Copper Basin (Tennessee)

The Copper Basin is located in a broad valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains, part of the southern Appalachian Mountains near the borders of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. The basin, actually an area of low hills rather than a true basin, is surrounded on all sides by mountains, including Pack Mountain to the east, Stansbury Mountain to the north, Little Frog Mountain to the northwest, and Big Frog Mountain to the southwest, some more than above sea level. A series of hills rise above the basin to the south. The basin has an average elevation of above sea level. The Ocoee River flows through the southwestern section of the Copper Basin, entering from Georgia, where it is known as the Toccoa, and exiting via a scenic gorge between Big Frog Mountain and Little Frog Mountain to the west. The river's Copper Basin segment is located at just over upstream from the river's mouth along the Hiwassee River near Benton, Tennessee. The Tennessee Valley Authority's Ocoee Dam Number 3 created a reservoir that extends into the Copper Basin. Ducktown is located in the center of the Copper Basin near the juncture of Tennessee State Route 68 and U.S. Route 64. The city of Copperhill is located on the southern portion of the basin near the Tennessee-Georgia border and directly borders McCaysville, Georgia. Other communities include Postelle in the northwest section of the basin, Isabella in the eastern portion, and Harbuck, Turtletown, and Farner just north of the basin. The Copper Basin is also included in the Cleveland, Tennessee, metropolitan area. Most of the rocks in the Copper Basin are metamorphic rocks deposited during the Lower Cambrian period but also include some igneous rocks. The metamorphic rocks are part of the Great Smoky formation. About two thirds of this metamorphic rock is greywacke, and it is also made up of arkose, conglomerate, greywacke conglomerate, schist, mica schist, garnet schist, slate, and staurolite. The igneous rock consists predominantly of gabbro. The first copper ores were deposited during the Ordovician period, when igneous rocks were advancing into the area. During this time, limestone in the area was metamorphosed into marble. Additional ore was formed after the end of the Carboniferous period. The rocks in the Copper Basin are some of the oldest rocks that were deposited during the Paleozoic era. The copper is located in three paralleling veins within the basin. == Mining history ==

