Photos: The birth and life of San Manuel mine, smelter and town in 1950s-70s
It all came tumbling down on Jan. 18, 2007. The two 500-foot tall smoke stacks at the San Manuel smelter, a beacon for miles, were the last remnants of what was, at one time, the largest underground copper mine in North America. The mine is gone, but the town is still there.
After more than 50 years of successful mining, the pumps were shut off in 2002, allowing the underground tunnels to flood. The concentrator, smelter, refinery and rod plant were demolished after 2003, when the company permanently closed the facilities. The 4,600-acre site was reclaimed.
Interest in the site dates back to the late 1800s. Several people staked claims on the Red Hill site as early as 1925, but the owners were not able to bring it to fruition. Magma Copper purchased the site in 1945 and sunk two shafts by 1948. In 1952, the company got a $92 million loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corp., a federal corporation administered by the U.S. government.
That infusion of cash brought a rapid expansion. Two 2,950-feet deep production shafts were ready by 1953. A rail line, crusher, concentrator and smelter were constructed and commercial production began in 1956.
The townsite for the mining company town of San Manuel in the San Pedro Valley northeast of. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes, retail stores, parks and support for 8,000 people.
The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal government. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.
Town of San Manuel
A pipe to carry concrete to the first 1,000 homes of San Manuel winds through a cholla forest in August, 1953. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
A miner drills into rock that is part of the San Manuel copper ore body in December, 1955. Explosive charges were place in the holes to blast the ore free.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
The sleepy operation, support buildings and Shaft #1 at the San Manuel copper mine near the town of Tiger, Ariz., in 1953, after an investment of more than $100 million dollars by Magma Copper.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
San Manuel copper mine Shaft #1 at Tiger in 1953. The townsite, in in the background, was demolished.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
The head frame of the shaft at the San Manuel copper mine in 1952, just after Magma Copper secured a $94 million loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corp to dramatically expand the mine operation. Workers had joined Shafts 1 and 2 with 18,000 feet of horizontal tunnels at 1,475-feet-deep.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
A miner drills into rock that is part of the San Manuel copper ore body in December, 1955. Explosive charges were place in the holes to blast the ore free.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
The sleepy support buildings and Shift #1 at the San Manuel copper mine near the town of Tiger, Ariz., in 1952, prior to an investment of more than $100 million dollars by Magma Copper.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
Miners get ready to plunge hundreds if not nearly 2,000 feet below the surface at the head frame of the shaft at the San Manuel copper mine in 1952, just after Magma Copper secured a $94 million loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corp to dramatically expand the mine operation.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
Miners in a drift (tunnel), 1475-feet underground in the San Manuel copper mine, unload shoring timber from mine cars in April, 1954.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
The head frames of the two 2,950-feet deep production shafts into the San Manuel ore body in 1955.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter, 1955
San Manuel was once the largest underground copper mine in North America. Magma Copper began commercial underground mining in San Manuel in 1956, after sinking two 2,950-foot shafts into the San Manuel ore body in 1953.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
Ore milling operations at San Manuel copper mine in 1955. The mine began commercial processing of ore in 1956.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
Magma Copper managers interviewing a potential mine employee in 1955 as the company was adding a smelter operation.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
Ore milling operations at San Manuel copper mine in 1955. The mine began commercial processing of ore in 1956.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
Piers hold up an ore conveyor under construction at the San Manuel mine in 1954.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
Mill concentrator building under construction in San Manuel in 1954. It was 700-feet long and 300-feet wide.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
Huge ore storage bins atop the 185-foot tall head frames atop the 2,950-foot deep production shafts at San Manuel mine in 1955.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
Magma Copper workers blast rock to make way for a 2,950 foot production shaft to access the San Manuel copper ore body in August, 1953.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
Wesley P. Goss, president and general manager of Magma Copper, in 1952,
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
The new copper smelter at San Manuel in December, 1955. At bottom right is the casting wheel, which holds 22 anodes, each weighing 700 pounds. Above is the anode furnace and along the right side to the rear are three converters. Jutting out at left is the reverberatory furnace. The ladle hanging from the gantry crane in the background can hold 30 tons of molten copper.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
Managers at the new control center for the San Manuel smelter complex in 1955.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
Ore milling operations at San Manuel copper mine in 1955. The mine began commercial processing of ore in 1956.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
A horizontal mine passage in the San Manuel copper mine in 1955.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
Eight rod mills, right, and 16 ball mills in the 850-foot concentrator building at the San Manuel Mine operation in December, 1955. Steel rods and balls reduce the crusshed copper ore to granular consistency preceding the flotation process.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
Thickeners are 300-foot basins in which processed concentrate is dried to a moisture content of seven percent. The concentrate averages 27-percent copper. It will be conveyed to the smelter for final reduction.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
Rail line to the crusher, concentrator and smelter at San Manuel in 1955. The ore traveled nine mines from the underground mine to processing.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
Ore cars are inverted at the top of the head frame, dumping the ore into huge storage bins that feed ore cars going to the crushers.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
The new flotation process in the San Manuel copper mine. Finely-ground ore leaving the concentrators enters the flotation process, where it is mixed with water and reagents move the copper to the surface and tailings to the bottom, where they are carried off underground.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
The head frames of the two 2,950-feet deep production shafts into the San Manuel ore body in 1955.
