133-544: The Congress Mine is a gold mine located at the ghost town of Congress, Arizona , on the southeastern slope of the Date Creek Mountains , approximately 18 miles north-northeast of Wickenburg, Arizona , at an elevation of about 3,000 feet (Lat. 34.216 – Long. -122.841). The nearest community, four miles away, is modern Congress, formerly known as Congress Jct railroad station or Martinez Post Office. The Congress Mine produced substantial quantities of gold and
266-482: A Mine Owners' Association with a secret anti-union agreement, locked out another 1,332 mine workers. The owners hired labor spies to spy on the union, and additional spies to report on replacement workers. Just days after union leaders publicly warned against violence, a violent incident occurred at the Coronado Mine. At least four union miners and one fireman were killed. Colorado Governor McIntire sent
399-463: A Prescott, Arizona mining promoter, acted as a broker for the sale of the Congress mine to Joseph "Diamond Joe" Reynolds of Chicago. In 1887, their Congress Gold Company built a ten stamp mill (later expanded to twenty stamp mill) and produced $ 600,000 over the next four years. Frank Murphy, brother of Arizona Territorial Secretary (1889–90) and Governor (1890–1893, 1898–1902) Nathan Oakes Murphy, became
532-506: A borrasca is an orphan. The Congress is no different. In 1903, a man named Ben Bartlett recounted on his death bed that he had discovered the Congress in the early 1870s. Some later sources say that Bartlett abandoned the mine, some say May and partner Edward Gilbert paid Bartlett $ 150 for the claim. Dennis May died in Phoenix on October 17, 1907. In his 1907 obituary, a later partner reportedly said May had re-staked an abandoned claim that became
665-587: A national union federation , the Industrial Workers of the World , in 1905. The WFM had adopted a socialist program in 1901. "Big Bill" Haywood , who joined the union as a silver miner in Idaho , put the union's anti-capitalist stance in the simplest terms: he took the side of workers against the mine owners who "did not find the gold, they did not mine the gold, they did not mill the gold, but by some weird alchemy all
798-521: A state militia was called out to protect striking miners from an armed group supporting mine owners. Further violence was averted by the owners' agreement to return to the eight-hour day and improve miners' pay to three dollars a day – the standard that the union fought for across the west from that point forward. That success enabled the WFM to expand dramatically over the next decade, to the point where it had over two hundred locals in thirteen states. However,
931-667: A struggle against mine owners in Leadville served to radicalize WFM leadership. Representatives of the Cloud City Miners' Union (CCMU), Local 33 of the Western Federation of Miners, asked for a wage increase of fifty cents per day for all mine workers not already making three dollars per day. The union felt justified, for fifty cents a day had been cut from the miners' wages during the depression of 1893. Negotiations broke down and 968 miners walked out. Mine owners, who had formed
1064-514: A WFM stronghold, the mine owners did not recognize any miners union from 1914 until 1934. The WFM's defeat led it to look for allies in the battle with employers in the Rockies, a struggle the union didn't want to concede. The Western Labor Union had renamed itself the American Labor Union in 1902. The WFM now sought to join with other advocates of industrial unionism and socialism to found
1197-529: A claim on the "Date Creek Lode" in 1870. By 1880, he was working what would become the Congress mine, staking with two prospector partners the Niagara claim June 26, 1880, followed by the adjacent Congress claim March 25, 1884. From Buffalo, New York, and in Arizona since 1866, May was a typical single-blanket prospector. In the early 1880s he was able to sell some other claims through mine promoter Frank Murphy , and began
1330-698: A combination of factors including the depletion of easily accessible gold deposits, harsh weather conditions, and the political instability at the time. The Welsh gold rush occurred in Wales , more so in the Dolgellau area of Gwynedd , during the 19th century. Gold deposits were discovered in Welsh mountains, with reports of gold being found in rivers Mawddach and Tryweryn . By the mid-19th century, commercial mining operations had begun. Wales' gold gained popularity for its quality and rarity, leading to its use in royal jewelry for
1463-716: A critical source of income and livelihood, providing employment opportunities and economic support in regions with limited alternative options. Artisanal mining operations vary in scale, from individuals panning for gold in rivers and streams, to small groups working collectibely in informal mining camps, often referred to as ' galamsey ' in West Africa . Gold mining can create employment opportunities in mining operations and related sectors. Howevers, these jobs may be temporary. The sector's reliance on fluctuating global gold prices can lead to economic stability for communities dependent on mining. The discovery of significant gold deposits in
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#17330846531031596-449: A cyanide plant consisting of a roasting furnace and seven 90-ton leaching tanks and three 200-ton leaching tanks for non roasted ore. In ensuring years, high-grade ores became harder to find and harder to get to and more work was done on the processing of tailings for the low-grade ores it contained. The Congress paid its last dividend in 1910 and company president Frank Murphy ordered the operation closed down. The Congress mine operated for
1729-472: A few of the other shafts passing the 3,000 foot level. By 1906, with the discovery of new veins, the Congress Mine was again in full production. The ore near the 4,000 foot depth was reported to be richer than the veins at the lesser depths. At this time equipment included 12 hoists with steam engines ranging from 20 to 200 horsepower, a reduction plant with an 80 stamp mill, a new concentrating plant,
1862-519: A five-day convention held in Butte, Montana . First president of the organization was John Gilligan and W.J. Weeks was the union's first secretary-treasurer. Fred W. Thompson and Patrick Murfin have written, The Western Federation of Miners was frontier unionism, the organization of workers who had become "wage slaves" of mining corporations rather recently acquired by back-east absentee ownership. They built their union when they were not yet "broken in" to
1995-401: A foot wall in the ledge usually in drifts 12 to 15 feet high. The vein had a dip of 22 degrees and was usually about 15 feet wide. The vein was accessed by shafts dug (often quite deep) into the areas around the ledge. Following the placer gold rush to the nearby Weaver district in 1863–34, prospectors began scouring the surrounding hills for gold lodes. In the 1860s miners organized
2128-437: A gravel screening plant and sluice box floating in a temporary pond. The pond is excavated in the gravel bar and filled from the natural water table. "Pay" gravel is excavated from the front face of the pond and processed through the floating plant, with the gold trapped in the onboard sluice box and tailings stacked behind the plant, steadily filling in the back of the pond as the operation moves forward. This type of gold mining
2261-449: A high barbed-wire fence." Some of the miners, never having been charged with any crime, were eventually allowed to go free, while others were prosecuted. Hundreds more remained in the makeshift prison without charges. The Coeur d'Alene mine owners developed a permit-based hiring system to exclude union miners. At their 1901 convention the WFM miners agreed to the proclamation that a "complete revolution of social and economic conditions"
