User:Marcus334/Hul copper mines

The Hul Copper mines are abandoned ancient copper mines near Banjah village32.675°N, 76.1925°W, in the Sahoo Valley about 20 km northeast fromChamba town in Himachal Pradesh state, India.

History
These mines first operated in the 16th century, during the period of the erstwhile ruler of Chamba State, RajaPratap Singh Verma (1559-86 CE). Verma exploited the copper mines to make coins as the state currency. The mines supported the erstwhile chamba state for over 300 years.

The metal was also used to repair the historically importantLakshmi Narayan Temples in Chamba and Chander Shekhar Maharaj Temple in Sahoo that were in poor condition.

The mines were abandoned around 200 years ago.

Rediscovery
Earthstation, a public charitable trust headquartered in New Delhi and in Khajjiar, near Chamba, has been credited with rediscovering the Hul mines. The mines were rediscovered on the basis of information available in the Gazetteer of Chamba State'' (1904) The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Earthstation carried out expeditions to the mines in 2009 and 2010.

ASI officials visited the site and found evidence of ingenious ways of extracting metal from the mines. The ASI, after the visits, wrote that "the whole gamut is an unmistakable reflection on the ancient wisdom. The 20 to 30 metre distance we have covered inside the mines is historical evidence par excellence"

The mouth of the mine shaft has since been temporarily closed to prevent any authorised entry into the mines for minerals extraction.

Conservation
The Society for Industrial Archaeology (SAI) president Jay McCauley has expressed concern over the status of the Hul mines.The SAI, which encourages the study, interpretation and preservation of historically significant industrial sites, has offered to assist in the conservation of the Hul mines, says that a number of voluntary organisations in the Silicon Valley are willing to extend support to conserve the mines.

The ASI expressed the need to undertake ethno-archaeological studies of the site. The British Women Association for Archaeology has also supported the initiative of the Earthstation and underlined the need to conserve the re-discovered mines.

Earthstation chief executive officer Aniel Kuumar Bhalla stated: "We urge both the state and central governments to step forward and protect, do research on, conserve and develop this unique relic of Himalayan heritage under theNational Monuments and Antiquity Act".

On April 26, 2011, Bhalla made a presentation on the mine and the efforts being made for its preservation before Governor Urmila Singh in New Delhi. She sought the details of all correspondence made with various government agencies in this regard and promised to take up the matter at appropriate level.

Bhalla states that the heritage mines can be conserved by promoting it as an international tourist destination. Similar sites have been successfully developed in the US and parts of Europe and one such site is TheGreat Orem Copper Mines.

He has also prepared a plan which proposes creation of a mechanism to research, explore and conserve the large cluster of mines in and around Banjah.

External sources

 * Video 1:40, Discovery of 1300 years old Hul Copper Mines Site, HP., India.