reduced to a minimum." (Salt Lake Herald, October 2, 1904)

January 1, 1905
"A liberal contributor towards Greater Bingham in Particular and in making Utah bigger from a mining styandpoint is the United States Mining company." "The Bingham holdings are probably the largest in the camp and among the largest in the state. In area they extend 1,200 acres, and the mine, or rather the mines, include the Old Jordan and the Old Telegraph groups and a large interest in the Niagara Mining company, which are among the earliest mining locations made in the state." "A part of the Bingham possessions were operated years ago by L. E. Holden, father of A. F. Holden, the organizer of the company, and its managing director. In the Bingham properties the undergound aggregate fully twenty-five miles and the ore reserve exposed by this work are sufficient to run the smelter several years without further development work being done." "The transportation from the Bingham mines, which are situated well toward the head of Bingham canyon, is by way of an aerial tramway to Bingham station. The tramway has a combined length of 16,000 feet. The Old Telegraph headhouse is 12,000 feet from the station and from this headhouse the tramway extends 1,000 feet further to the Old Jordan property. From the Old Telegraph mine ore is conveyed to the headhouse, a distance of a quarter of a mile, in mine cars over track that is fully protected from storms by a system of sheds. The buckets used on the tramway are unusually large, haveing a capacity of nine cubic feet, and their contents weigh nearly one ton of the character of ore usually conveyed by them." (Salt Lake Herald, January 1, 1905)

January 1, 1905
"In addition to this copper smelter, which has been in operation for over two years, a lead smelter, with a capacity of handling nearly 400 tons of lead ores daily, is now nearing completion, and will probably be blown in within the coming month. It is composed of three stacks of an estimated capacity of 125 tons of ore a day each. The arrangement for handling ores, fluxes and slags and the feeding is by an electric system. This equipment also includes ten roasters." (Salt Lake Herald, January 1, 1905)

The United States aerial tramway was still in operation as late as January 1914. (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 15, 1914, "Progress At Bingham During The Year")

In September 1910, Utah Copper had purchased the surface rights in Copper Center Gulch, where the surface working of Bingham Mines' Commercial mine were located. The surface workings were removed and the Commercial mine closed. Bingham Mines company began using the Niagara tunnel, after extending it 300 feet to connect with the bottom working of the Commercial mine. (Salt Lake Herald, September 24, 1910)

In 1914 United States Mining stopped using their aerial tramway between their mine in Galena Gulch and the Rio Grande station at Bingham, and began using their Niagara tunnel as the main haulage tunnel. The new United States operation used three 8-ton Porter compressed air locomotives to deliver the ore to ore bins located outside the former Niagara portal, where the company built new machine shops, power plant, and compressor house. (Wilson thesis, p. 28)

The new ore bins were served by Utah Copper, who transported the cars to the Bingham & Garfield as part of its common carrier service to all of the mines in Bingham Canyon, further reducing the ore traffic for Denver and Rio Grande. By 1915, the valuable ore accessible from the Niagara level and below were no longer profitable, and Bingham Mines company closed all levels of the Commercial mine. (Billings, page 47)

January 22, 1918
United States Smelting, Refining, and Mining Company was organized to take over United States Mining Company and United States Smelting Company. (Utah corporation files, index 13150)

June 1929
United States Mining (USSR&M) purchased the Bingham Mines group. (Wilson thesis, p. 5)

1941
United States Mining Company moved its surface operations from upper Bingham, around the Niagara tunnel, out to Lark. The move was needed to avoid a seemingly continuous series of agreements with Utah Copper as it continued to expand its open pit mine. (Billings)

1948
After the abandonment of the Bingham and Garfield railroad as a common carrier in 1948, Kennecott transported the United States Company's ores loaded into D&RG cars at various bench levels of the pit, also at the Niagara tunnel level, and delivered them to the D&RG at an assembly yard on the D&RG Bingham branch at the mouth of Bingham Canyon. Also Kennecott received the empty D&RG ore cars and all mine supplies for United States Company at the D&RG assembly yard at the mouth of the canyon and transported them to such places as were designated for the use and convenience of the United States Company in its mining operation in Bingham Canyon. (Billings, page 14)