2394-401: A lawyer for the union sought to free the prisoners on a writ of habeas corpus, Bell responded, " Habeas corpus , be damned! We'll give 'em post mortems !" The violence intensified. After a mine explosion on November 21, 1903 killed a superintendent and foreman, Bell announced a vagrancy order that required all strikers to return to work or be deported from the district. When a bomb exploded at
2527-488: A lower grade. Tailings can contain lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic. These toxins can pose health risks for local communities. Arsenic is typically found in gold-containing ores, and gold processing may contaminate groundwater or the atmosphere. This pollution may persist for decades. Furthermore, mining operations use large quantities of water for processing ore and can result in the contamination of water sources with heavy metals, such as mercury and cyanide , used in
2660-484: A more thorough working of the Congress group of claims. Here he found his bonanza. May, again through promoter Frank Murphy, sold the Congress group in 1887 to Joseph "Diamond Jo" Reynolds for $ 30,000. Properly capitalized as the Congress Gold Company, a stamp mill was built and the mine opened. In 1891, while visiting his mine with Frank Murphy, the colorful Diamond Jo Reynolds died. Reynolds, childless, willed
2793-558: A number of mine railroads, mills, and undeveloped lands. At Congress they operated the mining railroad which ran 2 1/2 miles to the Congress Mine from Congress Junction, on Murphy and partner's Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railroad. In 1912 the bankrupt Development Company of America sold the Imperial to a mining conglomerate headed up by the Guggenheim family ; the Tombstone Con to
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#17330846531032926-512: A part ownership of the mine to Murphy, who shut it down while promoting and building the railroad from Ash Fork on the Santa Fe mainline (across northern Arizona) to Phoenix via Prescott and via a point near the Congress mine. In 1894, with the railroad nearing completion of construction, Murphy and the Reynolds estate sold the Congress gold mine to a group of Tombstone mine owners (Tombstone's silver boom
3059-458: A particularly stern rebuke to Idaho Governor Frank Gooding , describing such a state of affairs as the "grossest impropriety": If the Governor or the other officials of Idaho accept a cent from the operators or from any other capitalist with any reference, direct or indirect, to this prosecution, they would forfeit the respect of every good citizen and I should personally feel that they had committed
3192-565: A public meeting in a vacant lot across from the Western Federation of Miners union hall in Victor. Speeches against the union gave way to arguments, followed by fist fights and shooting. Two non-union men were killed and five others on both sides were wounded in the melee. WFM members took refuge in their hall, but Company L of the National Guard surrounded the hall and laid siege, firing into
3325-633: A real crime. Roosevelt's strong words came in spite of the fact that he had already concluded the WFM leaders were guilty. Governor Gooding's response to the President provided a severely distorted account of the financial arrangements for the trial, and a promise to return money contributed by the mine owners. Gooding then: ...kept the narrowest construction of his promise to the president... [He then proclaimed publicly and often that] no dollar has been or will be supplied from any private source or organization whatsoever, [and then] went right on taking money from
3458-455: A region often sees a flood of resources and development, which lasts as long as the mines are economic. When goldfields begin to decline in production, local economies find themselves destabilised and overly reliant upon an industry that will inevitably abandon the region when gold deposits are sufficiently depleted; leaving the areas without proper rehabilitation. Western Federation of Miners The Western Federation of Miners ( WFM )
3591-528: A response to the violence. A short time later Sheriff Robertson, whom the Mine Owner's Association deemed too tolerant of the union, was confronted and ordered to resign immediately or be lynched. Robertson was replaced with Edward Bell, a member of both the Mine Owner's Association and the Citizens' Alliance. In a hostile environment ripe for provocation, the Mine Owner's Association and the Citizens' Alliance called
3724-629: A separate prosecution, Orchard was convicted and sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted, and he spent the rest of his life in an Idaho prison. Orchard died in prison in 1954. The failure of later strikes and the depression of 1914 brought about a sharp decline in the WFM's membership. In 1916 the union changed its name to the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers . The union had become largely ineffective, riddled with members who passed information on to their employers, and unable to win substantial gains for its members for most of
3857-550: A serious fight, since the Cripple Creek miners were striking in sympathy with their demands. However, when one of the smelter operators refused to accept the deal brokered by the Governor of Colorado, James Hamilton Peabody , the Governor called in federal troops. Peabody was a fierce opponent of unions and of any social legislation that limited businesses' right to run their own affairs as they saw fit. The crucial issue in Colorado
3990-520: A subsidiary, the Congress Consolidated Mines Company, Limited, to acquire and manage its Congress holdings. Listed as the principal sellers were Frank M. Murphy, E.B. Gage and N.K. Fairbanks; not surprisingly, the buyers were Murphy, Gage, Fairbank et al. who made up the officers of the new corporation. At the time of the sale it was reported that the management would stay the same and that the former owners would retain some interest in
4123-444: A successful strategy as other gold veins were discovered. More gold was discovered in previously ignored areas near the Congress Mine in 1902. Four more ore bearing ledges were discovered near the main (Congress) shaft which by this time had reached a depth of 3,200 feet. These ledges followed the same general geology as the previously discovered ore deposits running at an angle near 22 degrees. The gold-bearing ore became scarcer
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4256-727: A tributary of the Klondike River by George Carmack and his Indigenous companions, Skookum Jim Mason and Tagish Charlie . As prospectors arrived in Klondike, makeshift towns and settlements sprang up along the rivers, including Dawson City , which because the largest town in Yukon at the height of the gold rush. Prospectors employed various mining techniques to extract gold from the Klondike's streams and riverbeds, including placer mining, dredging, and hydraulic mining. The Carlin Trend of Nevada, U.S.,
4389-401: A trusted friend of Joseph "Diamond Jo" Reynolds and was superintendent of the Congress mine after Mr. Reynolds purchased it. He was still the superintendent at the time of "Diamond Jo" Reynolds' death (he was at Mr. Reynolds' bedside at the mine when he died, and inherited a share of the property). Joseph "Diamond Jo" Reynolds died of pneumonia at the age of 71 on February 21, 1891, in his tent at
4522-418: Is a cyanide extraction method, or gold cyanidation, introduced in the late 1800s. This a metallurgical technique used to extract gold from lower grade ores by converting gold into a water-soluble coordination complex. Finely ground rock is treated with a solution of sodium cyanide . The extract is absorbed onto carbon and then removed from the carbon with a solution of caustic soda and cyanide. Gold cyanide
