Left Behind
The labored and prolonged death of the copper empire had been telegraphed years ahead of time. By the end of the Second World War the writing was on the wall, and the next 30 years was nothing but an exasperated epitaph. By feeding off the remains of less fortunate mines, the great C&H had managed to outlast them all. But even its time would come. All of the “last great hopes” C&H poured desperate funds into – Gratiot, Kingston, Centennial, Ahmeek – would only delay the inevitable. With the 1968 labor strike C&H gave up the fight. It was over; the great copper empire was dead.
It was as if the mines simply got up and left that same day. Locomotives were left in roundhouses, skips were left half way up skip roads, work uniforms left in lockers, and machines left waiting for their operators to return. Such was the case at Centennial – where a rather interesting piece of machinery was simply left alone in the cold. A piece of machinery we come across one snowy January day some 30 years later. (View Panoramic >)
It sat behind the collar house seemingly waiting to be let in from the cold. The large loading door in front of it would never open again however, and the rails it sat on had become its home. It appeared as if was meant to be lowered into a shaft in the same manner as a skip or man car. On its rear end was attached a large hook, and on the other end a very interesting piece of equipment.
At first we were unsure of the equipment’s purpose. We thought it might be a drill, but upon closer examination realized it was actually a clamshell bucket. The bucket had a pair of large teeth and operated with use of compressed air. It was articulated in two places, allowing it to move left/right and slightly up and down.
Connected to the bucket was a standard looking caged man car, only this car contained only one seat that sat on an odd angle. Most likely the angle matched that of the shaft itself, so that when the machine was lowered into the shaft the operator would be in fact sitting upright. There was a few controls to operate the bucket and a small metal-incased light on the one side. Behind the operator appeared to be a place for more equipment, plus a few electrical connections.
We have no idea what this was used for. It obviously was used in the shaft itself and the bucket would indicate some sort of mucking operation. But it couldn’t be used to muck the bottom of the shaft since it needed to ride on rails and there would be no rails installed until the rock was mucked out. Perhaps someone out there has a better idea. Until then it remains a mystery to us….
Update: Mystery Solved! Check out the comments to find the answer…
Its actually called a cryderman mucker, and it was used to muck the shaft bottom. The cycle at Centennial went as follows:
The crew advances the rail to the face at the shaft bottom.
The 3 boom Shaft sinking drill jumbo was lowered and the blast holes drilled.
The crew advances the rail to the face at the shaft bottom.
The holes are loaded and fired advancing the shaft another 10ft or so
The cryderman is put onto one skip track, a skip on the other
The hoist drum containing the cryderman, is unclutched from the other drum (turning the skip drum into the only moving drum)
The cryderman mucks out the shaft bottom, into the skip (it has a reach of just over the length of one drill round)
The crews bar down and get ready to bring in the jumbo again.
There is a good book on Homestake’s operations at centennial that has pictures of the cryderman in action. They are still used today for shaft sinking. This one is neat because they usually were cut up after the shaft was sunk, but Homestake never finished #6 shaft to its planned depth before the program was cut in 77. This is probably the only reason this girl survives today. I dont think the shaft was advanced much past the 5500 exploration drift.
Joe Dase | January 31, 2007
ignore the 1st item in the cycle above, I got them out of order the 1st time after checking my notes, it goes drill, rail, shoot, muck. Sorry
Joe Dase | January 31, 2007
Joe - I figured if anyone would know you would.
Your comment also illuminated for me the entire Homestake operation - which I knew nothing about until you mentioned it. It seems after doing a quick look on the internet I discovered that while C&H (Universal Oil Products) did in fact abandon the mine during the strike in ‘69, a second company (Homestake Mining) de-watered and rehabilitated the shaft in the early 70’s in an attempt to deepen the shaft in search of greater copper reserves. The operation was apparently a failure and the shafts were abandoned in the late ’70’s. This explains the relative intact state of both the Centennial #6 and #3, and also explains why this piece of machine was still there.
