2012, David C. Lincoln, Medal of Merit, Amer. Mining Hall of Fame

Описание: The Mining Foundation of the Southwest is pleased to recognize David C. Lincoln as its 2012 Medal of Merit inductee into the American Mining Hall of Fame. David was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1925 and received Bachelors and Masters degrees from California Institute of Technology. In earlier years he held jobs in the aerospace field. In 1945, the Lincoln family acquired controlling interest in Bagdad Copper Company which was a 2,500 ton per day underground operation. David assumed the presidency of Bagdad upon the death of his father in 1959. In the early 1950s, Bagdad converted to open pit and capacity was increased to 6,000 tons per day. Overburden was stockpiled for later leaching which began in the early 1960s. Initially the copper was recovered as cement copper by iron precipitation. The cement copper was refined on site to pure copper powder and sold for friction and molding applications.

In the later 1960s recovery of the leached copper was changed from an iron precipitation to a solvent-extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW) process. This method was agressively researched by Bagdad via a pilot plant. The Bagdad SX/EW plant was the second one in the copper industry and the first one designed for long-term use. It is still going after more than 40 years.

Following SX/EW technology improvements, the next development at Bagdad was to develop the large body of lower grade ore. This required expanding the size of the plant by about ten times which was far beyond the ability of the company to finance on its own. This led to merging with Cyprus Mines in 1973. Cyprus could handle the financing and in addition liked the highly cooperative culture among Bagdad employees and management. Mr. Lincoln continued as an active member of the Cyprus board until Cyprus was acquired by Standard Oil Company of Indiana in 1980. Robert Bogart had been assistant manager of Bagdad and was promoted to general manager by Cyprus. He very skillfully managed the expansion which was successfully completed. The mine has undergone additional expansions and continues as a very viable operation.

Mr. Lincoln resides in Phoenix with his wife Joan. They have four children. Mr. Lincoln is currently involved in a variety of profit and not-for-profit endeavors.
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The purpose of the non-profit 501c(3) organization Mining Foundation of the Southwest based in Tucson, Arizona is to promote public understanding and education related to mineral resources and the mining industry, both in the U.S and abroad. More information is available at www.miningfoundationsw.org.