The Ahmeek Mine was the savior that C&H had desperately been searching for. As production began to wane along the great Calumet Conglomerate lode the company began a hectic search for the next great rising star. The new star – it turned out – was the Kearsarge Amygdaloid lode. Through a run of acquisitions and buy-outs C&H managed to take control of a great deal of mines working this new lode – one of them being the Ahmeek mine sitting just south of Mohawk. The mine proved to be a ringer, and soon was accounting for the majority of C&H’s copper production for the next 40 years.
The Ahmeek Mine consisted of four shafts – two of which shared a common shaft/rock house at Mohawk’s front door (shown in the photo above). While these shafts were perhaps the most famous, there was another profitable shaft in the line-up, that being the No. 2 shaft to the east of Ahmeek Location. It is the surface plant of this shaft that we take a look at today.
A good amount of the No. 2′s surface plant was recycled as a local industrial business some time after the mine closed and for the most part is still standing. Ruins are much more interesting to us however, and we happened to find some hiding in a thick wooded lot next to the old factory. Our first glimpse through the foilage took the shape of a concrete wall about 5 feet tall, dotted with a wood-cased window or two. It was when we climbed on top of this wall that the true scope of our discovery became known.
Stretching out from where we stood was a row of concrete foundations, all of similar size and shape. These were beds for large pieces of machinery that had been removed long ago. Sprinkled along them were the steel rods and metal brackets that once anchored those machines. At first we thought we were looking at one long foundation, but a series of dividing walls told us we were looking at three separate buildings placed up against each other. (check out the BIG PICTURE to get a better look) The one we were currently standing on we identified right way: this was a hoist foundation.
Besides the dead giveaway of its “H” shape, the foundation also sported two of these metal brackets that we had seen before at the Gratiot and Champion #4 hoist ruins. I think these brackets were used to support the hoist engine’s piston casings. (see my look at typical hoist engine design) In the photo above the piston rod would extend out from the casing to the right.
Dropping down from the madibles of the hoist foundation, I took a few steps down these stairs and found myself in the drum pit. The drum – if it were still here – would be hanging just above my head. This pit was most likely used to maintain the cable and drum. We saw almost the exact same design at the Gratiot Hoist.
Surrounding the hoists “H” foundation is a second concrete wall. The wall is the same one we saw from the outside and had climbed atop to get in. The wall forms a corridor around the structure – probably used for maintenance of some type as well. The building’s floor would have sat level with the “H” foundation above my head here – but has long since collapsed into the corridor.
Climbing out of the hoist pit, we hopped over maintence pit and climbed atop the next set of foundations in the row. These were difference in design to those of the hoist, and no doubt supported some other type of machine. Instead of the wide “H” shape of the previous foundation, this one consisted of two parallel walls capped by what you see in the next photo.
Large concrete foundations such as these are used for heavy pieces of equipment – massive machines like steam hoists. While not as large as a steam hoist, this foundation most likely supported a large machine of some type. My guess would be a compressor, but I can’t be sure.
At the other end of those long concrete foundations was this oddity. A concrete ramp angles down from the top of each foundation. My guess would be a opening for either a steam inlet or a compressed air outlet (if these foundations did indeed support a compressor)
That leaves one last foundation, one capped by a connection seen here. Its possible a steam inlet, but it sits directly in the middle of the concrete foundation. This one is a mystery. Its another large foundation for do-doubt another large piece of machinery. I just don’t know what it would be for. Besides a hoist, the only large machines in a surface plant would be a compressor, a pump, or some type of multi-purpose engine to run rock crushers or other belt-driven equipment.
These pipes coming through the outside wall into the building could be a clue. Looks like some type of water pipes, but they could have easily carried compressed air or natural gas for all I know.
Unlike the other foundations in the series, this one has a floor. At least what’s left of one. The surface is grooved to give the illusion of concrete blocks, but the whole thing is only an inch or so thick.
Without being any closer to an answer, we decide to move on. Climbing out of the ruins we found ourselves looking at a rather intact section of the outer wall – complete with a few feet of brickwork. This would be a common look for mine buildings after the turn of the century – poured concrete and brick wall. The polished poor-rock masonry of the previous century’s mine buildings had seemingly become passé.
I’m always glad to see a new article!
That said, I’m pretty sure you meant “a run of ACQUISITIONS and buy-outs” … unless C&H purchased mines through the clever use of guilt-trips!
