Alaska Mining Tour

THEN AND NOW AT THE KENNECOTT MINES
NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK
WRANGELL-ST. ELIAS NATIONAL PARK
AND PRESERVE, MC CARTHY, ALASKA

PHOTO GALLERY 3 - THE JUMBO MINE

In terms of production, the Jumbo Mine was the largest of the Kennecott mines. It opened in 1913 and had its own 16,000 foot tramway to the Kennecott Mill.

Exploration for additional ore began in 1917. A 5,000 foot long drift was driven between the Jumbo and Bonanza Mines in an effort to discover new ore bodies. An extension of the Bonanza-Mother Lode Vein system was intersected by this tunnel. Eventually, that vein was mined for over 3,300 feet along the slope of the bedding.

A second drift, 12,000 feet long, was driven between a deeper level of the Jumbo Mine to the adit level of the Erie Mine. This drift intersected three additional ore bodies. This drift was ultimately extended in the opposite direction to the Mother Lode Mine.

As the Jumbo and Bonanza ores were depleted, production from the Erie and Mother Lode Mines kept the tramways busy.

CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

(Above) Historic view of the Jumbo Mine complex with its three bunkhouses and the tramway station. (Right) View of ore buckets on the Jumbo tramway. Weather permitting, miners rode the tram buckets rather than taking the long road trip between the mine and the mill town.
Recent view from above the Jumbo Mine camp looking to toward the south. (Photographer, Joseph Kurtak)	The last of the three bunkhouses at the Jumbo Mine appears to be ready to collapse.
	(Above) View to the south with a Jumbo Mine tramway tower at the right. (Photographer, Joseph Kurtak) (Left) View to the north. looking toward the Jumbo Mine with the mountain peak in the background and a tramway tower in the foreground. (Photographer, Joseph Kurtak)
(Photographs courtesy National Park Service, Alaska Digital Archive, and Joseph Kurtak)

CLICK HERE For Photo Gallery 4