Cynthia St. Charles Store

Monday, July 13, 2009

Berkeley Pit in Butte


I've lived in Montana most of my life, but have never seen the Berkeley Pit, where an entire mountain was removed to provide copper for the rest of the world. We paid our $2 and walked down this long tunnel to get to the viewing area.


I guess I never will see the bottom of the pit, nor will anyone . . . the pit is full of mineral laden water. The reddish water is a toxic soup of naturally occurring minerals.


They've started pumping and purifying the water that gets above a certain level.

Apparently the only living organisms include a bacteria that appears to feed on iron and a small amoeba. Both of these are being researched by biologists.

This was an intriguing visit . . . might inspire a quilt of some kind . . .

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