Arizona Copper Mining: The Story of Progress
Volumes have been written about the early prospectors' forays into mining. They came seeking gold and silver, often passing through the Arizona Territory on their journey to neighboring California. But even before the arrival of prospectors in the mid 1800s, Arizona had already been mined.

Native Americans began what is now called "aboriginal mining" as early as the 1500s. Besides the manufacture of tools and weapons, these early people also used minerals to create paint for body adornment and pottery. When the first Spainards in Arizona found evidence of this early mining, they responded immediately. Instead of mining for themselves, however, they sought to conquer the Indians and accumulate their wealth.

By the late 1700s, missionaries like Father Eusebio Francisco Kino began arriving in what is now Southern Arizona. Establishing missions along the major streams, these priests — along with other settlers and Indians — started prospecting and mining.

Arizona's first mining company, the Arizona Mining and Trading Company, was born a century later, in August, 1854. With the stroke of a pen and the swing of a pick axe, that company gave birth to the industry that would create Arizona as we know it today.

Their Names Will Live Forever
John GreenwayOne need not study mining to know the names of many of Arizona's early prospectors, investors and mining advisors. People like John Greenway — a mining engineer who founded the town of Ajo and his wife, Isabella, an early elected leader — made a lasting impression on our state. Simply look at a map of Arizona, and you you'll find many towns with a miner or mining-related entrepreneur as its namesake. Names like Douglas, Ehrenberg, Poston and Wickenburg will carry on for centuries, along with the copper materials mined in those pioneering communities.

By 1863, when Arizona's first territorial government was established, about one of every four people in the Arizona Territory was either a prospector or a miner and nearly half of the newly elected legislators worked in mining. At the time, there were about 25 legally organized mining districts and three principal centers of population — the mining towns of Prescott, La Paz and Tucson.

As rail lines, like those pictured here, became ubiquitous Arizona's copper boom grew in earnest.

A Sense of Permanence
As mining communities began to spring up throughout Arizona, so too did roads, forts, and supporting commerce. But unlike the silver and gold mining camps that quickly developed and disbanded, copper miners came to stay. They planted roots in Arizona towns like Bisbee, Tucson, Miami and Superior. In addition to mining the land, they began raising families and building homes. The result was the development of commerce, the creation of culture, and a drive for statehood, which was achieved on February 14, 1912 with the help of miners and mining interests.

Two early mine workers pose with a railroad engine, quite literally the engine that powered Arizona's copper revolution.

From Railroads to Waterways
A significant turning point in the mining industry, as well as in the development of Arizona, came with the advent of railroads. Unlike other parts of the nation, where the construction of railroads brought about industry and commerce, the opposite took place in Arizona. It was mining, and the need to transport Arizona's mineral wealth, that led to the siting of railroads.

The drive to develop rails in Arizona began as early as 1864, when the Territorial Legislature created the Castle Dome Railroad Company to create a line 35 miles in length near Yuma. Although that line never materialized due to lack of financing, Arizona's miners and politicians would not abandon their vision.

In the final decade of the 1800s, mining companies took control of their destiny and began creating the railroads that would carry them and Arizona through to a new and exciting century. Just as mining companies needed efficient transportation adequate to move their product, they also needed water for purification. As part of an effort to build their business and help build Arizona, one Arizona mining company partnered with the Salt River Project to build Horseshoe Dam. In return for their investment in the much needed dam, they received credits for water that they could pump onto their land. Once their credits ran out, the water, the dam and the resulting flood control would belong to the people of the growing Salt River Valley.

AZ's Copper Business: It's Not What It Used to BeSome aspects of the Arizona copper industry are essentially unchanged from the days before and during World War II. For example, by continuing to invest in the communities where they mine and where their employees work and live, copper companies helped accommodate Arizona's post-war population boom. More important, the comforts and conveniences made possible by copper — like electric air conditioning and easy communication with family and businesses back East — made our desert lifestyle the envy of a nation.

Still, there were growing pains. Because of the highly cyclical nature of a commodity market, mining companies needed to adjust both labor and mining plans according to the price of copper. They also learned to deal successfully with issues like labor relations, conservation, environmental quality, water management and industrial health and safety.

All of these factors led to an even bigger challenge for the mining industry — that of changing the perceptions and dispelling the misconceptions that still surround the industry. The following are a few areas where the copper industry is changing both actions and opinions.