Cheney Copper Mine

Photo: Courtesy of E. Jane Mundy

    The new Cheney Copper Mine has been known and explored intermittently for nearly one hundred years, since around 1915, but the present headframe dates from recent exploration. In 1916 an inclined shaft was sunken 70 feet, and over a period of years progressed to a depth of 150 feet. The types of minerals mined were quartz, pyrite, chalcopyrite and epidote. If you go to the site all of these minerals can be found on the surface, as well as the headframe and parts of the shaft. In the beginning about 39 400 tons of 3.9 percent copper, were estimated to be held in the mines reserves. More than 30 600 tons of this was contained just around the shaft and the rest in smaller veins. The exact amount of ore extracted before 1967 is not known, but in 1916, 33 468 lbs of ore were extracted, while in 1967, 3 500 tons were mined. The mine was shut down when the cost of extraction exceeded the amount of money the ore was worth, for there is still easily accessible mineralized rock in the mine.