As always Joe, your expertise in mining history is extremely helpful to me and my readers. Keep up with the great comments!
explorer | January 31, 2007
No problem, I wouldn’t say that it was a failure, Homestake had a regional exploration program which included Quincy No. 8 Shaft (Mesnard), Centennial, and Kingston as well as a grassroots program which identified the S543, and serveal other sulfide deposits, S543 had development started, they got 2 blast rounds into the decline in the 1990’s before it stopped. The Centennial Calumet workings were shut down early in the 1900’s, C&H moved the No 3 Shaft headframe to tho the No. 3 Shaft and befang dewatering and deepening No. 3 Shaft to the 3600 Level. From the 3600 they drifted over to the present No. 6 Shaft and raised No. 6 Shaft from the 3600 to the surface (instead of sinking), and installed the current surface complex. Including the short No. 7 shaft and the mine air heater to the north of #6 near the swamp (which is now the drain for the entire mine) Some mining was done on the 3400 and 3600 but not much. The strike finally came, and shut it down and the pumps were turned off. By the time Homestake came in the mine had just started to fill so they skip bailed it out (used rock skips to bail water instead of pumping). Homestake was operating on the the theory that the calumet conglomerate’s grades would continue at depth, so they started a system of deepening and sunk the shaft to about the 5500 cutting shaft stations every 100 feet, and a considerable amount of drifting was done. They also built the pilot plant mill at the No. 3 Shaft complex and started milling ore onsite, and did produce concentrate. Eventually Homestake Copper Co. underwent a management change and they pulled the plug on the UP operations…
The mine reflooded and it sat empty until the mid 1980’s when a group of investors (locals including Peninsula Copper) bought the mine and dewatered it again. The mine stayed dewatered until about 1992 when they finally went bankrupt. During this period the mine was dewatered to the 3600 but not to full depth, and preperation for mining took place but no milling of rock ever occured. The mine still has promise to be dewatered again, since most of the equipment is still onsite and would require a minimal amount of work to resume dewatering. Hope still lives!
Joe Dase | January 31, 2007
I did a project on this mine for my mineral economics class. if there were a close working efficient mill then they could reopen the mine and as long as copper prices stayed at 2.75 a pound. then the payback period would be 3.5 years as long as the lode stays at its 1.8% cu content. as for other deposits there is a vast amount of copper still. and thats Known copper.
Geoff | January 31, 2007
does anyone know owns all the centennial property/mineral rights??
Geoff | January 31, 2007
Geoff, e-mail me at jadase@mtu.edu I can get you the information, I would be interested in the details of your project (Im a mining emgineer who does feasibilities for a consulting company)
Cheers Joe
Joe Dase | January 31, 2007
Does anyone know how the Cryderman mucker got its name or who it was named after? I live in Virginia and visited the Copper Country this last summer.
John Cryderman | September 18, 2007
John..
I don’t know how it got its name (I didn’t know what it as called until Joe showed up) but from what I have learned about mining equipment it was most likely named after the guy that invented it. Thats been the case for Wilfley tables, Frue Vanners, and many other pieces of speciality equipment used around here. So there’s a good chance you might be related to them. Keep checking back, someone who knows is sure to chime in sooner or later.
explorer | September 19, 2007
This thread explains why the Centennial was lit up and looked like it was operating during some of my trips to the UP in the late 1980s & early 1990s — because it was!
With the current high price of copper now there must be some plans to reopen some of these old lodes.
It always struck me as odd that C&H was not able to continue with all the diamond drilling they did in the 20th century. Except for a few minor finds, the old saying that the ancient miners discovered all of the major ore bodies really seems to be true. I wonder what the current state of exploration — if any — is going on up there?
Back 10(?) years ago or so, I spoke with a Kennecott guy at Ladysmith and at that time he said they were beginning to do a “literature search” about the native copper deposits in the UP and in Wis. Maybe nothing came of it as I never heard anything more.
Herb | July 26, 2008
Joe,
What’s the name of the book about Homestake’s operations at Centennial?
Jay Balliet | July 29, 2008
Well not Joe here, but I have a little book that was called “Homestake”, by Randy Sabo. Its about 20 pages total
Gordy Schmitt | July 30, 2008
I think Gordy is right, I’d have to check the book I have but I belive it was by Sabo.
Joe Dase | July 31, 2008
The January 1965 Engineering and Mining Journal (E/MJ) had an article in its “This Month in Mining” section on the C&H’s plans to open both the Kingston mine and do extensive work at the Centennial #6. The article said that the C&H hoped to have the #6 at full production in 1967. Then they would then close 6 of 7 “high cost” marginal mines. The estimated production would be 25,000 ton per year. The June 1967 E/MJ went into more detail on the estimated size of the deposit they intended to mine. The deposit contains 10 million “measured” ore, 22 million tons of “indicated” ore and 3 million tons of “inferred” ore. It was estimated that the copper content was 1.5% or approximately 30 pounds of copper per ton. The ore was estimated to be 3000 feet deeper than than current mine depth of 5000 feet. This would allow the company to double its production of refined copper. It was estimated that it would be 5 years before mining could begin and would cost $9,000,000. Yes the January 1965 article said the #6 would be in full operation in 1967. Then the June 1967 article said 5 years before full production would begin. The 5 year time seems more realistic with the amount of work they have to do.
