#Mccarthy motherload mine tours how to#
During winter, the only access to Kennecott is via foot or skiing the 5 mile road from McCarthy.Īre you wondering how to get to Kennecott? Go to our Transportation and Directions page to find out! Kennecott Mill town is located 5 miles from McCarthy, with no vehicle access or shuttle service during the winter. The visitor center also hosts a small branch of the Alaska Geographic's bookstore. Pick up maps, brochures, and trail descriptions, join a ranger for a history talk or nature walk, or plan your wilderness excursion. Housed in Kennecott's historic Blackburn School, the Kennecott Visitor Center is your information hub for the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark in the heart of Wrangell-St. If you need assistance, please call park headquarters at (907) 822-5234. Please call for Hours of Operation and available visitor services.Ĭlosed. Memorial Day (last Monday of May) - Labor Day (first Monday of September): Kennecott Mill Town, 5 miles north from McCarthy, AKĮxhibits, park film (shown in the General Store), ranger programs, bookstore, backcountry trip planning, park & area information. If you decide to visit the area, please stay on the road to view it, as the open pits are privately owned and very dangerous.Located in Kennecott, AK, about 4 hours from the Wrangell-St. At the end of the road is the enormous “glory hole”. On the drive to the Mother Lode a visitor will go by the field that marks the remains of the Deadwood town site. Today the Deadwood and Mother Lode sites have been reclaimed by nature. The historic Motherlode underground and open pit produced close to 173,000 ounces of gold, 688,000 ounces of silver, and 77 million pounds of copper. Production dropped to 450 tons per day by 1959 but mining continued until 1962, when the mill was dismantled and removed. A 900 ton per day mill was constructed beside the operation to process ore mined by open pit methods. In 1956, Woodgreen Copper Mines restarted mining at the Motherlode Mine. The ore from the Motherlode Mine was processed by BC Copper’s smelter at Anaconda at the western edge of the current town of Greenwood. The rim of the “glory hole” collapsed, sealing many of the chutes through which ore was removed. The already low grade ore was further diluted with waste and the mine became hazardous and expensive to work. Approximately 39,000 tonnes of ore were broken but this momentous event also sounded the death knell of the mine. To prevent any possibility of accident, everybody was taken off the hill and three safety-switches were placed in the circuit, all of which had to be connected before the spark could pass.
#Mccarthy motherload mine tours series#
The holes were then wired in a series of forty to a group, using 26,532 metres of electric wire. The blast required 22,475 kilograms of 40 percent, anti-freezing powder to charge the holes. In all, 4834 holes of an average depth of 4.5 meters were driven and filled with explosives. Then in August 1913 a blast, which was claimed to be the largest in mining history, was set off at the Mother Lode.
In 1909, even with a four-month stoppage due to a coal miners’ strike, the mine set a record of 349,272 tonnes. By the end of 1905, 752,431 tonnes of ore were shipped to the smelter. Surface ore was taken from six quarries forming an enormous “glory hole”.
The ore was mined underground at the Mother Lode on levels with pillars to hold up the rock overhead. The majority of miners and their families lived at the Mother Lode mine site, which was home for about 400 people. Despite this initial enthusiasm Deadwood never amounted to much, with the population reaching less than 100. By the first week of February 1900, 45 lots were sold for up to $150 each. Together they preempted a 259-hectare parcel of land and in 1899 the new town of Deadwood was developed. Even though the City of Greenwood was only a few kilometers away, partners Colin Scott McRae and Donald McLaren saw an opportunity for a new town site near the Mother Lode. The Mother Lode and other mines in the area had started to attract a great deal of attention. The Boundary Mines Company of New York was subsequently organized and a mining engineer was hired to develop the mine. Very little work was done on the claim until the summer of 1896, when the property was sold to Col. On the Mother Lode (named for its size) was staked. A newspaper of the time reported that the lode stood out for 300 meters along the hill and rose to a height of 90 meters. Their site also has good information about connecting service to and from Anchorage and other destinations. Two prospectors were so intrigued by “a big copper stained blowout, standing out prominently and distinctly noticeable from all of the surrounding thinly timbered hill” that they decided to investigate further. The Kennicott Shuttle offers daily van service from Glennallen to McCarthy. The Mother Lode was discovered in the Spring of 1891 about four kilometers west of Greenwood.