San Manuel copper mine and smelter
The head frame of the San Manuel Mine. Ore cars are brought up from the shaft and dumped into the storage bins feeding rail cars taking the copper ore to the crushers, the first stage of the copper extraction process.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
Sparks fly from blast furnaces in San Manuel in 1975 as copper concentrate is smelted at 2,700-degrees, which turns other elements like iron into slag to be discarded. Beginning in 1975, Magma Copper recovered the sulfur dioxide emissions from the smelter and converted it to sulfuric acid.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
Shown in 1975, molten copper as much as 99-percent pure emerges from the San Manuel smelter and poured into molds to create 700-pound anodes that were transported to a refinery to remove other impurities, like gold and silver.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
In this photo, probably ca. 1950s, molten copper from the San Manuel smelter, right, is poured into molds which cool to make anodes (being lifted at right), which are further-refined to better-than 99-percent pure.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
The completed crusher, concentrator and smelter at San Manuel in 1955. The company town of San Manuel rises in the background.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
A Magma Copper handout graphic showing ore flow for the San Manuel smelter.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
A miner standing in a tunnel more than 1,000 feet deep in the San Manuel, pauses after a electric ore cars carrying 185 tons of rock passed by in 1975.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
San Manuel smelter at full tilt, probably in the 1970s.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
The crusher, concentrator and smelter at San Manuel in 1971, after a $200 million explansion of the facility. The smelter got a second smoke stack. In the background, the company town of San Manuel got another 200 houses.
San Manuel copper mine, refinery, smelter
An electrolytic refinery to produce refined copper from copper anodes at San Manuel and was completed in December, 1971.
Town of San Manuel
Townsite for the mining company town of San Manuel in Pinal County north of Tucson in 1953. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.
Town of San Manuel
Superintendent Robert Fleming of the Del E. Webb Construction Co. and engineer John Stephens stand on the site of the San Manuel business district in August, 1953. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.
Town of San Manuel
The caption is this bandout photo read, "How can engineers do surveying in a land like this?" Engineer John Stephens at the San Manuel townsite prior to clearing. The mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.
Town of San Manuel
A map of the mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.
Town of San Manuel
Pinal County supervisors Jay Bateman, left, Frank Williams, and Joy Spray, far right, meet with Del E. Webb general manager L.C. Jacobson at the San Manuel townsite under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people,
Town of San Manuel
The mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.
Town of San Manuel
A brochure for the mining company town of San Manuel under construction ca. 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.
Town of San Manuel
A brochure for the mining company town of San Manuel under construction ca. 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.
Town of San Manuel
A food truck feeds workers clearing the site for the state's "newest city" of San Manuel in Aug, 1953. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.
Town of San Manuel
The mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.
Town of San Manuel
Deserted streets of San Manuel in November, 1954, prior to rental to mine workers and their families. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.
Town of San Manuel
Avenue A in the mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Homes had masonry walls, "modern design" and landscaped yards. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.
Town of San Manuel
Tommy Blank was the first barber in the mining company town of San Manuel in 1953. He slept in the shop for a few months until his house was built. He raised his family in San Manuel, working as a barber for Magma Copper Company for 34 years until retiring in 1988. His wife, Helen, was a Harvey Girl at the Grand Canyon and went to work in healthcare for Pinal County. They watched San Manuel boom, and finally bust as the mine and refinery were closed in 2003. His granddaughter noted that Tommy served in the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific in WW II and survived a Japanese kamikaze attack.
Town of San Manuel
A cul du sac is paved outside the rental office at the mining company town of San Manuel in December, 1953. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.
Town of San Manuel
Crews grade the streets of the mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people, The mining company town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.
Town of San Manuel
Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Cabral of Clifton, with son Marin in December, 1953, would be become some of the first residents of the mining company town of San Manuel. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people. The first 1,000 homes were intended for "defense workers of San Manuel Copper Company," since a large chunk of money to build the town and the mine came from the federal goverment. Initially, residents could only rent homes for the first two years. Then they would have the option to purchase then.
Town of San Manuel
An electric substation under construction to supply power to the mine, smelter, and town of San Manuel under construction in 1954. Magma Copper Company worked with Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix to create Webb's first "master-planned community" in Arizona. M-O-W Aldon Construction of California was hired to build homes for 8,000 people.
Rick Wiley
Photo editor
Rick Wiley is the photo editor of the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson. From 1995-2004, he was director of photography at the East Valley Tribune in Mesa. From 1988-94 he was a photographer at the Tucson Citizen. He is a graduate of ASU (yes, that ASU).
San Manuel Mine was once the world’s largest underground copper mining operation in size of ore body, production capacity and infrastructure.
But it's not clear if the reversal of this policy will mean the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will consult with tribes over its recent decision not to assert jurisdiction at the Rosemont Mine.