Mountain Consolidated (The Con) was part of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. The main steel headframe opened in 1928 — replacing a wooden frame — and was almost 130 feet tall. The mine’s shaft descended 5300 feet into the earth where copper ore was mined and brought to the surface. The ore was then transferred by rail to the smelter in nearby Anaconda.
The Con was open between 1886 and 1974. Its headframe remains as an important marker and a reminder of the area’s mining history. The Con is the 2nd tallest of the 12 headframes remaining on Butte Mountain.
The headframe is shuttered and closed off to the public, but from the headframe you get some terrific views of old city of Butte and surrounding Rocky Mountains:
