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Miningcareer00congrich.Pdf University of California Berkeley Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Western Mining in the Twentieth Century Oral History Series Harry M. Conger III MINING CAREER WITH ASARCO, KAISER STEEL, CONSOLIDATION COAL, HOMESTAKE, 1955 TO 1995: JUNIOR ENGINEER TO CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD With Introduction by C. Lee Emerson Interviews conducted by Eleanor Swent in 1999 and 2000 Copyright o 2001 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well- informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ************************************ All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Harry M. Conger dated December 9, 1999. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Bancroft Library, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. The legal agreement with Harry M. Conger requires that he be notified of the request and allowed thirty days in which to respond. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Harry M. Conger III, "Mining Career with ASARCO, Kaiser Steel, Consolidation Coal, Homestake, 1955 to 1995: Junior Engineer to Chairman of the Board," an oral history conducted in 1999 and 2000 by Eleanor Swent, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2001. Copy no. Harry M. Conger III, 1991, Cataloging information Conger, Harry Milton III (b. 1930) Mining engineer Mining Career with ASARCO, Kaiser Steel, Consolidation Coal, Homestake, 1955 to 1995: Junior Engineer to Chairman of the Board, 2001, xix, 324 pp. Childhood in Depression years; Colorado School of Mines; from junior engineer to shift boss with ASARCO, mine operation, mining methods; Kaiser Steel, Eagle Mountain iron mine, experiments with new equipment, explosives, management of operations, company housing; Balmer coal mine, B.C., mining methods, sales contracts to Japanese, project design and construction; Consolidation Coal Co., Midwest division, company organization; 1975-1995: Homestake Mining Co., vice president to chairman, discusses corporate organization, board of directors, government relations, international gold market, stockholder relations, project financing, mining law, mining camp social life; director, PG&E, electric power deregulation; trustee, Caltech; discusses community fund raising activities. Introduction by C. Lee Emerson, President (retired), Kaiser Resources . Interviewed in 1999 and 2000 by Eleanor Swent for the Western Mining in the Twentieth Century series. The Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. TABLE OF CONTENTS- -Harry Conger PREFACE i INTRODUCTION by Lee Emerson xiii INTERVIEW HISTORY by Eleanor Swent xv BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION xviii I FAMILY BACKGROUND AND EARLY YEARS 1 Five Generations of Harry Milton Congers 1 The Great Depression Causes the Family to Move from the Northwest 2 Family Lore of a Gold Mining Charlatan 3 Grandfather Conger, Entrepreneurial and Innovative 4 Beginning School in Deal County, Maryland 7 1939: Back to Washington 9 World War II; Japanese Internment Not Noticed 13 Radio, Movies, Athletics, Fishing and Hunting 15 Great Influences: Mother Caroline and Teachers 19 Working from the Age of Twelve at Paying Jobs 22 Marriage to Phyllis Shepherd, 1949 23 II ENGINEERING STUDIES, 1949 TO 1955 27 Both Working to Put Harry Through College 27 The Attraction of Mining Engineering 30 Transferring to the Colorado School of Mines 31 Metallurgical Test Work at the Colorado School of Mines Experimental Plant 33 III WORKING FOR ASARCO AT SILVER BELL, ARIZONA, 1955 TO 1964 37 Good Pay, Good Housing, a Great Camp 37 Six Months of Army Service as an ROTC Obligation 38 Junior Engineer Work, a Good Apprenticeship 40 Looking for a Change from Being a Shift Boss 44 An Enlightening Interview with the Chief Engineer of AMAX 45 Deciding Between a Career in Engineering and Production 48 IV WORKING