194  CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,    1903.  [bull. 225. 
THE   COPPERFIELD    OR    ELY    MINE   (VERSHIRE    MINE). 
The  Copperfield  or  Ely  mine,  near  the  village  of  West  Fairlee,  is 
the  host  known,  as  it  is  the  deepest  mine  in  the  State.  It  was  for 
many  years  known  as  the  Vermont  copper  mine,  and  though  other 
copper  deposits  have  been  worked,  the  Ely  has  been  the  one  great  mine 
of  the  State. 
History.  -It  was  discovered  in  1821,  the  burnt  appearance  of  the 
outcrop  leading  to  digging  by  the  neighboring  farmers.  The  discov- 
erers organized  the  Farmers'  Company  and  opened  up  a  body  of  good 
ore  and  smelted  it  in  a  rude  furnace.  This  was  continued  with  more 
or  less  success  and  interruption  until  in  1853  the  Vermont  Copper 
Mining  Company  acquired  the  property,  completed  an  adit  (tunnel), 
and  opened  up  an  ore  body  8  to  16  feet  in  thickness  that  averaged 
over  9  per  cent  copper,  as  shipped,  some  shipments  yielding  as  much 
as  17  per  cent.  The  property  was  worked  successfully,  paying  large 
returns,  until  a  variety  of  causes  led  to  the  closing  down  in  1892-93 
It  was  acquired  by  Mr.  Westinghouse  in  1899. 
Production. — No  records  are  at  hand  to  show  the  production  prior 
to  1851.  The  production  since  that  year  is,  so  far  as  known,  given  in 
the  following  table: 
Production  of  Copperfield  mine. 
Copper  ore  shipped: 
1854-1860 tons. .  3,  2701 
1861 do 1,  81! 
1863 do....  1,430 1 
1865 do 1,  430 
Metallic  copper  produced,  1870 pounds. .       943,  461  ] 
Average  amount  pig  copper  produced  annually,  1872-1882  (sold  to  Ansonia 
Brass  and  Copper  Co. ) pounds. .  2,  500,  000 
Copper  produced: 
1876 do. ...   1,  646,  850 
1880 do. ...  3, 186,  175 
1890 do ....  7,  500,  000 
The  property  3'ielded  large  profits  from  1870  to  1880,  but  in  conse- 
quence of  bad  management  and  litigation  it  changed  hands.  It  was 
then  successfully  and  profitably  worked  for  seven  years,  clearing  over 
$4,000  a  month  in  1888.  The  following  year  further  litigation  led  to 
a  change  of  ownership. 
Development. — The  deposit  has  been  gradually  developed,  at  first  by 
long  crosscut  adits  (tunnels),  which,  however,  opened  up  comparatively 
small  amounts  of  ore.  An  incline  shaft  was  then  begun  and  gradually 
extended  downward,  the  ore  being  stoped  out  on  each  side  as  the  work 
progressed.  When  the  ore  pinched  out  downward,  which  has  hap- 
pened four  or  five  times  in  the  history  of  the  mine,  winzes  were  sunk 
in  the  foot  wall  and  the  upper  end  of  the  new  lens  opened.     In  1861 
