San Xavier Mining Laboratory glass slides
Collection dates: circa 1890-1954
This collection consists of 117 glass slides from the San Xavier Mining Laboratory. The images on the slides are of mining, mining sites and facilities, mining machinery and miners using or observing machinery. They also include diagrams of mining shafts, maps, timbering techniques, diagrams of machinery, and slides with mineral content tables. The images are general and historical in nature and include images of San Xavier as well as other historic mining sites and mining towns that were producing ore in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
The Henry G. “Hank” Grundstedt San Xavier Mining Laboratory is a University of Arizona educational research facility. It is operated by the Lowell Institute for Mineral resources and the UArizona Department of Mining and Geologic Engineering. It is the only underground mining laboratory in the US with a working vertical shaft. It is structured as an operating mine with supervisory positions such as the mine manager, safety manager and shift foremen held by undergraduate students allowing students to participate in mine development, operations and maintenance.
The San Xavier mine operated from 1880 until 1952, producing silver, lead, zinc and copper as a private mine until the University of Arizona's College of Mines began operating the Number 6 Shaft in 1958 and purchased it in 1975. Now around 90 acres, the university includes three adjacent mining claims used for student experience, and research and training for a variety of government agencies and organizations.
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