WAYNE DARLINGTON MINING VISIONARY It could be said that Wayne Darlington was the visionary who saw the potential for the mining of copper in the Alder Creek Mining District. “Mr. Wayne Darlington, one of the most successful and experienced mining engineers in America, was for five years in charge of John William Mackay’s mining properties.” (Harper’s Weekly – 1907) Wayne MacVeagh Darlington was born on March 3, 1862 in Pennsylvania. The early 1880s found him in Idaho. Idaho State mine records show that Darlington had a theory that smelting rock containing the copper ore would be an effective way of recovering the copper. Darlington persuaded some New York investors to help finance his operation. Upon securing financing, a 50 ton per day through put smelter was built and operated from late 1890 to February 1891. Darlington would have been about 28 years old at that time. The smelter produced about 200,000 pounds of base copper bullion by direct smelting. Wayne ma