A fascinating discussion! I readily admit I have used the term "hard
rock" as in mining or miners and assumed it was a 19th century term
without question, perhaps with American origins, but this discussion is
helping me think perhaps I shouldn't have.
Peter Bell's description of "hard rock" as being indicative of a
different economic and social context (in addition to a different
geological one) I think is correct. However, the terms used at the time
to describe that context varied. My impression from Gold Rush-era
documents is that "quartz mining" was used most frequently to describe
what we would today call hard rock mining. "Lode" mining was another
common one.
A check of Rossiter W. Raymond's 1881 _Glossary of Mining &
Metallurgical Terms_ suggests that "hard rock" might not have been a
term in common usage. There is no entry for it. There is an entry for
"quartz", used on the Pacific Coast, "Any hard gold or silver ore, as
distinguished from gravel or earth. Hence quartz-mining, as
distinuished from hydraulic, etc."
Thus projections of a very late 19th or early 20th century origin for
the term might be more accurate.
Best regards,
-Eric
--
Eric Nystrom, Associate Professor
Department of History
Rochester Institute of Technology
office: 585-475-6172
Peter Bell writes:
> I have always assumed that the term arose during the goldrushes, and probably during the first great gold rush, California. Its early use seems in my reading to be confined to the USA, although it has now spread around the world.
>
> Virtually all nineteenth century gold rushes began with the discovery of alluvial deposits (placer deposits in North America), and then progressed to the discovery of veins or other in situ deposits in rock. The fundamental difference between the two was that alluvial mining could be done by small groups of miners with hand tools, and the early gold rushes were populated by hordes of unskilled amateurs who could get rich by simply working hard.
>
> However, the discovery of gold in hard rock created a new industry. Paul Thrush, Dictionary of Mining (1968) gives a number of meanings for "hard rock", but they all involve rock which has to be drilled and blasted. The transition to hard rock mining meant expenditure on drills, compressors, steam engines and explosives. That meant investment capital, mining companies, and shareholders. If the freelance alluvial miners wanted to join that industry, they had to became employees of a mining company.
>
> Hence the expression "hard rock" means a lot more than a loose geological description of a type of ore deposit. It is a shorthand term implying the economic and cultural transition from one industry to another: from the early tent encampments of footloose alluvial diggers, to the world of underground mines, company towns and wage-earning employees.
>
> If you want to press me further on this, you'll find I am very short on documentary references. However, it is an impression gained from a lot of reading about the nineteenth century mining industry.
>
> Peter Bell
>
>
> On 18/07/2013, at 6:07 AM, Peter Claughton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> 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
>
>
>
> If you need to leave the list, send the following message to [log in to unmask] -
>
> leave mining-history
> ---------
If you need to leave the list, send the following message to [log in to unmask] -
leave mining-history
---------
|