Today was the first tour for the CCMN class and we went into the Copper Queen mine to look at the rock and mineral make-up
I've been inside the mine as a tourist years ago. My first husband Tim and I did the standard hard-hat tour via the mine train back in 1986. This time we took a private tour with the mine tour manager, Douglas Graeme. The emphasis was on the geologic make-up of the rock. It was dark and stuffy, but I enjoy hearing about rocks, even when I can't identify rhyolite from sedimentary rock.
Several people had difficulty walking up the narrow stairs on this tour. We got to see things tourists don't get to see, such as the natural caves within the mine. This is the part I like! A black light flashlight also helps one see minerals in the rock that one can't see with the naked eye (fluorite, calcite are just two such minerals)
The tour lasted an hour. We had 20 minutes before meeting again at the Mining museum in Bisbee, a short walk from the mine. I went down to the Smoothie shop before joining my classmates on the steps of the museum.
The curator here is the sister of the Copper Queen mine manager, Douglas, who gave us a quick 45-minute tour of the small museum (Owned by the Smithsonian). The mine was Bisbee's main economy until the mines closed in the 1970s. Graduates from Bisbee High School had their diplomas etched in thin copper instead of treated paper as late as the 1940s.
I enjoyed both tours, but was glad to get home ad out of the heat.
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