Cornwalls Central Mines by T A Morrison
Inside the cover is a short bio on the author in which the term is used in
connection with him working underground in "Cornwall, Germany and in
Canadian gold mines in Northern Ontario and at Yellow Knife near the Arctic
Circle. Since 1976 he has worked at Dome Mines Ltd, near Timmins Ontario
where is he a mine captain." (1980)
So there you are, I have taken you round in a circle back to where the query
originated from.
Sorry
Roy
-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Brooks [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 18 July 2013 14:31
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hardrockers / hard rock mining
Hi List
I have never come across this term being used either in southern Africa
(Zambia, Zimbabwe, S Africa) or here in Cornwall. I think that it is
purely a N American term
Tony Brooks
-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher J Williams
Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 2:07 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hardrockers / hard rock mining
There is a book by John Rowe, The Hard-Rock Men, Cornish Immigrants and
the North American Mining Frontier, first published in 1974 by the
University
of Liverpool Press in the UK, and Barnes and Noble in the USA. I don't
have access to a copy, but the publisher's blurb on a copy for sale online
describes it as 'a thorough history of the Cornish miners who brought their
skills to America and played a crucial role in the development of hard-rock
mining, especially in the West'. The Cornish miner was accustomed to
working
in granite, of course.
The Oxford English Dictionary (online) says that the use of the term in
mining is only in North America: 'experienced in underground work in hard
massive formations;--said of a miner (Webster 1934)'. The earliest example
given is from 1923.
The alternative meaning of 'a type of strident music' is found in both the
USA and UK.
Christopher J Williams
In a message dated 18/07/2013 12:57:47 GMT Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Here in New England, this term is often used among geologists to describe
those of us who work on bedrock geology, vs. the "softrockers" who are
concerned with non-lithified glacial and postglacial sediments.
I'm not sure what the bedrockers are called in states beyond the glacial
limit, where the rocks are deeply weathered to saprolites!
Woody Thompson
Maine Geological Survey
-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Peter Claughton
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 4:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Hardrockers / hard rock mining
I've had the following query on the term 'hardrocker' as used to denote a
miner working on hard rock mining and it's first use in North America - is
it perhaps of European origin?
>My name is King Adkins and I am a professor at the South Dakota School
>of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, South Dakota. I'm doing research
>into our school nickname, "The Hardrockers." Located in the Black Hills
>of South Dakota, I know, of course, that the term relates to hard rock
>mining, but my interest is in tracking down the origins of this
>specific term. Was it for instance, a slang term invented by the miners
>themselves, or was it created by the industry to refer to such miners?
>Did it originate here in the Black Hills, or does it date back further
>in the history of mining?
Peter
Dr Peter Claughton,
Blaenpant Morfil, nr. Rosebush, Clynderwen, Pembrokeshire, Wales SA66 7RE.
Tel. +44 (0)1437 532578; Fax. +44 (0)1437 532921; Mobile +44 (0)7831 427599
Hon. University Fellow - College of Humanities, University of Exeter
http://people.exeter.ac.uk/pfclaugh/about.htm
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Co-owner - mining-history e-mail discussion list.
See http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/files/mining-history/ for details.
Mining History Pages - http://www.people.exeter.ac.uk/pfclaugh/mhinf/
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