Although the Spanish may have been in Bullion Canyon in the late 1600's or early 1700's, the first concentrated effort to exploit the gold deposits of the area began in earnest during the early 1870's. So many people came looking for riches that three towns developed up the canyon near Webster Flat. Bullion City, with 1,650 souls according to the 1880 census, was described as a raw environment with "whiskey, gambling and even worse."
In these early days, high grade ore had to be sent as far away as England to be processed into gold bars. By 1880, the first successful ore reduction facility was built at the mouth of Bullion Canyon and was named the Copperbelt Mill. It had 10 steam-driven stamps to crush the gold ore, 4 tables to concentrate the gold and a large cyanide unit which separated the gold from the waste rock. An assay office, commissary, work shops, a boarding house, dwellings (i.e., dugouts and small framed buildings) and a road network supported the mill. Evidence of most of these facilities can be seen on our property and will be shown to our visitors upon request.
In 1892, the Federal land that the mill had been built on was legally removed from the public domain. The mill site or land was named the Apex Mill site and you will see a sign to that effect when you enter our driveway. The mill, on the other hand, remained the Copperbelt Mill until it was dismantled and moved up the canyon to the Bullion and Webster mines where the Bully Boy Mill now sits. It was moved in 1912 but burned to the ground in 1914. The Copperbelt community, at the mouth of the canyon, became a ghost town.
The Copperbelt Mill was moved up the canyon in 1912 but burned to the ground only two years later. There are no known photographs of the facility but it probably looked much like the Bully Boy Mill which was built in 1922 near the charred remains of the Copperbelt.
Copperbelt Cabin
in Historic Marysvale, Utah.
Stay a few days...
Remember forever.
2950 West Bullion Canyon Road
Marysvale, Utah 84750
(435) 326-4205
Copperbelt Cabin: Marysvale's Mining History
In these early days, high grade ore had to be sent as far away as England to be processed into gold bars. By 1880, the first successful ore reduction facility was built at the mouth of Bullion Canyon and was named the Copperbelt Mill. It had 10 steam-driven stamps to crush the gold ore, 4 tables to concentrate the gold and a large cyanide unit which separated the gold from the waste rock. An assay office, commissary, work shops, a boarding house, dwellings (i.e., dugouts and small framed buildings) and a road network supported the mill. Evidence of most of these facilities can be seen on our property and will be shown to our visitors upon request.
In 1892, the Federal land that the mill had been built on was legally removed from the public domain. The mill site or land was named the Apex Mill site and you will see a sign to that effect when you enter our driveway. The mill, on the other hand, remained the Copperbelt Mill until it was dismantled and moved up the canyon to the Bullion and Webster mines where the Bully Boy Mill now sits. It was moved in 1912 but burned to the ground in 1914. The Copperbelt community, at the mouth of the canyon, became a ghost town.
The Copperbelt Mill was moved up the canyon in 1912 but burned to the ground only two years later. There are no known photographs of the facility but it probably looked much like the Bully Boy Mill which was built in 1922 near the charred remains of the Copperbelt.