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Ivy Mount Copper Mine - 1 Towns County, GA |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2022) |
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Ivy Mount Copper Mine - 1 Towns County, GA |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2022) |
| A recent TCHS presentation by Jason Edwards on the Ivy Mount Cemetery piqued my interest when he mentioned the Ivy Mount Mining Company, which I'd never heard of. This was a brief copper mining venture started prior to the Civil War. I decided I would go look for any remains. I found a number of the old mine shafts, but they are collapsed and filled with earth now, so are only 12-20 feet deep. I had heard that a tunnel was still in existence, but a nearby resident said that the mouth had been filled in long ago. The first area I wanted to examine was steep and thick with mountain laurel. I tried coming down from the top, but it was a mess, so I decided I would try it from the bottom at a later time. So these photos start at Area 2. |
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| Area 2 - Collapsed mine shaft |
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| The same collapsed shaft from another angle |
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| Someone in more recent times had dug into the collapsed shaft wall... |
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| Collapsed shaft at Area 3 |
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| Another collapsed shaft at Area 3 |
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| Collapsed shaft at Area 3 |
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| Rocks in tailings below one of the Area 3 shafts |
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| More rocks in the tailings dug out of the Area 3 shafts. One of the collapsed shafts is just beyond the crest at the top of the image. |
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| Area 4, the lowest in elevation, contained several old cuts and collapsed shafts. |
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| Area 4 - collapsed shaft |
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| Another collapsed shaft in Area 4 |
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| Two adjacent collapsed shafts This may be where the filled in tunnel was located... |
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| Another collapsed shaft. After exploring the mine areas, I wanted to check out another nearby spot that looked interesting. Unfortunately, as I was climbing out of a gully, my foot got caught on a root, and as I pitched forward, my leg got in a weird position that severely sprained/strained my foot and knee. It was a rough walk back to my truck, and I probably damaged it as much on that walk as the original injury. Recovery has taken longer than I hoped for, and while it is slowly healing, it's been a month now since I've roamed the woods. Update - It took about 3 months for my foot & knee to get back to 100%... |
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| Report of a mining accident... (from Augusta Chronicle & Sentinel, September 16, 1857) |
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| Notice of 1869 land sale... (from Atlanta Daily New Era, October 3, 1869) |
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| Apparently operations continued to some extent after the Civil War, even subsequent to the land being sold in late 1869. (from the American Journal of Science and Arts - 1875) |