Pre-mining period The Copper Basin was officially part of Cherokee lands until 1836, when the Cherokee relinquished control of the basin to the U.S. government through the Treaty of New Echota. The Cherokee were recorded to have inhabited the basin until the late 18th century. The Cherokee village of Kawa'na, which translates into "Duck Town" in English, is believed to have been located on the Ocoee River in the basin and was documented in Cherokee annuity distribution rolls in 1799. The village is believed to have been named after a Cherokee chief named Duck, although this has never been confirmed. Copper from the basin was reportedly used by the Cherokee on a limited basis. The basin became part of the Ocoee District, which mostly consisted of what is now Polk County. While most Cherokees in the area were forced out as part of the Cherokee removal of 1838, some managed to avoid detection and would later aid in road construction and mining operations. Early mining history Copper was first discovered by a European American in the Copper Basin in August 1843 in a creek southwest of what would eventually become the Burra Burra Mine by a prospector who was reportedly panning for gold. This discovery sparked interest among regional entrepreneurs and opportunists, although the lack of major roads in and out of the basin complicated early mining operations. The first purchase of land in the Copper Basin for mining activities occurred in 1849 when a British agent bought for a price of $30,000 (equivalent to $ in ). The Hiwassee Mine, the first deep underground mine in the basin, was opened in 1850. In 1851, work began on a road through the Ocoee Gorge to connect the Copper Basin with the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad in Cleveland, Tennessee to the west, which had been completed that same year. This road, which became known as the Old Copper Road, was completed in 1853, and is now part of U.S. Route 64. The first smelter was constructed onsite in 1854, and began operations two years later. This was done in an effort to reduce transportation costs. By 1857, four additional mines, the Tennessee, Mary's, Isabella, and Eureka were in operation in the Copper Basin. This raid, as well as the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, resulted in restoration of the mines to Union control. This proved a major blow to the Confederate war effort, as about 90% of their copper came from the Copper Basin. Mining operations resumed shortly after the war ended, and in 1866, Raht, who had fled to Cincinnati during the war, reopened the mines. Refining operations began in the Copper Basin in 1871. Steam engines were first used in the mining operations during this time, making the mines more productive. Between 1866 and 1878, the mines produced of copper ore. By the late 1870s, however, the mines, lacking a cost-effective method of transporting the ore out of the basin, were forced out of business. As a result, the last mines were idle by 1879. Expansion of mining operations In the summer of 1889, the Marietta & North Georgia Railroad and the Knoxville Southern Railroad built a rail line connecting the Copper Basin to Knoxville to the north and Marietta, Georgia to the south, and mining operations resumed the following year. A railroad station was constructed in McCay's, and the name was changed to Copperhill in 1908. The London-based Ducktown Sulphur, Copper and Iron Company (DCS&I) reopened the Mary Mine in 1890, and the following year the open-roast heap smelting process was first used in the basin. Despite the revival of the mining industry, many problems ensued. Beginning in September 1899 several employees of the DCS&I, which had a policy of not employing unionized members, formed a strike after the company fired workers who had formed the Copper Mine Workers Union. After the intervention of law enforcement, the strike was settled three months later when the DCS&I reaffirmed their policy of not hiring union members. The Tennessee Copper Company eventually merged with the DCS&I, and the merged company began to diversify. Along with copper and sulfuric acid, the company built a flotation plant to produce copper sulfate in the 1920s. Iron and zinc concentrates were also produced. As a result, a strike, organized by the IUMMSW, began on July 14, 1939. The strike mostly ended in late August when the TCC reopened the mines and the NLRB rejected a petition by the AFL for a third vote. On April 1, 14, and 24, 1940, a total of six explosions, perpetrated by striking miners, damaged three separate transmission lines operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that supplied power to the basin, briefly cutting power to the basin and forcing the closure of the mines. The following year eight members of the IUMMSW were convicted in federal court for conspiracy against the United States for this, which was subsequently upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The explosion was the result of a detonation of dust and sulfur fumes in the mine that had been dispersed by a routine blasting operation. The survivors who were trapped were able to open a compressed air line that provided an adequate supply of oxygen until they were rescued. This was the worst mining-related accident to occur in the Copper Basin. Despite this, the mines in the Copper Basin had a much better safety record than most mining operations, with very few deadly accidents occurring. The Burra Burra mine, which had grown into the largest mine, closed in 1958. In 1960 the Central Mine, the last major mine in the Copper Basin, began operation. The Tennessee Copper Company was purchased by Cities Services Corporation in 1963. A strike in 1969 resulted in an eight percent pay increase for employees and an increase in paid benefits. During the Vietnam War, sulfuric acid produced in the Copper Basin was supplied to the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant in Chattanooga. At the beginning of the 1970s, the company announced plans to expand but faced financial problems into the decade. Two strikes, in 1974 and 1977, the latter of which lasted four months, also led to the decline in mining activities in the basin, as well as anger and division amongst locals, especially those who did not support the strikes. The Tennessee Copper Company was purchased by a group of investors in September 1982, and the name was changed to the Tennessee Chemical Company. The Tennessee Chemical Company immediately began contesting its property tax requirements, which resulted in Polk County laying off 20% of its government employees, resulting in further turmoil amongst local residents. The company announced plans to shut down all mining operations in January 1985, and the final mine closed on August 27, 1987. The Tennessee Chemical Company filed for bankruptcy in 1989. The sulfuric acid plant continued to operate until 2000, with raw materials acquired elsewhere. == Environmental issues and remediation ==

In the early years of the mining operations, the forests in the Copper Basin were logged to fuel the smelters. As early as 1861 trees were becoming scarce, and in 1876 the companies began importing logs from Fannin County, Georgia. The smelting process released sulfur dioxide gas, which reacted with water vapor in the atmosphere, forming sulfuric acid and precipitating as acid rain. This subsequently killed the majority of the vegetation in the basin, and surface runoff into the Ocoee River and surrounding tributaries killed most aquatic life. This also resulted in erosion of the topsoil, much of which ended up in the Ocoee. A total of 32,000 acres were affected. The state of Georgia began suing the Tennessee Copper Company in the mid-1880s, claiming that the mining operations were causing damage to forests and crops in northern Georgia. In 1904, smokestacks were constructed to disperse the pollution; this, however, only worsened the problem. The lawsuits culminated in 1907, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Georgia v. Tennessee Copper Company that the state of Georgia could order the Tennessee Copper Company, via injunction, to mitigate the pollution from the mining activities. The following year, facilities were constructed to condense the fumes into sulfuric acid, and as a result, this injunction was never enforced. Reforestation and reclamation efforts in the Copper Basin began in the 1930s. In 1939, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Copper Company began a joint effort to plant replacement trees, and the soil was treated with lime to remove the acidity. == Recent history ==

The Ducktown Basin Museum was established in 1978 by a group of local citizens intent on preserving the legacy of the Copper Basin. The museum was moved to the building that formerly housed the headquarters of the Tennessee Copper Company at the Burra Burra Mine in 1982. It features exhibits on the history of the mining operations in the basin and the geology of the area, as well as artifacts from the mining activities. The Burra Burra Mine was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Many of the structures from the mining operations still remain. The basin was the site of a large flood in 1990 that inundated most of the business districts of Copperhill and McCaysville, resulting in a years-long legal battle between the two cities and forcing Copperhill into bankruptcy. == See also ==