The first phase would involve crosscutting and diamond drilling from the 36th level of the Centennial #6 to test for “lateral extension” of the ore body to the north. This would take 18 months to complete.
davef908 | September 4, 2008
where all of these the same?
there’s one sitting at Osceola 13 if so,
i just caught that
Jay Wrix | November 16, 2008
Jay Wrix | November 16, 2008
sorry, it didnt post
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t8/snockerpaintball/100_0199.jpg
Jay Wrix | November 16, 2008
Jay, when was that photo taken? Rumor has it that the mucker was removed from Centennial so perhaps it made its way there at Osceola. It sure looks to be almost an identical match…
explorer | November 17, 2008
That would be it!
Joe Dase | November 17, 2008
*forgot to add, they are all mostly similar, but a Cryderman wasn’t used at Osceola, they used slushers and scrapers… The hard way! The again it has been said that if C&H had a nuclear powered mining machine, they would have pulled it to the face using a donkey…
Joe Dase | November 17, 2008
The photo was taken In September, and im positive that there is no mucker at centennial, and it never dawned on me till last night that your post about it wasn’t at Osceola, but at centennial, Im pretty sure that it was at Osceola in Late August, through current, and it is set up nice and neat on rail road ties, Maybe it has something to do with the hoist being removed as well?
Jay Wrix | November 17, 2008
The hoist at Osceola is still in place, the hoists that are on the ground are the Kingston Hoist, the Centennial No. 3 Steam hoist and the Centennial No. 3 Electric hoist (one double and two single drum hoists). It was rumored that the hoists were bought by a salvage company, however if they were the company did a very poor job at removing the hoists (judging by their condition in October, I wouldn’t buy them).
Joe Dase | November 17, 2008
There gonna rust away to pieces, i wonder if the salvage company took the mucker? Its big and heavy and isnt the kinda thing ya throw in the back of a pick up truck and move,
And i remember reading that they are shaft specific so it doesn’t make much sense to wanna buy one.
Jay Wrix | November 17, 2008
I was told the mucker was from 1st empty lot on the west side of the street south of the US41 and Calumet Ave intersection on Calumet Ave. It had been there for many years. It was at Osceola when I took photos of the hoists in early Sept. I also noticed one of the skips had been moved around a bit where the mucker is sitting.
Tend to think that since the price of scrap has went to heck, they won’t be going anywhere now at least for scrap.
I had wondered why the hoist control panel sittin there had a label on it saying Kingston, now it makes sense.
Like to take that steam hoist back indoors and piece it back together.
At least they took the hoists apart without using a torch
Gordy Schmitt | November 17, 2008
Well, comparing my four or so pictures of it to the pictures mike took, the two are identical,front to back same scratches, digs, dents, and paint pattern and everything the mucker began its life at Centennial number 6 and was than transplanted over to Osceola, I don’t know how old mikes post is, Id say around January of 2007 which means that mucker was moved in the last two years. it never dawned on me that it was at centennial until i looked for the page using “Osceola 13″ as the search…
Jay Wrix | November 17, 2008
Jay,
Hoists aren’t shaft specific, when you purchase a hoist you tell the vendor your loads, depths, speeds, payload (hoisting men only, muck only or muck and men), and shaft configuration and they will provide a hoist with the proper drums, drum sizes, clutching capabilities, etc. Also they can modify existing hoist for different duty cycles. The old steam hoists such as Quincy were more of one offs, however Quincy does have a sister hoist that is still functional, so they do share some similarities (size not being one of them). Basically your head frame design can compensate for any changes to the hoist that would affect your fleet angles on your wire rope (the make up is in the mounting plates to your Sheaves). The double drum hoist at Kingston (which is lying at Osceola now), was used originally on the 8100 level in the C&H mine for example.
Gordy,
The problem is they did use a torch to get them out, the main shaft on the Kingston hoist was gas-axed just inboard of the center main bearing, it looks like they didn’t want to take the time to de-rope the hoist properly and pull the drums… So now aside from its value as a static display, its only value is its scrap value.
Joe Dase | November 18, 2008
Joe, I read Jay’s comment to mean the mucker was shaft-specific, not the hoists.
