THE "SHOVEL-PIT" AT ELY, NEVADA 



remarkablp: surface copper mining shown i\ a large canvas recently 



presented to the museum by the nevada consolidated 



copper company 



By L. p. Grdidcap 



EUREKA Cut at Ely, Xe\a(la, referred to by the eii^iueer.s of the 

 Xeva(hi Consohchited Copper Company as the " .sho\el-pit, " is 

 to-day a gigantic trench excavated in tiie side of a mountain. 

 Terrace by terrace, it is grachudly enveloping and destroying this mountain 

 and when the destruction is accomplished the sh<)\('l-pit will assume the 

 shape of an enormous basin about one mile long, one-third of a mile wide 

 and three hun(h"ed to four hundred feet deep, a topographic feature of such 

 magnitude that if not in a region of restricted rainfall, it nu'ght slowly 

 accumulate waters and become a lake. Sulphides of copper, as also of 

 iron, are scatteretl throughout the mountain mass and although the per- 

 centage of copper is only one to three, or about seven hundred oimces in a 

 ton of rock so that the amount of metallic copper in any cubic foot is insig- 

 nificant, the total amount that can be extracted from the mountain reaches 

 great dimensions, pro])al)ly many thousands of tons, a l)illion and a half or 

 more of pounds. 



The Nevada Consolidated Copper Company through its president, 

 Mr. S. W. Eccles, has presented to the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory an enlarged painting of this remarkable proi)erty. This painting is 

 displayed on the south wall of the hall of minerals and was executed by 

 Albert Operti. In his treatment of the subject he has adopted the Erench 

 school of color and techniciue, producing a canvas which harmonizes admira- 

 bly M'ith the hall. While strictly maintaining the correct geological features 

 throughout, closely following j^anoramie i)hot()grai)lis and engineer's 

 plans, Mr. Operti has at the same time not omitted artistic atmosphere, 

 hokh'ng before himself the difficult problem of uniting illustrative with 

 -ffisthetic values. 



The region in which this copjjcr property is situatt>d has been one of 

 extended and not always successful exploitation, and to-day its metal- 

 lurgical values are practically confined to the two important mining 

 companies at Ely, the Nevada Consolidated and the Ciroux. The ore- 

 bodies are found along the Robinson Canon where evidences of the 

 disasters that attended the earlier mining enterprises are \isible in deserted 

 smelting works, the smallness of whose slag (himi)s l)etrays the failure of 

 premature hopes. Tlu> earlier operations continued intermittently for some 

 years, until "Si. L. Recpia and 1"'. \V. Bradley of San Erancisco, recognizing 



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