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Frequent Questions

Museum Hours

1. Why is the museum closed in the winter?

2. The museum used to be free, why is there an admission charge now?

3. What happened to the ore after it was brought up from the mine?

4. What are the museum's hours?

5. I've heard that there are miles of mine tunnels under Butte. Why doesn't the city collapse into them?

6. Can you identify my rock or artifact?

7. My great-grandfather worked in the mines. What can you tell me about him?

8. There used to be a train running around the museum grounds. Why isn't it running?

9. I heard this is all a Superfund site. What are they doing about it?

1. Why is the museum closed in the winter?
 There are very few tourists and the cold and snow make maintenance very expensive.

2. The museum used to be free, why is there an admission charge now?
Expenses of operation, including the electric, gas, and water bills, and insurance, as well as other expenses such as advertising and maintaining the collections, far exceed the amounts that come from memberships and donations.

3. What happened to the ore after it was brought up from the mine?
It was hauled up to the ore houses in the headframe, from which it was dumped into ore cars in the electrified railway, the Butte, Anaconda, and Pacific, which took the ore to the smelter in Anaconda. There a high-grade copper or other metal matte was made, which was sent on to a metal refinery for production of the pure metal. Today, ore from the Montana Resources Continental Pit is concentrated here in Butte, then shipped overseas for final refining to pure copper and molybdenum.

4. What are the museum's hours? The Museum is open from April 1 through October 31, seven days a week. We open at 9:00 a.m., the last ticket is sold at 4:30 p.m., and the grounds close at 6:00p.m.

5. I've heard that there are miles of mine tunnels under Butte. Why doesn't the city collapse into them?
Most of the 3500 miles (by some accounts, over 10,000 miles) of tunnels are quite deep. The tunnels, or drifts, were on the order of 10 feet across, while the solid rock between tunnel levels was often as much as 100 feet or more. So there is really much more solid rock down there than there is space.

6. Can you identify my rock or artifact?
We'll be happy to try. You can also visit the Mineral Museum at Montana Tech, where their geologists and mineralogists may be able to help you.

7. My great-grandfather worked in the mines. What can you tell me about him?
Unfortunately, probably not much. Please visit our email info@miningmuseum.org for more information.

8. There used to be a train running around the museum grounds. Why isn't it running?
In 2001, insurance rates began to skyrocket. Even though our little train is just a tourist train, insurers saw it as a potential terrorism target. The cost for insurance multiplied almost 10 times, and we simply cannot afford to keep the train running. We're looking for a corporate sponsor to underwrite this insurance. Meanwhile, you can visit the Orphan Girl Express page.

9. I heard this is all a Superfund site. What are they doing about it?
A lot has already been accomplished, by ARCO, Montana Resources, and others. The area around the Old Works smelter in Anaconda has been turned into a world-class golf course, designed by Jack Nicklaus. The Warm Springs Ponds area, formerly a settling basin for effluent from the mines and smelters, is now a wetland, home to abundant waterfowl. In Butte, the former Colorado Tailings area is now a clean and green floodplain, with Silver Bow Creek meandering through it. One of the biggest problems is the water in the Berkeley Pit. It is toxic (dissolved arsenic, lead, copper, and other metals) and very acidic (pH 2.6) thanks to interaction between ground water and the sulfides in the remaining underground ore and country rock. A new water treatment plant went online in 2003, and will initially treat "new" water flowing into the pit. This water will be used in the operation of Montana Resources' Continental Pit, which re-opened in 2003. Any unused water will be so clean it can go into Silver Bow Creek. The water in the pit itself will be treated starting about 2016 - the time that the water level might become high enough that ground water could seep into uncontaminated aquifers. That will never be allowed to happen. For more information, visit Pitwatch. In addition, the Alice Pit and tailings dump have been reclaimed and converted to a trail and picnic area in Walkerville, and the BA&P Railroad bed is now a paved walking trail extending from the Kelley Mine, near the Berkeley Pit, to the World Museum of Mining. Through 2001, ARCO (Atlantic Richfield, which purchased the Anaconda Company in 1977) has spent more than $385 million on the cleanup.