It was C&H, I wouldn’t put it past them. But since I have no proof I better change it. Don’t want their lawyers coming after me.
http://pasty.com/reflections/id320.htm
This may explain some of the extra foundations, as the original Ahmeek 1 and 2 had a central hoisting plant, back to back hoist houses and a common roch crushing plant. I know there is a photo in the Tech Archives howing the central plant, but if I use the second link this will get spammed.
http://digarch.lib.mtu.edu/showbib.aspx?bib_id=605393#
Theres the link to the common plant photo
Not sure if you ever looked at the website for the guy that does the wood furniture in the old Ahmeek #3-4 shaft, but he has a nice collection of photos also.
http://superiorcraftsinc.com/id89.htm
there really isn’t much left of this poor rock pile. i think that they must be selling it to the road commission or some other business. i found some chunks of copper though. it is interesting to see what it looked like in its prime. this website rules
This whole line of ruins has been a pain in my butt really for a couple reasons. First of all I went on this exploration late last summer and took some very bad notes. Thats one reason why I haven’t featured these photos yet. In desperation I placed them up now – but my memory of the whole thing is sketchy at best.
But even with all that, I don’t think that these were part of that central crushing plant. The design and material selection in these ruins don’t match those old photos at the archives. Also the central plant was abandoned along with the No. 1 shaft around 1915 I believe, with the no. 2 using a more standard rock house at the shaft. These ruins don’t appear to be from 1915 to me. And I ‘m 90% certain that at least one of these foundations is a hoist. The others don’t seem like hoist foundations, but they still could be.
I’ll just have to get back there and take a much closer look and try to figure it out. Waiting for spring.
You know, now that I think of it more carefully, I do believe that the one ruin I know is a hoist is definitely pointed the wrong way. The hoist drum opening is on the wrong side – its pointed out towards the No.1 NOT the no.2. So one of those other foundations MUST of been for another hoist.
Mark L…
I thought the same thing about those piles for the No.3/No.4 – they look so large in that old photo but almost nothing is left of them now. But what I thought was always more interesting was what happened to all the poor rock piles from the Calumet and Hecla Mines? More than a dozen shafts around Calumet and almost nothing left today. Odd…
Glad your enjoying the site Mark!
The C&H poor rock was parallel to the road that goes north-south in front Swedetown. It disappeared not to many years ago. Of course crushed for use as road gravel and whatever else. It was one big pile, I think alot of swamp was filled in.
http://terraserver-usa.com/usgsentry.aspx?T=1&S=10&Z=16&X=1945&Y=26158&W=3&qs=%7ccalumet%7cmi%7c
Don’t know if that link will work from Terraserver. Moyle I believe crushed and hauled most of it, it was a huge pile, we used to tobaggan off of it along with the pile next to Osceola #13, which is for the most part gone also. Still, you wonder what did happen to it all, even that big of a pile would be a drop in the bucket I would think. And now that I think about it, all those photos along Mine Street, you never see any piles nearby. How did they get rid of it from the shaft.
After I wrote the above messages, I went to the Copper Country Reflections site, he has a couple panoramic views of the Calumet area, one from Swedetown. It shows everything from Calumet down through Osceola. There is not a rock pile in sight, anywhere. Even the one I linked from the high altitude photo. The photos were from around 1905. If they were prisoners digging escape tunnels, I’d want to be their friend, how they hid the stuff is something else.
Yet if you look at Tamaracks or Osceola mines, piles of rock all over the place.
Gordy,
By 1905 the C&H mine was well developed so much of the rock waste generated was simply dumped in stopes underground, remember it costs money to hoist waste! Its something we do even today, and is one of the things I am working on at the moment, if I create extra waste development, where do I put waste rock without hauling it up (which today is much more costly than the days of old where it was simply dumped on the ground)?
Also C&H put as much development in ore as possible, shafts were sunk in the lode, and drifts were driven in it as well. Given that most of the development rock would be sent to the mill for processing. Another trick we still use today at some of the REALLY big underground mines I worked on is to use your ore stream to take care of waste rock, if you produce say in one of the underground mines I worked on 160,000 tonnes of ore per day, 2,000 tonnes of waste per day isn’t going to make a big difference.
At Tamerack the shafts had to be sunk through a large region of barren ground to get to the Calumet conglomerate. In adition to the shafts you have development in that waste rock like pumping stations, etc. That would account for their rock. Osceola was a pretty spotty lode, so that would account for their waste as well.
Probably too much information!
Cheers
Joe
I had thought about them keeping it underground, but thought the amount of rock being removed would be to much. And just the thought of moving it underground, yikes, it would seem to be such a hassle. But the cost savings to keep it there rather than raising it would make sense.
Just funny to realize after all this time and looking at the old photos that there were no rock piles there.
I don’t mind reading your “to much info”, its nice to have someone thats still mining to be able to answer some of this stuff.
I did some calculations, and found out that the shaft of the picture at the top is covered now by the highway.
Actually the highway goes between the hoist and the old shaft
Joe — if you stop by the south side of the highway at that location (just outside of Mohawk), you can find the shaft caps. They’re near, but not on, the highway.
Thanks for the correction, I’ll take a look when I go up to visit relatives in allouez in july