Talk:Copper Basin (Tennessee)/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: Vami IV (talk · contribs) 17:04, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

Opening statement
In reviews I conduct, I may make small copyedits. These will only be limited to spelling and punctuation (removal of double spaces and such). I will only make substantive edits that change the flow and structure of the prose if I previously suggested and it is necessary. For replying to Reviewer comment, please use ✅,, , ❌, , or , followed by any comment you'd like to make. I will be crossing out my comments as they are redressed, and only mine. A detailed, section-by-section review will follow. — ♠Vami _IV†♠  17:04, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

As this the first of the reviewee's articles that I have reviewed, they should note that I am a grammar pendant and will nitpick in the interest of prose quality. – ♠Vami _IV†♠  17:04, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

Geography and geology

 * Do you have any images of the basin from the air or maybe orbit to illustrate the environmental impact of mining operations?
 * - looking for that at the moment. Bneu2013 (talk) 21:02, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ - found a NASA satellite image that I have inserted. Let me know if you'd like any of the images rearranged. Bneu2013 (talk) 23:25, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Move the image in "Geography and geology" to the right.
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 20:28, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
 * common borders of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. What's a common border?
 * - cut "common"; I think referring to these simply as "borders" makes the most sense. Bneu2013 (talk) 20:34, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
 * has created a reservoir Axe "has".
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 20:23, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Cleveland, Tennessee metropolitan area Combine these wikilinks into one, or rebuild the sentence.
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 20:28, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

Pre-mining history

 * when the Cherokee relinquished control of the basin to the U.S. government Do you know with which treaty?
 * - added Treaty of New Echota, the treaty which specifically relinquished this land to the government, even though the Indian Removal Act of 1830 initiated the whole process. I don't think that would be necessary to include here, though. Bneu2013 (talk) 20:39, 13 April 2020 (UTC)


 * The Copper Basin was known to the Cherokee as Kawa'na.[11] Copper from the basin was used by the Cherokee on a limited basis.[12] It would be nice to know more about the Cherokee's occupation of the basin.
 * ✅ - Added more information about the history of the Cherokee in the basin, as well as the possible origin of the name "Ducktown." Bneu2013 (talk) 21:26, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

Early mining history

 * Copper was first discovered in the Copper Basin But the Cherokee were already getting copper from the basin?
 * Comment - I've added "by a European American" to the end of this sentence, as this was the discovery that confirmed to the settlers that there was indeed copper in the basin. Don't know if this is a permanent fix though. From what I can tell from the sources, the Cherokee were aware of the existence of copper in the basin, mining only small quantities, and the European settlers had probably heard rumors copper in the basin, but were not certain of its existence until the 1843 discovery. This will probably take a little more research, though. Bneu2013 (talk) 20:47, 13 April 2020 (UTC)


 * now known as Potato Creek [...] named Lemmons who was reportedly panning for gold Too much detail, axe.
 * Comment - is the fact that he was panning for gold too much detail? Bneu2013 (talk) 01:01, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * No, just the names. – ♠Vami _IV†♠  23:22, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * - cut the name of the creek and prospector. Bneu2013 (talk) 10:38, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * southwest of what would eventually become the Burra Burra Mine Needs a comma at the end.
 * - Bneu2013 (talk) 20:50, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
 * by a prospector Wikilink?
 * Comment - No article about this person. Bneu2013 (talk) 23:27, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
 * I meant to the great American tradition of prospecting. – ♠Vami _IV†♠  15:02, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 00:33, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * What shape did this initial mining take?
 * Comment - Sorry, but could you be more specific here about what you are looking for? Bneu2013 (talk) 23:27, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
 * How sophisticated was this early mining? What methods were they using? – ♠Vami _IV†♠  15:02, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
 * - this one will also take a bit. Bneu2013 (talk) 03:03, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ - added info about the tools used and the usage of oxen and mules. Bneu2013 (talk) 10:59, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * 400 acres Needs a Template:Convert.
 * - Bneu2013 (talk) 00:36, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * onto a railroad Which railroad?
 * - added the name and link to the railroad company. Bneu2013 (talk) 00:40, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * In 1851, work began on the Old Copper Road [...] The Old Copper Road was completed in 1853, and is now part of U.S. Route 64. Two ideas for this: First, combine and condense. Second, replace "Old Copper Road" in the first bit of highlighted text and replace it with "a road" or something, and then name it in the second highlight.
 * - condensed sentence, I think this will be satisfactory. Bneu2013 (talk) 03:00, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * In an effort to reduce transportation costs, the mining companies began smelting the copper onsite in 1856.[20] How?
 * - added info about smelting furnaces onsite. Bneu2013 (talk) 11:27, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Citation [15] is repeated without interruption in the last two sentences of Paragraph 1.
 * Comment - sorry, but I'm not sure what the issue is here. Bneu2013 (talk) 03:06, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * The first citation is superfluous and just taking up space; it's not attached to a quotation and both sentences are from the same source. – ♠Vami _IV†♠  23:37, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ - cut the duplicate cite. Bneu2013 (talk) 11:02, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * In January 1862, the Confederacy issued a decree, seizing control of the mines and halting private operations Abbreviate.
 * Comment - do you want me to axe the "issued a decree"? Bneu2013 (talk) 01:00, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Yes. – ♠Vami _IV†♠  23:22, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 10:41, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Union cavalrymen, led by Col. Eli Long, Delete these commas.
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 00:42, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Confederate defeat at Chattanooga Link the relevant battle.
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 00:44, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * which happened during this raid Axe.
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 00:44, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * which proved a major blow to the Confederate war effort, as about 90% of their copper came from the Copper Basin. Give this its own sentence.
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 00:50, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * resumed in 1865, Delete.
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 00:50, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * and the following year, Change to "and in 1866"
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 00:50, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * finding the mines difficult to operate, reopened the mines. The first part of this should be axed and just left for the end of the paragraph (By this time, however, the mines, lacking a cost-effective method of transporting the ore out of the basin, were forced out of business.).
 * ✅ - however, I will point out that the reason the mines were difficult to operated at the beginning of the war were different than the reasons shortly after the war. That is why that was included in this first sentence. Bneu2013 (talk) 00:52, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Add those reasons. – ♠Vami _IV†♠  23:22, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * 24 million pounds Needs a Template:Convert.
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 00:57, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * The Confederate defeat at Chattanooga resulted restoration of the mines to Union Control, which proved a major blow Consider: The Confederate defeat at Chattanooga proved a major blow [...]
 * Comment - I fixed the grammatical error here. However, I think it's important to explain why the Confederate defeat at Chattanooga (which is a good 50 miles from the basin) resulted in loss of the mines in the basin, and why this was such a blow. Bneu2013 (talk) 21:01, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Agreed; my objection here is that the prose would suggest that the US government owned the mines, when it was the Confederate government(s) that had ceased the mines. – ♠Vami _IV†♠  19:16, 14 April 2020 (UTC)
 * - I've worked on this part, added details and tried to clarify to make it easier to understand. Please let me know what you think about it now. Bneu2013 (talk) 00:05, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Comments above. – ♠Vami _IV†♠  15:02, 15 April 2020 (UTC)