4655-429: Is a method of extracting gold from alluvial deposits such as sand, gravel, and sediment. These are known as placer deposits which are typically found in riverbeds, stream beds, and floodplains. These deposits typically contain minerals that are resistant to weathering and eroision like gold , platinum , diamonds , and more. They are characterized by their relatively high concentration of valuable minerals compared to
4788-415: Is characterized by its low cost, as each rock is moved only once. It also has low environmental impact, as no stripping of vegetation or overburden is necessary, and all process water is fully recycled. Such operations are typical on New Zealand's South Island and in the Klondike region of Canada. Also called a cradle, a rocker box uses riffles located in a high-walled box to trap gold in a similar manner to
4921-616: Is done by small-scale miners using suction dredges. These are small machines that float on the water and are usually operated by one or two people. A suction dredge consists of a sluice box supported by pontoons, attached to a suction hose which is controlled by a miner working beneath the water. This method is particularly popular in areas where gold is found at river bottoms or submerge deposits . Suction dredging can have environmental impacts, moreso on aquatic habitats and water quality. Regulations and best practices are often in place to minimize these impacts. State dredging permits in many of
5054-436: Is essentially a man made channel with riffles set in the bottom. The riffles are designed to create dead zones in the current to allow gold to drop out of suspension. The box is placed in the stream to channel water flow. Gold-bearing material is placed at the top of the box. The material is carried by the current through the volt where gold and other dense material settles out behind the riffles. Less dense material flows out of
5187-841: Is estimated that the total gold production in Karnataka to date is 1000 tons. The mining of the Hungarian deposit (present-day Slovakia) primarily around Kremnica was the largest of the Medieval period in Europe. In South America, gold mining in the Andes dates back to thousands of years, with the Inca empire employing extensive gold mining operations in regions such as present-day Peru and Ecuador . They used stone tools and simple mining techniques to extract gold from rivers, streams, and surface deposits. During
5320-962: Is produced by major corporations, there are an estimated 10 to 15 million small-scale artisanal gold miners worldwide. Around 4.5 million of them are women, and an estimated 600,000 children work in illegal artisanal gold mines. Artisanal miners use rudimentary methods to extract and process gold. Many of these people are mining to escape extreme poverty , unemployment and landlessness . In Ghana, galamsey miners are estimated to number 20,000 to 50,000. In neighboring francophone countries, such workers are called orpailleurs . In Brazil, Venezuela, Suriname, and French Guiana, workers are called garimpeiros . These workers are not required to claim responsibility for their social and environmental impacts. Miners risk government persecution, mine shaft collapses, and toxic poisoning from unsafe chemicals used in processing, such as mercury. For example, in Ghana during 2009,
5453-401: Is the extraction of gold by mining . Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning . The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to more complex extraction processes such as pit mining and gold cyanidation . In the 20th and 21st centuries, most volume of mining was done by large corporations. However,
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5586-628: Is then converted to relatively pure gold through gold parting . There are many environmental hazards associated with this extraction method, largely due to the high toxicity of the cyanide compounds. Furthermore, there are potentials for accidental spills or leaks to cause harm to aquatic ecosystems and human health. For example, in 2000, the Baia Mare cyanide spill in northern Romania released approximately 100,000 cubic metres (3,500,000 cu ft) of waste water contaminated with heavy metal sludge and up to 120 long tons (122 t) of cyanide into
5719-594: The American Smelting and Refining Company 's copper smelter in El Paso, Texas . During the strike, WFM officials competed with IWW officials to organize the workers with their respective unions. The WFM established a local union in El Paso and signed over 400 workers, though neither union was ever in control of the strike. While the strike ended in failure several weeks later, the WFM local remained. In July 1913, locals of
5852-615: The British royal family . During the 19th century, numerous gold rushes in remote regions around the globe caused large migrations of miners, such as the California Gold Rush of 1849. This is one of the most famous gold rushes in history. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in California sparked a massive migration of people from around the world to California in search of gold. The rush significantly accelerated westward expansion in
5985-721: The Colorado National Guard to Leadville. The WFM affiliated with the American Federation of Labor in 1896, but WFM delegates came away from the AFL convention in Cincinnati , ...not only disappointed with the refusal to aid their big fight in Leadville , but with a feeling that they had not been associating with union men, or with men possessing the moral or intellectual fibre ever to become good union men. The WFM withdrew from
6118-568: The Dompoase mine collapse killed 18 workers. It was the worst mining disaster in Ghanaian history. Children in these mines suffer extremely harsh working conditions and various hazards such as collapsing tunnels, explosions, and chemical exposure. Children may be especially vulnerable to these hazards and many suffer from serious respiratory conditions, hearing, and vision problems. Gold mining by large multi-national corporations produces about 80% of
6251-517: The Italian Hall Disaster . Shortly after the disaster, WFM president Charles Moyer was shot and then forcibly placed on a train headed for Chicago . The strikers held out until April 1914, but then gave up the strike. The WFM was left with almost no funds to run its operations or future strikes. In 1914, the copper miners at Butte, Montana, split between those loyal to the WFM, and those supporting more militancy, many of whom sympathized with
6384-664: The Kolar gold fields was mined to a depth of 50 metres (160 ft) during the Gupta period in the fifth century AD. During the Chola period in the 9th and 10th century AD, the scale of the operation grew. The metal continued to be mined by the eleventh century kings of South India, the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1560, and later by Tipu Sultan , the king of Mysore state and the British. It
6517-690: The New Deal and helped found the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1935. The Mine Mill union was expelled from the CIO in 1950 during the post-war red scare for refusing to shed its Communist leadership. After spending years fighting off efforts by the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) to raid its membership, Mine Mill and the Canadian Auto Workers merged in 1967 and were able to retain
6650-569: The Old Kingdom , the oval mallet was introduced for mining. By the Middle Kingdom , stone mortars to process ores and a new gold-washing technique were introduced. During the New Kingdom , Nubian mining expanded under Egyptian occupation with the invention of the grinding mill . Additionally, gold was associated with the sun god Ra and was believed to be eternal and indestructible, symbolising