Dale Beitz | November 18, 2008
Dale,
I figured he ment the hoists, because of my comment about not wanting to buy them. Either way, the mucker isn’t shaft specific either, then can be modified to fit any skip road (on an inclined shaft). Actually these too travel from site to site, since it is a specialized piece of gear(in function), and once your done shaft sinking, its not really much use to you. The only reasons I think this one stayed at Centenial (now moved to Osceola)are decause it is an inclined shaft mucker. Inclined shafts aren’t that common any more, so there probably werene’t many operations in need of them. Also since the plug was pulled on Centennial pre-maturely I would assume it was left on site in hopes of coming up with funding to deepen the shaft later. Sorry to ramble with my mining Jeopardy answers…
Joe Dase | November 18, 2008
Mining jeopardys always fun,
I had in the post that the seat matched the angle of the shaft, Now i know that a torch could fix this in a matter of a few minutes, but it was also stated that they where dismantled so i kinda figured the company would quickly put one together, use and then it would face the torch,
I understand that hoists are not specific at all, and i never knew they where underground until two days ago.
Joe, (or anyone else)
Whats the deepest shaft in the copper country
and whats Deepest shaft in the world?
Ive heard that Quincy 2 was the deepest at 9,650. Than i heard that this number was 5,200 and now you say Osceola had a 8,100 level. Im confused!
and Joe, you have a sweet job, to bad mtu shut down its mining program, I would of rather done that.
Jay Wrix | November 18, 2008
**I never knew a separate hoist was underground**
Jay Wrix | November 18, 2008
Jay — you’ve gotta be careful with shaft depths in the copper country, because sometimes they’re vertical and sometimes they’re not. Quincy was 9000+ feet on the incline, which comes out to rather less when you measure it vertically. I believe that the Tamarack shafts (which were vertical) might have beaten Quincy for vertical depth. But I’m sure Joe or explorer will drop in shortly with the exact details.
dcclark | November 18, 2008
I believe that Red Jacket Shaft at one time was the deepest vertical shaft in the world. Not sure if that’s still the case though.
Jay Balliet | November 18, 2008
Joe, I had noticed the torch cut shaft when the photos were first posted here. It was rusty then, I have the feeling it was cut before this was disassembled. The cut didn’t look fresh at all. Since it was from Kingston, I wonder if the guy who owned that location may have done it and these guys just hauled it out?
Heres a link to the originally posted photos.
http://coppercountryexplorer.com/2008/08/11/the-removal-of-the-osceola-13-hoist/
Gordy Schmitt | November 18, 2008
Gordy,
You maybe right, when I was there in October, I thought ‘CRAP!’
I’ll check my sources to see if she was cut up prior to removal.
Jay,
Osceola didn’t have an 8100, but the C&H mine did, it was serviced by Red Jacket shaft. The 8100 level was at 8100 ft along the dip of the Calumet Conglomerate I believe, and Red Jacket was a vertical shaft so I believe the 8100 level was actually 5200 ft vertically (the Calumet Conglomerate is about a 40 degree dip). On that level they had more hoists that hoisted from even deeper sub shafts, this was common practice at several other mines including Champion.
As far as deepest Shafts in the copper country, Quincy has the market cornered on incline shafts, I think No. 2 is 9260′…? I am not sure on its vertical depth, since the Pewabic tends to flatten out at depth (its 54 degrees in the upper workings), but if we assume and average of 45 degrees, it puts the shaft at 6548′ vertically (which I think beats out Red-jacket and Tamarack, but I could be wrong).
As far as deepest shafts in the world (all in South Africa):
Savuka mine at 3.8km (about 12,500 feet)
However the Driefontein Gold Mine will be about 2.5 miles when its done!
I think that the shafts in the copper country are still the deepest single lift shafts in North America (Homestake is weeper but they were hoisting from underground sub shaft on their 4800 level). I should note that my company just started sinking a shaft that should take the prize as far as deepest single lift in North America, its in Arizona and will be just shy of 7000 ft when complete.
Finally, I was big time bummed when MTU canceled the program, I’m glad I got through when I did! Its a fun job, and it honestly never gets old
Joe Dase | November 19, 2008
Speaking of shaft depths, I ran across an interesting article from the NY Times archive…http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=2&res=9401E1D91E3AE533A25754C2A96E9C94679ED7CF
Jay Balliet | November 20, 2008
Cool article, Jay!
Near the end it mentions that the miners had to wear rubber clothing because the water at the deep parts of the Red Jacket shaft was corrosive to human flesh. That’s the first I’ve heard mention of that. Anyone have any ideas what caused this? Is it something that’s worldwide making all deep mine water is corrosive, or something local to the CC or even to that particular lode?
Dale Beitz | November 21, 2008
Dale,
It was probably the high saline water that was found in the C&H lode. That would be my only guess, unless it had a low PH, which maybe possible…
Joe Dase | November 21, 2008