Old-time copper mining

Posted by pebble_blog

Posted: November 5, 2008 - 5:32 pm

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Bluemink tours the Kennecott ruins

On Thursday, the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame (there is no actual hall; it's a historical association) is inducting three people who were big players in the development of the fabulously-rich Kennecott Mine.

The mine, next to McCarthy, is now a National Park historical site. In 2005, I took a lengthy tour of it, with memorable sights that included an ammonia leaching plant, a stairway to nowhere and a wrench that was taller than me.

The Kennecott mine has been invoked by some in the Pebble debate - usually in ADN letters to the editor - who assert that the historical mine shows how a major copper project can be developed without lasting consequences to the environment.

Others have decried Kennecott as a too-powerful syndicate of East Coast industrialists who owned vast tracts of land and controlled many Alaska companies before abruptly pulling out of the state.

A lot more can be said on these subjects, but in any case, the Kennecott name lives on. The modern Kennecott runs some of the world's biggest copper mines, including Utah's Bingham Canyon mine, described as the world's biggest excavation.

On Thursday night, the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame volunteers are hosting a free, public induction ceremony. I'm attaching more details about the event here.

Attachment	Size
Kennecott.doc	23.5 KB

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