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Collecting Mining Memorabilia
  
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Michael Shaw
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PostPosted: Mar 24, 2014 11:07    Post subject: Collecting Mining Memorabilia  

How many of you mineral collectors also collect mining memorabilia? I think it's only natural that someone interested in minerals would also have some interest in the "tools" once used in the mining operations that produced the minerals that we so love. While my primary focus will always be the mineral specimens themselves, I am also interested in the historical aspects of the places and means that produced them. I don't remember exactly when I acquired my first piece of mining memorabilia, but over the years, I have assembled a small collection of mining related stuff (lamps, candlesticks, stock certificates, blasting cap tins, etc.). I'll start off this thread by showing a few of the pieces in my collection, and hope that others with similar interests will add to this thread.

Michael



Justrite Lamp.jpg
 Description:
Justrite Streamlined carbide lamp
4" high
This lamp was used in the mines at Sterling Hill, New Jersey. It features a black rubber "air cooled" grip on the bottom. Justrite is one of the oldest carbide lamp manufacturers and was founded in 1906. This style lamp was patented in 1939 and manufactured until 1973.
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Justrite Lamp.jpg



4-Tooth Drill Bit.jpg
 Description:
Four-tooth, 2 3/4" pneumatic drill bit
This drill bit was used in the lead/zinc mines at Picher, Oklahoma. It was attached to the drill steel with an Ingersoll or buttress thread and water was forced through the rod and bit to keep the dust down.
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4-Tooth Drill Bit.jpg



Assay Crucible.jpg
 Description:
Assay crucible
2 1/2" high
This crucible was used to test gold and silver ores in Leadville, Colorado. It was manufactured by the Morgan Crucible Company in Battersea, England.
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Assay Crucible.jpg


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Jesse Fisher




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PostPosted: Mar 24, 2014 14:07    Post subject: Re: Collecting Mining Memorabilia  

Well, I guess you could say that I have a collection of mining memorabilia. Perhaps best just to call it "old mining equipment" since much of it is still in use. One of our most prized possessions is an Eimco 12B pneumatic shovel. This one runs on rail though there were models manufactured for use in mines without rail. The bucket in front is on a rocker arm, which the operator fills by ramming the unit into the muck pile. After filling the bucket with muck, the operator can flip it over the top of the unit and empty it into a waiting ore car. Before these were invented in the 1930s this job was done manually by a crew of miners with hand shovels. With the decline of small-scale mining in recent years, most of these units have now gone for scrap. I would guess that ours is at least 60 years old and still gives good service.


Dave&Eimco.jpg
 Description:
An old Eimco 12B pneumatic shovel, in use at the Rogerley Mine, Weardale, England. Photo taken in 2003.
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Dave&Eimco.jpg


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Michael Shaw
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PostPosted: Mar 24, 2014 14:24    Post subject: Re: Collecting Mining Memorabilia  

Jesse,
Good thing you have a mine to display that piece of your "collection." That's a pretty stout piece of equipment; I'm not surprised it's still in use.
Michael
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Jesse Fisher




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PostPosted: Mar 24, 2014 14:56    Post subject: Re: Collecting Mining Memorabilia  

Here's another piece from our collection - a Holman pneumatic jack-leg rock drill. The Holman is a fairly small rock drill (as they come) and works well in a relatively narrow tunnel such as ours. This one I believe dates from the 1960s. The jack-leg is simply a piston that supports the drill. A control on the drill allows the driller to extend its length and apply an inward pressure on the unit while drilling.


IMG_1409.jpg
 Description:
Dave with the Holman jack-leg rock drill, July, 2013.
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IMG_1409.jpg


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Tobi
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PostPosted: Mar 24, 2014 15:09    Post subject: Re: Collecting Mining Memorabilia  

crosstimber wrote:
How many of you mineral collectors also collect mining memorabilia? I think it's only natural that someone interested in minerals would also have some interest in the "tools" once used in the mining operations that produced the minerals that we so love

An interesting topic, Michael! As both mineral enthusiast and history teacher (and thus not only interested in mineral specimens but also in mining and its history), i should actually be a fan of such "tools". But i must confess that i have rather less interest in them. When visiting a mine, i always enjoy the really large vehicles and other heavy machines; but as a collector, i've always rather ignored the smaller things ... i hope your thread will increase my interest in these seemingly "small" things that actually were and still are so important for those you get the rocks out of the ground!

Cheers!
Tobi

P.S. Jesse: I suppose you don't keep that things on a glass shelf? ;-)
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Joseph DOliveira




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PostPosted: Mar 24, 2014 15:26    Post subject: Re: Collecting Mining Memorabilia  

Thanks for the pictures Jesse, it brings back fond memories. I started out on a jackleg drill like that one in 1978 in the uranium mines of Northern Ontario. We were just converting to trackless equipment but the narrow ore in parts of the mine required jackleg, slushers and mucking machines like the Eimco above.

At that time a miner made significantly more income than a geologist but I realized early on that I wasn't going to be a high bonus miner so followed my chosen career path and moved into geology.

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Jesse Fisher




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PostPosted: Mar 24, 2014 15:26    Post subject: Re: Collecting Mining Memorabilia  

No, unfortunately we won't be keeping the Eimco or the Holman on a glass shelf when we're done using them. This we might, however. Blasting is done with electrical detonators and this is a photo of Dave with the exploder. These things are simply a dynamo with a twist key and a couple terminals to connect the blasting lead to. Again, fairly old, probably 1950s or 60s.


Dave-06-25-08r.jpg
 Description:
Dave preparing to fire a shot, June 2008.
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Dave-06-25-08r.jpg


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Michael Shaw
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PostPosted: Mar 26, 2014 14:33    Post subject: Re: Collecting Mining Memorabilia  

Jesse,

Your detonator looks very familiar. I used a similar one almost every day early in my career, but not for blasting rock. Mine was used to detonate black powder squibs which were contained in 3 metal rocket tubes attached to the leading edge of a 25' x 60' net. When fired, the rockets propelled the net up and over some very surprised waterfowl that were feeding on a line of corn just in front of the net. A very handy device indeed and a lot easier to carry around than one of the old plunger type blasters.

Here are a few more mining artifacts from my collection.



Atlas Blasting Cap Tin.jpg
 Description:
Atlas Blasting Cap Tin
2" x 2 1/2"
Blasting caps contain an easy to ignite explosive that provides the initial energy to detonate a more stable explosive such as dynamite.
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Atlas Blasting Cap Tin.jpg



Miner's ID Tags.jpg
 Description:
ID Tags
These brass tags were exchanged for a light with the same number at the start of each shift. They were used to account for each miner at the end of the shift.
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Miner's ID Tags.jpg



Dunlap-Pittsburgh Oil Lamp.jpg
 Description:
Dunlap-Pittsburgh Oil Lamp
These lamps were often called "tea pot" lamps. They had an oil storage reservoir and a spout which contained a woolen wick. The hook allowed the miner to mount the light on a hat. I'm not sure I would do well with one of these. I can imagine bending down to examine a pocket or pick up a specimen and flammable liquid would leak all over.
 Viewed:  14033 Time(s)

Dunlap-Pittsburgh Oil Lamp.jpg


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