6783-511: The Tisza River. Historically, mercury was used extensively in placer gold mining in order to form mercury-gold amalgam with smaller gold particles, and thereby increase the gold recovery rates. First, the gold ore is crushed and ground to a fine powder to expose the gold particles for amalgamation. Then, this finely ground ore is mixed with liquid mercury to amalgamate it. Mercury forms an amalgam, an alloy, with gold particles to allow for
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#17330846531036916-547: The 3rd or 4th millennium BC, may be the world's oldest known gold mine. Gold has been prized by humans since prehistoric times. Archaeological evidence suggests that humans were mining gold as far back as 4000 BCE, with some the earliest known gold artifacts dating back to ancient Mesopotamia . Particularly in the region of present-day Iraq, gold was mined extensively. The ancient Sumerians , around 2500 BCE, developed sophisticated techniques for extracting gold from alluvial deposits and underground mines. These techniques included
7049-687: The AFL the following year. With the support of other organizations, including the State Trades and Labor Council of Montana, which issued a proposition to organize a new federation , the WFM created its own alternative to the AFL, the Western Labor Union (WLU). The WLU was formed in 1898 at a convention in Salt Lake City . Its goal was organizing all workers in the West. Another confrontation in Coeur d'Alene
7182-570: The Amazon rainforest, Indigenous peoples have been killed and had their rightfully owned land stolen from them. As a consequence of this, some have left the rainforest to move to cities which further puts them at risk to disease, homelessness, and poverty. Artisanal gold mining is widespread across Africa , occurring in numerous countries including Ghana , Mali , Burkina Faso , Tanzania , Zimbabwe , and many others. For many individuals and communities in rural Africa, artisanal gold mining represents
7315-454: The Congress Mine in Arizona. After his death, his estate was valued at between $ 8 and $ 10 million, completely debt free. His widow, Eleanor Morton Reynolds, became one of the executors of Joseph "Diamond Jo" Reynolds' estate and after his death she sold the mine in 1894 (they had no children heirs). Joseph "Diamond Jo" Reynolds had championed a railroad between Prescott and Phoenix, running through Congress, to reduce shipping costs to and from
7448-514: The Congress Mine. The tour helped promote Murphy's new company, the Development Company of America (DCA), which was organized to buy and develop properties. Murphy's DCA acquired the Congress, but retained the management of E.B. Gage and W.F. Staunton, both of whom later became prominent in the DCA. A week before president McKinley's visit, Staunton had completed the second 40 stamp mill and expanded
7581-454: The Congress Mine. The heyday of one of the greatest gold mines in Arizona was over. A brief revival occurred with the rise of gold market values during the 1930s, when Frank Murphy's widow sold out her interest. The best history of the mine was published by family friend and former supt. Staunton in the Engineering & Mining Journal November 13, 1926. Successful mines have many fathers while
7714-510: The Congress, the Niagara and the Why Not, and had by then produced more than $ 5,000,000 (in 1900 dollars) worth of gold. Around this time the monthly payroll of the mine was reported to have about 400 miners. In May 1901 the Congress Mine was visited by then President William McKinley on a tour of the country. The tour was orchestrated by Arizona Territorial Governor Nathan Oakes Murphy and brother Frank M. Murphy, who had re-acquired an interest in
7847-426: The Congress. Be that as it may, Dennis May was the first person to energetically develop the prospect into a small mine. The scale of production was minimal; May used a simple arrastra to work a few tons of ore. Later, May bought a farm near Buffalo, New York, but returned to prospect the Arizona desert, while Bartlett later became a laborer in the Congress mine. Ben Bartlett died February, 1903. Frank Morrill Murphy,
7980-660: The Date Creek Mining District (later renamed the Martinez district) after discovering gold in the Date Creek Mountains . One of the early prospectors was Dennis May, who would later discover the Congress Mine, but not until twenty years of sporadic, small scale operations in the immediate area. According to the Martinez Mining District records held by the Sharlot Hall Museum, Prescott, May first co-located
8113-464: The Highlands during the 16th and 17th century. Gold deposits were discovered in rivers and streams, leading to a surge in prospecting and mining activity. The Scottish Crown took an interest in gold discoveries, in hopes of aiding the kingdom's economy and revenue. King James IV of Scotland established a royal mint to produce gold coins from Scottish gold. The Scottish gold rush eventually waned due to
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#17330846531038246-621: The Independence Depot near Victor, Colorado on June 6, 1904, killing thirteen strikebreakers, Sheriff H.M. Robertson went to investigate. The situation became very volatile, with throngs of angry men gathered in the streets. The Cripple Creek Mine Owners' Association and an anti-union vigilante organization, the Cripple Creek District Citizens' Alliance , called a meeting at the Victor Military Club to formulate
8379-932: The Middle Ages, Europe experience several gold rushes. Most notably in regions like Transylvania, Scotland, and Wales. These rushes were often small-scale and localised compared to later rushes in history. The Transylvania gold rush took place in the Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Romania ), primarily in the region of Transylvania during the medieval period. Transylvania was known for its rich mineral resources including gold, silver, and other metals. Miners in Transylvania used both surface and underground mining techniques to extract gold from alluvial deposits and veins. These methods include panning, sluicing, and rudimentary shaft mining. The Scottish gold rush occurred in Scotland, primarily in
8512-428: The Phelps Dodge Corporation; and the Christmas, Congress, and other properties to the Murphy interests. After his death in 1917, his widow Ethel Meaney Murphy and the estate with the assistance of her attorney T.G. Norris divested themselves of the property by the mid-1930s. 34°12′03″N 112°51′03″W / 34.20083°N 112.85083°W / 34.20083; -112.85083 Gold mine Gold mining
8645-434: The Romans invaded Transylvania in what is now modern Romania in the second century AD. The legions were led by the emperor Trajan, and their exploits are shown on Trajan's Column in Rome and the several reproductions of the column elsewhere (such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London ). Under the Eastern Roman Empire Emperor Justinian's rule, gold was mined in the Balkans, Anatolia, Armenia, Egypt, and Nubia. In
8778-410: The United States and had profound effects on the region's economy and society. The gold rushes began in 1851 when Edward Hargraves , a prospector, discovered gold near Bathhurst , New South Wales . The most well known gold rush in Australia was the Victorian Gold Rush . Thousands of people, known as 'diggers', came from around the world to Australia in search of gold, which ultimately contributed to
8911-484: The United States gold dredging areas specify a seasonal time period and area closures to avoid conflicts between dredgers and the spawning time of fish populations. Some US states, such as Montana, require an extensive permitting procedure, including permits. Some large suction dredges [100 horsepower (75 kW) & 250 mm (10 in)] are used in commercial production throughout the world. Small suction dredges are much more efficient at extracting smaller gold than
