Pyne Red Ore Mine, Headframe, State Route 150, Bessemer, Jefferson County, AL

Significance: As the easily accessible ore deposits along Red Mountain were depleted, iron companies were forced to mine ore ever farther underground. Longer haulages, complicated by irregularities in the ore seam, drastically increased production costs. The solution was the sinking of vertical shafts, intercepting the ore seam "down dip," beyond the developed mine workings. Pyne mine, operated by the Woodward Iron Co., represents this final stage of iron ore mining in the Birmingham District. This shaft mine was located in Shades Valley, 2 miles southeast of the ore outcrop. In 1918 the Woodward Co. began work on the Pyne shaft to help meet wartime demands for iron production. But as the 1,300 foot, concrete-lined shaft was completed, the need for ore dropped off, and the mine lay idle until it was again needed in 1942. At that time a new surface plant was built, incorporating a large head frame and two mine hoists; one for ore skips and one for double-decked cages transporting men and materials. As operations at Pyne expanded, productivity of the mine held a narrow margin of economy over richer imported ores. Innovative mining practices, a high degree of mechanization, and the creative use of nearby worked-out mines made Pyne one of the most productive iron ore mines in the United States. Production there continued after all other ore mines in the district had been forced to close. But water problems plagued the mine, and the encounter of a major thrust fault in 1970 terminated mining operations, thus ending the ore mining industry in the Birmingham District.
Survey number: HAER AL-28-A