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Charlotte County Copper Mines
In the 1860s, inflated copper prices due to the American Civil war encouraged the opening of two copper mines in Charlotte County, south of St. George. Both mines closed after the end of the Civil War in 1865. In the summer of 1863, Loring Bailey visited the Wheal Louisiana and LeTete mines. Bailey described the LeTete operation as one where the ore was raised with oxen and smelted on-site in pots over a bonfire. In his 1864 “Report on the Mines and Minerals of New Brunswick” Bailey wrote:
This was I believe the first copper mine ever opened in Charlotte County and has therefore been worked under a number of disadvantageous circumstances. It is impossible at present to give any decided opinion as to its future productiveness. It has now been worked some three or four years but the amount of ore yet raised is inconsiderable. This however may only prove that the favorable points for ore have not yet been struck. Some excellent specimens have been found and as the direction of the lodes is favorable good beds of copper may yet be discovered. It is to be hoped that success will attend the labors of these companies as they have under many difficulties and failure would not only involve great loss to those immediately concerned but to the County and Province generally.