9044-438: The WFM to work for the IWW. The WFM rejoined the AFL in 1911. When Frank Steunenberg , a former governor of Idaho , was murdered on December 30, 1905, the authorities arrested Charles Moyer , president of the union, Bill Haywood , its secretary, and George Pettibone , a former member, in Colorado and put them on trial for Steunenberg's murder. The prosecution relied heavily on the testimony of Harry Orchard , who claimed that
9177-475: The WFM. Although the courts eventually acquitted all union members charged with the bombing of the railroad station during the 1903–04 strike and awarded damages to those who had been deported, the strike and the union were broken in Cripple Creek; similar measures were resorted to in Telluride, Colorado . The actions effectively drove the WFM out of many of the mining camps in Colorado. On 18 September 1912, about 4,800 miners struck Utah Copper Company "and all
9310-471: The Western Federation of Miners called a general strike against all mines in the Michigan Copper Country . The strike was called without approval by the national WFM, which was extremely low on funds after the recent strikes in the west. The union supported the strike, but faced great difficulties providing pay and supplies to the strikers. Hundreds of strikers surrounded the mine shafts to prevent others from reporting to work. Almost all mines shut down, although
9443-421: The Western Federation of Miners, which sought to organize miners throughout the West. Violence occurred in later strikes as well. At Cripple Creek, Colorado , after mine owners increased the working day from eight hours to ten, miners dynamited mine buildings and equipment. The county sheriff hired thousands of armed deputies, and then lost control of them. This 1894 struggle was one of the few strikes in which
9576-620: The area of the Kolar Gold Fields in Bangarpet Taluk , Kolar district of Karnataka state, India; gold was first mined prior to the 2nd and 3rd century AD by digging small pits. Golden objects found in Harappa and Mohenjo-daro have been traced to Kolar through the analysis of impurities – the impurities include 11% silver concentration, found only in KGF ore. The Champion reef at
9709-580: The box as tailings . Larger commercial placer mining operations employ screening plants, or trommels , to remove the larger alluvial materials such as boulders and gravel, before concentrating the remainder in a sluice box or jig plant. After the gold is sorted through trommels, it is then placed through regular sluice boxes for further sorting. These operations typically include diesel powered, earth moving equipment including excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders , and rock trucks. Although this method has largely been replaced by modern methods, some dredging
9842-476: The building from nearby rooftops. Forty union members eventually surrendered, with four of them sporting fresh wounds. The Citizen's Alliance entered the building and trashed it. Vigilantes subsequently destroyed every union hall in the area, while General Bell used the National Guard to deport hundreds of strikers. General Bell closed the Portland Mine, owned by James Burns, because it had come to an agreement with
9975-463: The conflicts were thus dubbed the Colorado Labor Wars . The WFM also played a key role in the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1905 but left that organization several years later. The WFM changed its name to the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers (more familiarly referred to as Mine Mill) in 1916. After a period of decline it revived in the early days of
10108-514: The confrontation, the Coeur d'Alene miners received considerable assistance from the Butte Miners' Union in Butte, Montana , who mortgaged their buildings to send aid. There was a growing concern that local unions were vulnerable to the power of Mine Owners' Associations like the one in Coeur d'Alene. In May 1893, about forty delegates from northern hard rock mining camps met in Butte, and established
10241-484: The deeper the miners went and work underground diminished while the tailings were reprocessed. The owners of the mine then decided to prospect within the existing shafts for new veins of gold-bearing rocks. In 1905 a new offshoot vein was discovered at a level of 2,050 feet in the number 5 shaft. A horizontal shaft was dug to follow this vein. By this time the Congress Shaft had reached a depth of 4,000 feet with
10374-563: The discipline of business management. [The WFM] had the militancy of the undisciplined recruits ... From the founding of the Western Federation in 1893, its story for twelve years is that of a continuous search for solidarity ... The miners who formed the union had already experienced a number of hard-fought battles with mine owners and governmental authorities: in the Coeur d'Alene strike in February 1892, after company guards shot five strikers to death,
10507-432: The efficient capture of gold from the ore. The gold is concentrated by boiling away the mercury from the amalgam . This process is called retorting. This is effective in extracting very small gold particles, but the process is hazardous due to the toxicity of mercury vapour. Large-scale use of mercury stopped in the 1960s. However, mercury is still used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). While most gold
10640-762: The extraction process. This pollution can have detrimental effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health. Soil degradation has also been found to be impacted by gold mining. Mining activities can disturb soil structure, leading to erosion, sedimentation of waterways, and loss of fertile land for agriculture or vegetation regrowth. More evidently, dust and emissions from mining machiner and processing facilities can contribute to air pollution, impacting air quality and potentially causings respiratory problems for nearby communities. Large-scale gold mining projects may require land acquisition and resettlement of local communities, leading to displacement, loss of livelihoods, and disruption of traditional ways of life. In addition to
10773-455: The first three months of 1911 and then closed while the parent company which had concentrated on developing other properties, primarily at Tombstone (Tombstone Consolidated) and at Silver Bell copper district (Imperial Copper) ran into financial difficulties. The DCA, unable to pay its bonds, and its subsidiaries collapsed in 1911 with the Phelps Dodge and Guggenheims' ASARCO interests picking up
10906-557: The form of Colorado's National Guard , whose salaries were paid by the business community, not the State. Their commanding officer, General Sherman Bell , began arresting union leaders, strikers, and local public officials by the hundreds. Bell prohibited local newspapers from printing any material unfavorable to the military and ordered the arrest of the entire staff of a newspaper whose editorial had offended him. In Bell's words, "Military necessity recognizes no laws, either civil or social". When
11039-498: The gallows if he testified that an "inner circle" of Western Federation of Miners leaders had ordered the crime. The prosecution of that "inner circle" of the union was then funded, in part, by direct contributions from the Ceour d'Alene District Mine Owners' Association to prosecuting attorneys who were, ostensibly, working for the state rather than for private interests. Upon hearing of this circumstance, president Theodore Roosevelt issued
