James Mine, fuse-cutting and capping station

Abstract

A miner is shown at a fuse-cutting and capping station underground at the James Mine. A sign reads, "Danger Explosives." The James Mine is an underground iron mine in Mineral Hills, Michigan, a company town of the Mineral Hills Mining Company. The Mine is located in the Menominee Range. The James Mine was operated starting in about 1906 and was the first area mine to be operated outside of the Iron River Valley. Pickands, Mather and Company, a later operator of the James Mine, was established in 1883 as an iron mining and shipping firm with interests in the Lake Superior region. It was one of the large mining companies that consolidated smaller properties in the Michigan iron ranges in the early 1900s. The Company became one of the largest iron ore companies in the US.