 * By this time, however the mines needs a comma after "however"
 * - Bneu2013 (talk) 20:31, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

Expansion of mining operations

 * The strike was settled after the intervention of law enforcement. In whose favor?
 * ✅ - don't know if this is a permanent fix, but I added more context to the event. Bneu2013 (talk) 01:35, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * flotation plant Needs a wikilink to the relevant process.
 * ✅ - linked to froth flotation. Bneu2013 (talk) 01:02, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * copper sulfate [...] Iron and zinc concentrates Need wikilinks.
 * ✅ - Bneu2013 (talk) 01:06, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * A sulfuric acid plant was constructed in Copperhill in 1942, and by 1949 liquid sulfuric acid was being produced.[13] The previous sentence was in 1936, and the next in 1937; this sentence should be moved into "Later years".
 * - rearranged section below to fit this sentence
 * the TCC was essentially divided when two of the unions joined the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and the other joined the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Was the company divided or its workers?
 * - Bneu2013 (talk) 01:37, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Both, unions, however, Replace with "The unions".
 * As a result, a six-week strike began on July 14, 1939. What came of the strike? Did any complications arise from the company having two unions? Actually, which one of those two organized this strike?
 * - this one's going to take a little bit. Bneu2013 (talk) 02:03, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ - added info about the strike, and how it was ended. Also added information about complications that arose during the strike. Don't know if this is entirely satisfactory now, but I think this resolves the questions about how the strike ended. Bneu2013 (talk) 02:54, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ - added info about the strike, and how it was ended. Also added information about complications that arose during the strike. Don't know if this is entirely satisfactory now, but I think this resolves the questions about how the strike ended. Bneu2013 (talk) 02:54, 19 April 2020 (UTC)

Environmental issues and reclamation

 * At first, [...] There's nothing to preface this. I'd remove it.
 * ✅ - replaced with "In the early years of the mining operations", since this logging only took place in the early years, and reforestation did not begin until the 1930s. Bneu2013 (talk) 20:20, 25 April 2020 (UTC)
 * [...] the forests in the Copper Basin were logged to fuel the smelters, and as early as 1861, trees were becoming scarce. In 1876, the companies began importing logs from Fannin County, Georgia. Combine?
 * ✅ - split the first part not listed here into its own sentence. Bneu2013 (talk) 21:00, 25 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Due to the removal of the forests, this also resulted in erosion of the topsoil Two layers of redundancy here; try a rewording.
 * - cut the first part of the sentence. I don't think it is too confusing now. Bneu2013 (talk) 20:23, 25 April 2020 (UTC)
 * which was successfully marketed Unnecessary down here.
 * - cut. Bneu2013 (talk) 20:25, 25 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Two additional Supreme Court cases related to this injunction, Wetmore v. Tennessee Copper Co. and Ladew v. Tennessee Copper Co., both in 1910, followed. Missing a citation and the result of these cases/their impact on Madison v. Ducktown Sulphur, Copper & Iron Company.
 * - added information about the results of these cases (the fact that they were essentially dismissed). Bneu2013 (talk) 20:59, 25 April 2020 (UTC)

Referencing
One final concern: All of "Further reading" have dedicated Harvard citations, but the article doesn't use Harvard citations. "Further reading" is also a bad name for the bibliography (typically called "References"). I recommend deleting the |ref= parameters (which will save total article size) or converting to Harvard citations (which will of course link directly to the source). – ♠Vami _IV†♠  23:13, 25 April 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ -, renamed "Bibliography", and also flipped with references section. Will convert to Harvard citation tl.Bneu2013 (talk) 23:33, 25 April 2020 (UTC)

GA progress
Pictures relevant and free, article passes copyvio scanner. – ♠Vami _IV†♠  17:04, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
 * - I think I've addressed all the issues you listed. Would you mind taking a look at it now? Bneu2013 (talk) 11:28, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Update - - addressed the issues in the last section. Bneu2013 (talk) 21:02, 25 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Important note - I've also changed and added a few things, mostly in the early mining history section. If you wouldn't mind taking a look at these changes to see if there are any issues. Bneu2013 (talk) 21:50, 25 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Reviewed, and heartily approved. – ♠Vami _IV†♠  23:08, 25 April 2020 (UTC)