11172-467: The gold belonged to them!" Haywood was the first chairman of the IWW; he defined its work as "socialism with its working clothes on". But factional differences the following year between the "revolutionists" and "reformists" within the IWW, which also divided the leadership of the WFM, led to the departure of the WFM from the IWW in 1907. After the split, former WFM leaders Bill Haywood and Vincent St. John left
11305-694: The gold supply. Most gold is mined in developing nations. Large mining companies play a key role in globalisation of the economy by linking rich and poor companies. Newmont and Barrick Gold are the largest gold mining companies in the world, but there are many smaller corporations in the industry. Local communities are frequently vulnerable to environmental degradation caused by large mining companies and may lack government protection or industry regulation. For example, thousands of people around Lega Dembi mine are exposed to mercury, arsenic, and other toxins resulting in widespread health problems and birth defects. Vulnerable communities may also lose their land to
11438-553: The growth of cities like Melbourne and Sydney . The discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand led to the Second Boer War and ultimately the founding of South Africa. This transformed the region into one of the wealthiest gold-producing areas in the world. This rush played a crucial role in the development of South Africa's economy and lead to the establishment of Johannesburg, known as the 'city of gold'. Gold-bearing reefs in
11571-750: The heat is unbearable for humans, and air conditioning is required for the safety of the workers. The first such mine to receive air conditioning was Robinson Deep , at that time the deepest mine in the world for any mineral. Gold is also produced by mining in which it is not the principal product. Large copper mines, such as the Bingham Canyon mine in Utah, often recover considerable amounts of gold and other metals along with copper. Sand and gravel pits, like those in Denver (Colorado), may recover small amounts of gold in their wash operations. The largest producing gold mine in
11704-461: The lowest ever recorded for tropical forests, with there being little to no tree regeneration at abandoned mining camps, even after several years. The Amazon rainforest is at risk for 'savannization', which is the gradual transformation of a tropical rainforest into a savannah. This would ultimately lead to a collapse of biodiversity, ecosystems, and climate. Gold mining produces more waste than mining of other minerals, because it can be mined at
11837-435: The military to indiscriminately round up 1,000 men and put them into bullpens . Emma Langdon , a union sympathizer, charged in a 1908 book that Governor Steunenberg deposited $ 35,000 into his bank account within a week after troops arrived in the Coeur d'Alene district, implying that there may have been a bribe from the mine operators. J. Anthony Lukas later confirmed the donation in his book Big Trouble , In 1899, when
11970-480: The mill to 40 stamps, introduced the cyanide process, and turned the Congress into territorial Arizona's biggest gold producer. In 1900, the number 1 shaft had reached a depth of 2,700 feet and was the deepest shaft in the Arizona Territory . The shafts generally ran at an angle of 22-22.5 degrees to follow the vein. In 1900, the mine consisted of about 30 separate claims of which the principle producers were
12103-490: The mine had been shut down. The principals in the new company when incorporated were C.D. Arms, Eliphalet Butler Gage, (a successful mine manager in Tombstone in the early days) as president, N.K. Fairbank, and Frank M. Murphy. The capital stock was valued at $ 1,000,000. In 1900, it was reported that the Congress Mine had been sold again, this time to a syndicate headed by ex-Senator Warner Miller of New York for $ 3,000,000. This
12236-582: The mine owners. In addition to Idaho mine owners, powerful and wealthy industrialists outside of Idaho were also tapped in an effort to destroy the Western Federation of Miners. Donations for the prosecutorial effort estimated in the range of $ 75,000 to $ 100,000 were simultaneously solicited and forwarded from the Colorado Mine Owners' Association and other wealthy Colorado donors. Mining interests in other states – Nevada and Utah, for example – were approached as well. The defense hired Clarence Darrow ,
12369-691: The mine. The Development Company of America with Frank Murphy as president, headquartered in New York City , also owned the Poland Mine Company, Imperial Copper Company (Silver Bell district west of Tucson), Tombstone Consolidated Mines Company of Tombstone, Arizona , vast timber lands in Chihuahua, the Christmas copper mines near Ray, a major smelter at SASCO to work the coppers ores of Silverbell/Imperial, and lesser properties. Under these subsidiaries were
12502-663: The mine. Some large companies have attempted to build local legitimacy through corporate responsibility initiatives and local development. Gold mining can significantly alter the natural environment. Gold mining activities in tropical forests are increasingly causing deforestation along rivers and in remote areas rich in biodiversity. Mining has increased rainforest loss up to 70km beyond lease boundaries, causing nearly 11,670 km of deforestation between 2005 to 2015. Up to 9% of gold mining occurs outside of these regulated lease boundaries. Other gold mining impacts, particularly in aquatic systems with residual cyanide or mercury (used in
12635-593: The mine. Immediately after his death, Frank Murphy concentrated on getting the railroad built and the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway reached Congress in 1894, then Phoenix in 1895. A group from Tombstone took an option on the Congress in March 1894. They incorporated the Congress Gold Mining Company in 1895, and consummated the purchase of the mine from "Diamond Jo" Reynolds' estate. Since his death in 1891
12768-529: The miners disarmed the guards and marched more than a hundred strikebreakers out of town. In response Governor N.B. Willey asked for federal troops to restore order; President Benjamin Harrison sent General John Schofield , who declared martial law , arrested 600 strikers and then held them in a stockade prison without the right to trial, bail or habeas corpus . Schofield then ordered local mine owners to discharge any union members they had rehired. During
12901-449: The mining activity stilled, a good number of residents (either miners or those associated with mining businesses) began moving to more active areas. Much of the news concerning the Congress Mine by this time began to shift focus from, "What is to come," to, "What once was." A few hopeful reports were printed from time to time that the Congress Mine would be re-opened. Sadly for the people of Congress, Arizona , these reports were erroneous and
13034-410: The more radical Industrial Workers of the World . The militants attacked WFM officials marching in the annual Union Day parade, and later blew up the WFM headquarters with dynamite. The dissidents established their own rival union, but neither the WFM or the new militant union was able to keep peace among the miners, so the mine owners recognized neither union. The result was that at Butte, for many years
13167-422: The most common reports were details of the equipment being removed from the mine complex to be utilized elsewhere. Also by this time, the mine was most commonly called the "Old Congress Mine," to distinguish it from other mines with the same name, particularly the re-opened Congress Mine near Silverton, Colorado . By 1914 the vast majority or reports concerning the Congress Mine centered on possible schemes to rework
