The Ferris-Haggerty Mine Site was one of the richest components of the Grand Encampment Mining District in

Carbon County, Wyoming Carbon County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 14,537. Its county seat is Rawlins, Wyoming, Rawlins. Its south border abuts the north line of Colorado. ...

. The site was first exploited by Ed Haggerty, a prospector from Whitehaven, England, in 1897 when he established the Rudefeha Mine that would later be known as the Ferris-Haggerty Mine on a rich deposit of

copper ore Following is a list of minerals that serve as copper ores in the copper mining Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical proces ...

. Haggerty was backed by George Ferris and other investors, of whom all but Ferris dropped out. The partners sold an interest to Willis George Emerson, who raised investment funding for improvements to the mine. These facilities included an engineering feat of its day by developing a aerial tramway to carry high grade copper mined at the Ferris-Haggerty Mine (FHM) over the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

to the

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including Silver mining#Ore processing, silver, iron-making, iron, copper extracti ...

Encampment Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

. The tramway was longest aerial tramway the world had ever seen. The mine was eventually acquired by the North American Copper Company for $1,000,000 Million. By 1904 the mine had produced $1.4 million in copper ore, and was sold to the Penn-Wyoming Copper Company. However, even with copper prices peaking in 1907, the company had difficulty making a profit from the remote mine site. The company was over-capitalized and under-insured and was suffered devastating fires at the mine site in March 1906 and May 1907 which halted production. Business disputes and a fall in copper prices prevented re-opening of the mine even after it was rebuilt. Machinery was salvaged after a

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

in 1913. A total of 23 million pounds of copper ore was extracted from the mine during its life. The

George Ferris Mansion The George Ferris Mansion in Rawlins, Wyoming is one of the most significant Queen Anne style buildings in Wyoming. Built during 1899–1903, the house's design was published by the Knoxville, Tennessee architectural firm of Barber and Klutz in ...

Rawlins, Wyoming Rawlins is a city in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 8,221 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Carbon County. It was named for Union General John Aaron Rawlins, who camped in the locality in 1867. Demographics ...

was built with Ferris' proceeds from the mine, though George Ferris was killed in a carriage accident near the mine in 1900. The Ferris-Haggerty Mine Site was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on July 2, 1973. The Ferris-Haggarty Mine was purchased outright b
Ferris-Haggarty Mining Corporation
a Colorado corporation, 24 April 2015. FHMC has plans underway and in process to place this very rich mineral property back into production in the very near future. Current in-ground asset valuation for its in-situ reserves and down dip potential resources are estimated at more tha
US$9 billion

References

External links

Ferris-Haggerty Mine Site
at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office

at Wyoming Tales and Trails
Ferris-Haggarty Mining Corporation
website {{NRHP in Carbon County, Wyoming Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Mines in Wyoming Buildings and structures in Carbon County, Wyoming Copper mines in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Carbon County, Wyoming