| Summary: | Caption on image: 622. Coppermount, Alaska. Winter and Pond 622 Two of the largest copper producers were at Hetta Inlet on the west side of Prince of Wales and Kasaan on the east. Alaska's first copper smelter was built in 1905 at Coppermount in Hetta Inlet, five months later a second smelter was built at Hadley on the Kasaan Peninsula. The copper produced by these smelters was shipped elsewhere and profits were dependent on fluctuations in the worldwide market. Prices rose from 12 cents a pound in 1904 to 24 cents a pound in 1906 and local industry boomed. Several new mines opened up to take advantage of the market. Communities such as Hadley grew rapidly, adding stores, hotels and other amenities like Ketchikan. Still, the main supplier and shipping point for these mining towns remained Ketchikan and the young town grew to meet the demand. Unfortunately, the copper market turned down in 1907 and prices dropped back to pre 1904 levels. The Prince of Wales copper had never been as high grade as the copper in other areas and too much effort was required to process too little ore. Coppermount closed and Hadley struggled on for a few more years. When the high grade Kennicott Mine opened up in central Alaska in 1911, it was the end of most efforts to extract high-grade copper from Southeast. (Source: sitnews.us. July 28, 2006. Mining, once Ketchikan's principal industry by Dave Kiffer.)
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