13300-580: The most renowned lawyer of the day, who had represented Eugene V. Debs several years earlier. In spite of the combined efforts of state and local governments in Idaho and Colorado, the Mine Owners' Associations, the Pinkerton and Thiel Detective Agencies, and other interested industrialists, the jury acquitted Bill Haywood. Pettibone was also acquitted early the next year, and all charges against Moyer were dropped. In
13433-464: The name Mine Mill Local 598 . After hard rock miners made sporadic and often unsuccessful efforts to organize during previous decades , the Western Federation of Miners was established on May 15, 1893. The federation was formed through the merger of several miners' unions representing copper miners from Butte, Montana , silver and lead miners from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho , gold miners from Colorado and hard rock miners from South Dakota , and Utah at
13566-711: The neighbouring Free State province were found shortly thereafter, driving significant development in the region with the establishment of the Free State goldfields . Also known as the Yukon Gold Rush , brought prospectors from around the world to the Klondike region of the Yukon territory in Canada . The Klondike Gold Rush began in 1896, when gold was discovered in Bonanza Creek ,
13699-413: The old bucket line . This has improved the chances of finding gold. Smaller dredges with 50-to-100-millimetre (2 to 4 in) suction tubes are used to sample areas behind boulders and along potential pay streaks, until "colour" (gold) appears. Other larger scale dredging operations take place on exposed river gravel bars at seasonal low water. These operations typically use a land based excavator to feed
13832-598: The oldest known gold artifacts were found in the Varna Necropolis in Bulgaria . The graves of the necropolis were built between 4700 and 4200 BC, indicating that gold mining could be at least 6,724 years old. During a series of excavations carried out between 1878 and 1992, several graves were found with more than 6kg of gold. A group of German and Georgian archaeologists claims the Sakdrisi site in southern Georgia , dating to
13965-569: The one-man drill, and especially refused to employ Western Federation of Miners members. On Christmas Eve 1913, the Western Federation of Miners organized a party for strikers and their families at the Italian Benevolent Society hall in Calumet . The hall was packed with between 400 and 500 people when someone shouted "fire." There was no fire, but 73 people, 62 of them children, were crushed to death trying to escape. This became known as
14098-413: The only activity at the mine was speculative, mostly centered on possible leases for reworking the tailings and dumps of discarded ore left over from the primary mining of the main shafts. It was reported that most of the machinery still stood at the site, looking as if it could start up again any time, "at the blowing of the whistle." The town of Congress, Arizona , was "hanging on" but with the majority of
14231-549: The pharoah's divine power and afterlife. Gold has also been found in the tombs of Tutankhamun and other pharoahs. During the Bronze Age, gold objects were also plentiful; especially in Ireland and Spain. Romans employed slave labour and used hydraulic mining methods, such as hushing and ground sluicing on a large scale to extract gold from extensive alluvial (loose sediment) deposits, such as those at Las Medulas . Mining
14364-486: The pieces. As the Congress played out, competing claims around it continued to be found and worked, though not to the same degree of success as the Congress Mine. In 1912 the bankrupt Development Company of America (DCA) lost the Congress Mine but to the Frank M. Murphy interests. His attorney, T.G. Norris, began to sell off parts of the property including the rights to the mine dump and tailings, to other mining concerns. In 1913
14497-688: The possible respiratory problems that could be acquired, individuals may be exposed to hazardous chemicals used in gold extraction such as mercury and cyanide. These chemicals pose risks to gold miners, communities, and wildlife; resulting in further medical problems involving neurological disorders and waterborne diseases . Gold mining in some regions has been associated with conflicts over land rights, labour rights violations, and exploitation of vulnerable populations, including Indigenous peoples and artisanal miners. Mining activities can damage or destroy cultural heritage sites, artifacts, and sacred areas; further impacting cultural identities and heritages. In
14630-580: The principal mines, mills, and smelters of Bingham camp ." Other Utah mine sympathizers brought that number to 9,000. The company enlisted an army of 5,000 besides having the protection of the Utah National Guard . The strike ended in October and at the end of the month, Daniel C. Jackling raised wages. It also saw an end to the Padrone system . In April 1913, several hundred Mexican American workers at
14763-407: The recovery of gold from ore), can be highly toxic to people and wildlife even at relatively low concentrations. Illegal gold mining exacerbates the ecological vulnerability of the remaining forest ultimately leading to permanent forest loss. Gold mining clears native forests for mineral extraction, but also indirectly facilitates access to more land and further clearing. Rainforest recovery rates are
14896-435: The roasting and cyanide works. The Congress became the DCA's steady dividend producer. In 1902, miners struck over reduction of pay, and over the right to organize a miners' union. The Western Federation of Miners had entered the district, with rumors of violence (the company's water pump was later dynamited by persons unknown). The company introduced low paid miners from Mexico. The strike failed, but territorial legislation
15029-540: The sluice box. A rocker box uses less water than a sluice box and is well suited for areas where water is limited. A rocking motion provides the water movement needed for the gravity separation of gold in placer material. Rocker boxes gained popularity during the California Gold Rush in the 19th century and remain in use today. Although simple and inexpensive, it is not efficient as the previously discussed mining techniques . The dominant method for refining gold
15162-473: The state needed money for the Coeur d'Alene prosecutions, the Mine Owners' Association had come up with $ 32,000—about a third of it from Bunker Hill and Sullivan—handing $ 25,000 over to Governor Steunenberg for use at his discretion in the prosecution. Some of this money went to pay [attorneys]. Idaho miners were held for "months of imprisonment in the 'bull-pen' — a structure unfit to house cattle – enclosed in
15295-467: The surrounding rock or sediments. Unlike hard-rock mining, which involves excavating solid rock formations, water or dredging is used to extract the gold. Using a sluice box to extract gold from placer deposits has long been a very common practice in prospecting and small-scale mining. Sluices work on the principle that heavier particles will sink to the bottom of a stream, while those that are lighter will be carried downstream and expelled. A sluice box
15428-503: The tailings. No potential work within the mine itself was reported. With Frank Murphy's death in 1917, any hope of reopening was gone. The estate sold the physical plant, mills, and mine railroad equipment shortly thereafter. As World War I progressed, references to the Old Congress Mine became almost non-existent and by the end of the war the only references to be found were in articles about news makers who were once associated with