FOR KAISER STEEL AT EAGLE MOUNTAIN, 1964 TO 1970 49 A Difficult Mine in a Remote Location 49 "Not the Top Slice" of Workers and a Combination of Unions 50 The Beneficiation Plant: Upgrading Ore for the Fontana Mill 53 Expansion with a Pelletizing Plant to Treat Magnetite Ore 54 Working as Foreman on the First Wave of Expansion 56 Promotion to Mine Superintendent in a Few Months 57 Working Fourteen-Hour Days to Train for the Promotion 59 Checking Time Cards at the Kitchen Table 60 Increasing Work Units and Racing to Get Ore 61 Developing Prototypes of Larger Equipment; Training Operators 63 Some Accidents 67 A Visit by Henry J. Kaiser 68 Manager Martin Hughes: "Rule by Terror" 70 Pioneering Work on Explosives 71 Attempting to Develop a Hydraulic Shovel 73 General Mine Superintendent; Developing an Underground Mine Between Two Pits 76 Serving on the Eagle Mountain School Board 82 Developing Private Housing 85 Social Life 86 Dramatic Changes in Shovels and Drills 92 V BALMER COAL MINE, FERNIE, B.C., 1970 TO 1973 95 An Old Coal Mining District Revived for the Japanese Market 95 Conger Shows How to Use a Down-the-Hole Hammer Drill 97 The Dragline Came a Cropper in Mountainous Terrain 100 Conveying the Coal Through a Tunnel to the Plant Site 103 A Huge and Very Sophisticated Coal Washing Plant 104 Production Doesn t Meet Specifications in Spring of 1970 105 Changes to Solve the Problem; "The Only Game in Town in B.C." 107 The Correct Story on the Public Stock Offering and Options for Directors 109 In Eighteen Months, Everything Was Running Well 110 The Dryer Plant Fire, a Brief Setback 110 Turning Around Anti-American Feelings and Making Good Friends 111 Hydraulic Mining in a Unique Situation 118 VI CONSOLIDATION COAL COMPANY, 1973 TO 1975 121 The Decision to Leave Kaiser and Meeting Ralph Bailey 121 A Few Months as General Superintendent of Mines 123 Vice President, General Manager of the Midwestern Division 123 Strip Mining Compared to Open-Pit and Contour Mining 124 Strip Mining is Ideal for Reclamation 125 Environmental Protection Also Well Advanced in Canada 126 The Company s Reorganization Plan 127 VII HOMESTAKE MINING COMPANY, 1975 TO 1977 129 Homestake also Has a Reorganization Plan 129 Interviewing for a Senior Executive Position 132 Berne Schepman, Forceful Board Member 134 Schwab s Plan for Business Units and Profit Centers 138 Coming to Understand Homestake as a Unique Company 141 Gold is Different from Any Other Commodity or Mineral 142 Gold as a Monetary Asset 143 Belated Awareness of Environmental Protection 145 The Copper Prospect in Upper Michigan 146 The Buick, Missouri, Lead-Zinc Mine 147 The Pitch Uranium Mine in Colorado 147 Fitting In With the People at Homestake 149 VIII PRESIDENT OF HOMESTAKE, 1977 TO 1986 151 Seeing the Flaws in the Division Organization 151 Dick Stoehr as Confidant 153 The Boston Consulting Group Analyzes the Company 155 Committing to Exploration for Gold on the Carlin Model 158 Simplifying the Corporate Structure 159 The McLaughlin Mine, a Technological and Environmental Success 160 A New Era in the Gold Mining Business, 1979 162 Acquiring Felmont Oil Company, a Bad Fit 163 The Round Mountain, Nevada, Gold Deposit 167 IX CHAIRMAN OF HOMESTAKE, 1986 TO 1995 169 David Fagin as President 169 Acquisition of Corona Mining Company 170 Exploration Policy Changes from 1961 171 Homestake Has to Deal with Marketing for the First Time 174 Learning from Negative Experience and Executive Training 179 Making Changes in the Board of Directors 182 The Boone Pickens Caper, 1981 187 The Failed Attempt to Acquire Santa Fe Gold 194 "Saving" Kalgoorlie, Australia 199 More About the Corona Acquisition 213 Disappointment with the Exploration Program 217 An Inefficient Operation in Bulgaria 219 A Sulfur Project in the Gulf of Mexico: "Not Our Business" 225 Integrating Corona into Homestake 229 Listing on the European Stock Exchanges
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