1951
United States Mining Company purchased the subsurface mineral rights of the Ohio Copper Company, along with the Ohio company's surface rights at Lark. (Billings, page 26)

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)

September 23, 1962
Kennecott Copper purchased from United States Smelting, Refining and Mining, certain surface rights and mineral rights outside of, and adjacent to Bingham Canyon. The deal included Kennecott "freedom for its operations," and rights to mine ore except lead-zinc, along with the right for the United States company "royalty-free right to explore and mine lead-zinc ores under certain Kennecott properties." (New York Times, September 24, 1962)

1967
During 1964-1965, United States Smelting, Refining and Mining company's U. S. and Lark mine was the third largest producer of lead in the nation. (Utah Mining Industry, Utah Mining Association, 1967, page 63)

1967
By the year 1967, the concentrator section at the International smelter had been shut down. The United States company had been shipping concentrates from its mill at Midvale to the International smelter for smelting. By that time, the International smelter was the only lead smelter in the state. (Utah Mining Industry, Utah Mining Association, 1967, page 81)

November 1971
USSR&M closed its Lark mine, and its Midvale mill and concentrator. The concentrate was being shipped to the International smelter near Tooele. (Deseret News, November 12, 1971)

The smelter of International Smelting and Refining Company closed on January 28, 1972, leaving over 30 mining properties without a nearby smelter. These mines were forced to close due the high costs of shipment of their ores to the nearest custom smelters at three out-of-state locations: El Paso, Texas; East Helena, Montana; and Kellogg, Idaho. The International smelter was closed to save costs following Anaconda's loss of its properties in Chile, which were taken over by the Chilean government in 1971. To save the company, its unprofitable properties were either closed or sold. The sell-off did not work, and by 1975, Anaconda was purchased by Atlantic Richfield. (part from "Mining, Smelting and Railroading in Tooele County")

May 2, 1972
Utah Railway's parent company, United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company announced that it would change its name to UV Industries, Inc., its symbol on the New York Stock Exchange. The company was becoming more diversified and the name no longer reflected its "principle interests and direction." (New York Times, May 3, 1972, "yesterday")

December 1, 1977
Kennecott purchased the entire Lark townsite from U. V. Industries, the former United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company. Many of the town's residents were renting homes owned by the mining company, and others had purchased their homes but not the underlying land. Kennecott now owned all of the townsite and the land, and on December 14th advised all residents that their leases would not be renewed, to allow Kennecott to demolish all of the structures in the town. Some residents were unhappy with the short notice of eviction, and the proposed financial settlement. Numerous stories in local newspapers documented the disagreement, including a sit-in by six Lark residents at Kennecott's corporate headquarters in New York City. News stories noted that 54 residents owned their homes, and another 53 residents were renting their homes, with a total population of about 500. Demolition of unoccupied buildings had started in late February 1978. Residents were told that they needed to be out oif their homes by August 31, 1978, but that date was extended to August 31, 1979.

May 1978
Kennecott offered homeowners 120 percent of the appraised value of their homes, an average of about $7900. Renters were offered $1500. All residents were to be fully vacated by August 31, 1979. (Deseret News, May 8, 1978)

July 1978
By early July 1978, all but 50 of the 134 families had accepted the offer and had vacated their homes. (Deseret News, July 3, 1978)

June 1979
Of the 493 persons living in Lark at the end of November 1977 when the townsite was sold to Kennecott, by June 1979 only 93 persons remained. Permits had been obtained "last week" from Salt Lake County to allow the movement of homes to a new area east of Copperton, where residents would continue to rent their homes from Kennecott. (Deseret News, June 20, 1979)

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