User:Rocks with Salt/Twin Buttes, Arizona

Twin Buttes, Arizona is a ghost town in Pima County in the U.S. state of Arizona. It was the site of several copper mine operations throughout the early 1900's and up until the 1930's, when the town dried up. In 1963, the area was leased to Anaconda Copper, which began open-pit operations four years later. In the process, the townsite was completely destroyed, with the exception of the cemetery, which is the only reminder of the town today.

Twin Buttes Mining and Smelting Co. Era (1903-1913)
Mining claims in the Twin Buttes area had been filed as early as 1876, but little mining was done for almost twenty-five years. At the turn of the century, several mining entrepreneurs had tried to persuade Eastern financiers to invest in the claims, but it was not until a group of Milwaukee, Wisconsin businessmen led by then-mayor David S. Rose leased the mining claims that work could begin. The Twin Buttes Mining and Smelting Co., incorporated September 8, 1903, was an immediate success, with its Senator Morgan mine producing the majority of its medium-grade ore. By 1906, it was reported that a copper vein tapped by the Morgan was "25 feet wide with proven depth of 95 feet and proven length of 300 feet carrying sulfide ore of circa 10 percent copper tenor in the bottom workings." The estimate was later reported as excessive. Other workings under the company's control included the Copper King and Copper Glance mines. As the Morgan mine was tapped dry, the Copper Glance mine would become the mainstay of the company and the companies that followed. Combined, the company produced 132,500 tons of copper ore with a 5.92 percent grade from 1906 to 1913. Although sources vary as to where the ore was shipped, it is assumed that it was shipped to Sasco until 1910, when the smelter shut down operations. Afterward, the ore was sent to the American Smelting & Refining Co. smelter in El Paso, Texas. For a brief period in 1912, ore was shipped to a custom smelter in Sahuarita that was operated by a different company; however, it quickly became idle as the company could not pay its expenses. From then on, all ore was shipped to El Paso.

Bush-Baxter Mining Co. Era (1913-1916)
By 1913, the original company had hit difficult times. The original enthusiasm that buoyed early operations and expansion had now ended. To make up for mediocre returns on its initial investment, the Twin Buttes Railroad Co. (See below) was forced to sell the Tucson-Sahuarita portion of the line to the Tucson-Nogales Railroad in 1910. Soon after, the company placed the remaining portion of the railroad, its single locomotive, and its rolling stock on lease. The final blow came in 1913 when the Mining & Smelting Co. leased all of the mines under its possession. John G. Baxter, one of the entrepreneurs who first advertised the wealth of the area, took control of the Glance mine and four smaller claims. Ed G. Bush, a mining engineer from Montana, operated the railroad under lease. In May 1913, the two would form their own company, called the Bush-Baxter Mining Co. After acquiring several profitable mines in the area, the company, unimpressed with the lack of high-grade ore, bonded its claims to the American Smelting & Refining Co. in 1915, hoping that the money made from shipping rates on the railroad would keep the company afloat. Less than a year later, however, the bond was relinquished and the company was faced with falling copper prices.

Glance Mining Co. Era (1916-1917)
To make matters worse, Baxter decided to retire from the mining industry in 1916, forcing the company to dissolve. Undaunted, Bush quickly formed a new company, the Glance Mining Co., with William Foy, a mining engineer and friend of Bush. Unlike Bush-Baxter, the company consolidated both its mining and railroad operations, opting to control three of the claims controlled by the former company, including the Glance mine. Bush was also able to gain a two-year lease on the railroad. With America now entering World War I, the need for copper skyrocketed, and once again the area prospered. Under the management of Foy, copper production soared to 3,500,000 lbs. in 1916.

Midland Mining Co. Era (1917-1920)
With the price of copper now booming, Bush and Foy organized the Midland Copper Co. in 1917 to acquire the lease on the Glance mine from the Glance Mining Co. and also acquire the claim on the Copper Queen mine held by the Twin Buttes Mining & Smelting Co. The Queen was paid for out of royalties and idled in hopes it would be restarted as the war intensified. During an eight-month stint in 1918, the Copper Glance mine produced 783,500 lbs. of copper. After a brief but profitable time, World War I had ended, and thus so did the demand for copper. In response, the company relinquished the lease on the Glance in late 1918 and idled it.

William Foy Era (1920-1950)
In 1920, seizing the opportunity, William Foy reopened the Glance with a skeleton crew. In 1922, he did the same with the Queen. In 1925, he purchased the railroad and took out an option on the Senator Morgan claim, still owned by the Twin Buttes Mining & Smelting Co. By now, the Midland Copper Co. was all but disbanded, with Foy taking the reins for tax purposes. Very little copper mining was performed; instead, Foy focused on exploratory mining in hopes of finding new copper veins. Unsuccessful, Foy ordered all mines idled in 1928. A year later, he took control of the Twin Buttes Mining & Smelting Co. and combined it with the Midland Copper Co. to form the Twin Buttes Copper Co. With little mining actually being performed, the new company existed mainly for holding purposes. Nonetheless, for the first time since 1913, all of the original claims held by the Twin Buttes Mining & Smelting Co. were now held by one company. Although plans were made to restart mining on a larger scale, the Great Depression quickly made that prospect unfeasible. Finally, production ceased in 1936.

Banner Mining Co. Era (1950-1963)
In 1950, the Banner Mining Co. took control of the leases held by Foy and began exploratory drilling in the Glance mine to see if a profit could be made. After removing the water that had flooded the mine, the company decided to use new diamond-drilling methods to sample any unmined reserve. After shipping several truckloads of ore in 1956 and 1957, the company briefly ceased mining due to a drop in copper prices. In 1961, widespread copper mineralization with traces of silver and molybdenum discovered via surface drilling. The area was quickly bought and put under Banner control.