AA-2026-5F6F51
On the image
In the 1970s, the belief that something valuable might be hidden just under the surface was a powerful motivator, especially if it involved moving a lot of dirt by hand in a remote area.
Individual workers are dotted across this rugged, rocky landscape, patiently carving out small caves and trenches. The sheer scale of manual effort suggests an optimism that perhaps modern economics would find inefficient, focusing instead on the potential for individual discovery.
The entire operation, with its scattered holes and piles of excavated rock, gives the impression that a significant fortune might be found if only enough people dug in enough places, often without the benefit of heavy machinery or even a clear exit strategy for the ore.
The historian's note
This image depicts an open-pit mining or quarrying operation, likely for minerals or semi-precious stones, occurring sometime in the 1970s. The method involves removing surface rock and overburden to access underlying deposits, often employing a combination of blasting and manual labour.
The presence of numerous individual workers and small tunnel entrances indicates a labour-intensive extraction process, suggesting a scale of operation that was not fully mechanised. Such smaller-scale mining activities were common in the American West and other resource-rich, often remote, areas during this period.
These operations frequently targeted high-value minerals or specific industrial minerals, where the potential returns justified extensive manual labour and exploration in challenging, undeveloped terrain.
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Visually related — by likeness
Remote Hillside Mining Operation, 1970s. 1970–1979. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-5F6F51. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/remote-hillside-mining-operation-1970s.
@misc{aaAA20265F6F51,
title = {Remote Hillside Mining Operation, 1970s},
year = {1970–1979},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-5F6F51},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/remote-hillside-mining-operation-1970s}
}TY - ART TI - Remote Hillside Mining Operation, 1970s PY - 1970–1979 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-5F6F51 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/remote-hillside-mining-operation-1970s ER -
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