Souvenir Mining Spoons/Souvenir Mining Spoon Sweeny Mill Wardner ID

Souvenir Mining Spoons

Souvenir Mining Spoon Sweeny Mill Wardner ID.JPG - SOUVENIR MINING SPOON SWEENY MILL WARDNER ID - Sterling silver spoon withengraved bowl showing mine buildings and marked SWEENY MILL with figural handle of flowers, 5 3/4 in. long, reverse marked Sterling with maker’s hallmark (The Coeur d'Alene mining region in northern Idaho is one of the nation's most significant mineral producers, having yielded almost twenty percent of the silver and lead, and six percent of the zinc produced in the United States. Due to the relatively low-grade of many of the lead-zinc-silver ores mined, early methods of concentration were introduced at the beginning of commercial mining operations in 1886. These milling operations produced large tonnages of mill tailings, the material remaining after crushing, grinding of the ore and separation of a significant portion of the economic minerals as a waste product. The Sweeny or Last Chance mill located about two miles west of Kellogg, ID in the Coeur d’Alene District was a major contributor to the production of lead and silver as well as tailings. In 1886 Charles Sweeny and F. R. Moore of Spokane opened the Last Chance mine, located near Wardner. In May 1898, the Empire State-Idaho Mining and Development Company was organized to control the Last Chance and to acquire new territory to the west. In September 1903, the Federal Mining and Smelting Company was organized and purchased the Empire State holdings. The Last Chance mine was a steady producer of lead-silver ore since 1890. With the completion of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company's Wallace branch in 1890, Charles Sweeny built a mill with a capacity of 500 tons daily to process ore from the Last Chance mine. At the time, nearly 300 men were employed at the mine and mill. The Last Chance mine was worked through a tunnel nearly two miles long that perforated the ridges west of Wardner at an elevation of 3,050 feet. One portal was called the Sweeny tunnel and the other the Arizona. Concentrating ore was taken from the Arizona tunnel over the Oregon Railway and Navigation track to the Sweeny mill at the mouth of Government gulch. Lingering litigation between the Last Chance Mining Company and its successors on the one hand and the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Company on the other over ownership of the deposits was ultimately decided in favor of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Company. The Last Chance mine and the Sweeny mill became the property of Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining Co. in 1918. Mitigation of heavy metals-bearing, tailings-contaminated river sediments continues as an issue in the region today since these sediments first reached farms and communities down river from the mines around 1900.)

Souvenir Mining Spoon Sweeny Mill Wardner ID | SOUVENIR MINING SPOON SWEENY MILL WARDNER ID - Sterling silver spoon with engraved bowl showing mine buildings and marked SWEENY MILL with figural handle of flowers, 5 3/4 in. long, reverse marked Sterling with maker’s hallmark (The Coeur d'Alene mining region in northern Idaho is one of the nation's most significant mineral producers, having yielded almost twenty percent of the silver and lead, and six percent of the zinc produced in the United States. Due to the relatively low-grade of many of the lead-zinc-silver ores mined, early methods of concentration were introduced at the beginning of commercial mining operations in 1886. These milling operations produced large tonnages of mill tailings, the material remaining after crushing, grinding of the ore and separation of a significant portion of the economic minerals as a waste product. The Sweeny or Last Chance mill located about two miles west of Kellogg, ID in the Coeur d’Alene District was a major contributor to the production of lead and silver as well as tailings. In 1886 Charles Sweeny and F. R. Moore of Spokane opened the Last Chance mine, located near Wardner. In May 1898, the Empire State-Idaho Mining and Development Company was organized to control the Last Chance and to acquire new territory to the west. In September 1903, the Federal Mining and Smelting Company was organized and purchased the Empire State holdings. The Last Chance mine was a steady producer of lead-silver ore since 1890. With the completion of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company's Wallace branch in 1890, Charles Sweeny built a mill with a capacity of 500 tons daily to process ore from the Last Chance mine. At the time, nearly 300 men were employed at the mine and mill. The Last Chance mine was worked through a tunnel nearly two miles long that perforated the ridges west of Wardner at an elevation of 3,050 feet. One portal was called the Sweeny tunnel and the other the Arizona. Concentrating ore was taken from the Arizona tunnel over the Oregon Railway and Navigation track to the Sweeny mill at the mouth of Government gulch. Lingering litigation between the Last Chance Mining Company and its successors on the one hand and the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Company on the other over ownership of the deposits was ultimately decided in favor of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Company. The Last Chance mine and the Sweeny mill became the property of Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining Co. in 1918. Mitigation of heavy metals-bearing, tailings-contaminated river sediments continues as an issue in the region today since these sediments first reached farms and communities down river from the mines around 1900.)

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