Mountains of Copper?

Mountains of Copper?. . , Depending on who you talk to, the hills around you contain either rich copper deposits or a lot of hot air...., Between 1889 and 1922, miners explored a number of promising mining properties near Adair. They encountered ore containing copper, sprinkled with small amounts of gold and silver., Until 1910, the ore was hauled on wagons over the Bitterroot Mountains to the Northern Pacific Railroad Station at Saltese, Montana., During World War I copper prices soared, spurring development of the marginal deposits in the Richmond and Monitor Mines. After 1918, the price of copper plummeted and the Richmond soon closed., Hopeful miners, however, continued to explore the Monitor Mine. They dug a two-mile tunnel from just above Adair to a point under the existing mine, but failed to find any commercial ore. Today miners are still working these hills, hoping that one day..., (sidebar) , An 8,800 foot cable tram system was built from the Richmond Mine to Adair in 1916 by the Ribel Aerial Tramway Company of Spokane, Washington. It could haul 240 tons a day, but never exceeded 50 tons a day., The aerial tramway lasted only until 1919. Although the towers rotted and collapsed, some of the tram line and damaged ore buckets can still be found along the line.