15561-659: The union had directed him to plant the bombs that killed supervisors and strikebreakers during the second Cripple Creek strike and that Haywood, Moyer and Pettibone had hired him to assassinate Governor Steunenberg. The prosecution had depended heavily on the investigative work of James McParland who, acting as an operative for the Pinkerton Detective Agency , had helped convict the Molly Maguires three decades earlier, and felt confident that it would convict all three. McParland persuaded Orchard that he could avoid
15694-704: The use of sluice boxes. Evidence suggests that Nubia had sporadic access to gold nuggets during the Neolithic and Prehistoric Period . Gold mining in Egypt involved both surface mining such as panning for gold in riverbeads and underground mining, where tunnels were dug to extract gold-bearing quartz veins. During the Bronze Age , sites in the Eastern Desert became a great source of gold-mining for nomadic Nubians, who used "two-hand-mallets" and "grinding ore extraction ." By
15827-453: The value of gold has led to millions of small, artisanal miners in many parts of the Global South . Like all mining, human rights and environmental issues are common in the gold mining industry, and can result in environmental conflict . In mines with less regulation, health and safety risks are much higher. The exact date that humans first began to mine gold is unknown, but some of
15960-426: The workers were said to be sharply divided on the strike question. The union demanded an 8-hour day, a minimum wage of $ 3 per day, an end to use of the one-man drill, and that the companies recognize it as the employees' representative. The mines reopened under National Guard protection, and many went back to work. The companies instituted the 8-hour day, but refused to set a $ 3 per day minimum wage, refused to abandon
16093-587: The world's gold. Sometimes open-pit mining is used, such as at the Fort Knox Mine in central Alaska. Barrick Gold Corporation has one of the largest open-pit gold mines in North America located on its Goldstrike mine property in north eastern Nevada. Other gold mines use underground mining, where the ore is extracted through tunnels or shafts. South Africa has the world's deepest hard rock gold mine up to 3,900 metres (12,800 ft) underground. At such depths,
16226-711: The world, the Grasberg mine in Papua, Indonesia, is primarily a copper mine. Gold panning , or simply panning , is a form of placer mining and traditional mining that extracts gold from a placer deposit using a pan. The process is one of the simplest ways to extract gold, and is popular with geology enthusiasts especially because of its low cost and relative simplicity. The first recorded instances of placer mining are from ancient Rome , where gold and other precious metals were extracted from streams and mountainsides using sluices and panning ( ruina montium ). Placer mining
16359-663: Was China with 368.3 tonnes of gold mined in that year. The second-largest producer of gold was Russia where 331.1 tonnes was mined in the same year, followed by Australia with 327.8 tonnes. In 2023, the annual gold demand of 4,448 tonnes was 5% below that of 2022. The total gold demand in 2023 was the highest at 4,899 tonnes. Despite its decreasing content in ores, gold production is increasing. This increase can be achieved through ever larger-scale industrial installations as well as innovations, especially in hydrometallurgy . Hard rock mining extracts gold encased in rock, rather than fragments in loose sediment, and produces most of
16492-569: Was "the only salvation of the working classes." WFM leaders openly called for the abolition of the wage system. By the spring of 1903 the WFM was the most militant labor organization in the country. The plan to organize the mill workers led to even fiercer battles with the refinery companies, who paid their workers half what miners earned for a ten- to twelve-hour day. When smelter workers went on strike in Colorado City, Colorado in 1903 it appeared that they might be able to win their demands without
16625-474: Was a labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia . Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles – with both employers and governmental authorities. One of the most dramatic of these struggles occurred in the Cripple Creek district of Colorado in 1903–1904;
16758-532: Was bust). Headed by E.B. Gage, formerly superintendent of the Grand Central in Tombstone, the company relocated its miners and mill men to open the Congress. Financing came from the Grand Central backers, principally N.K. Fairbank of Chicago and Charles D. Arms and partners of Youngstown, Ohio. As superintendent they hired William F Staunton, formerly of the Tombstone M&;M Co., who expanded operations, expanded
16891-474: Was considered one of the most productive gold mines in Arizona. The gold found in the mine was primarily small veins embedded in white quartz with inclusions of iron pyrite (fool's gold), iron, and sulfur. The Congress vein was considered a peculiar formation, characterized as "a dike of green stone trap." The ore ran through this dike and the dike was found throughout the entire geographical ledge. The most valuable ore-bearing rocks could be found lodged on or near
17024-506: Was discovered in 1961. Official estimates indicate that total world gold production since the beginning of civilization has been around 6,352,216,000 troy ounces (197,576.0 t) and total gold production in Nevada is 1.1% of that, ranking Nevada as one of the Earth's primary gold-producing regions. World gold production was 3,612 tonnes in 2022. As of 2020 , the world's largest gold producer
17157-502: Was later proven a false claim. On April 5, 1901, the Congress Mine was sold to a syndicate headed by John William MacKay for $ 5,000,000. This was also false. Actually Frank Murphy and partners, Gage and partners, and others formed a holding company modeled after United States Steel Corporation . Called the Development Company of America, it acquired properties and developed them across the Southwest and northern Mexico. The DCA organized
17290-524: Was marked by violence. The profitable Bunker Hill Mining Company at Wardner, Idaho fired seventeen workers believed to be union members. On April 29, 250 angry miners seized a train and rode it to a $ 250,000 mill at the Bunker Hill Mine in Wardner. The miners then set off three thousand pounds of dynamite in the mill. At Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg 's request, President William McKinley sent
17423-541: Was passed for an eight-hour work day. In 1902, a competing syndicate from New York acquired a claim to property adjacent to the Congress Mine which was earlier ignored by the engineers of the Congress Gold Company as being devoid of precious minerals. This turned out to be a big oversight and the Senate Mine was developed. This caused great anxiety to the stockholders of the Congress Gold Mining Company and they began to acquire adjoining claims and nearby land. This proved to be
17556-495: Was the eight-hour day . When the legislature had enacted a statute limiting the workday in hazardous industries, such as mining and smelting, to eight hours, the Colorado Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional. The voters of Colorado then passed a referendum authorizing the eight-hour day, but the smelter owners and Republican Party fought any efforts to pass a new statute implementing the amendment. That power took
17689-516: Was under the control of the state but the mines may have been leased to civilian contractors some time later. The gold served as the primary medium of exchange within the empire, and was an important motive in the Roman conquest of Britain by Claudius in the first century AD; although there is only one known Roman gold mine at Dolaucothi in west Wales. Gold was a prime motivation for the campaign in Dacia when
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