About the Collection

The Anaconda Geological Documents Collection is the scientific product of the Anaconda Company’s 90 year program of exploration and development work throughout the United States and in 110 foreign countries. It has been described as the largest and most significant body of economic geological data in the world. Consisting of more than 54 tons of material and 1.8 million documents, the Anaconda Collection contains a wealth of material useful in exploration, development and environmental studies, including:

• Mining and exploration studies: 18,000 local and regional studies
• Prospect reports: 5,500 reports on specific mining prospects
• Data: 10,000 documents with geological, geochemical, geophysical, drilling, assay, & other data
• Maps: 56,450 geologic, geochemical, geophysical, claim and sample-location maps
• General files: Thousands of related documents, correspondence files, and aerial photographs, etc. that support and add context to the technical papers.

 The Anaconda Geological Documents collection was accepted by the University of Wyoming in 1987 on the condition that it is self-supporting. State and University funds are not available to offset the costs of preserving, maintaining, and providing access to the collection. Membership categories have been established to accommodate corporate and professional use (Gold, Silver and Bronze levels), non-commercial use (including historical and academic researchers), and government agency use.

Collection Contents

The Anaconda Geological Documents Collection is indexed on a computer database and is retrievable by searching by country, state, county, project name, commodity, and author. Computer searches in the database are available at no charge, and be tailored to specific inquiries. Results can be transmitted to researchers by email attachment. Information about the countries, commodities, project/document types, and general database guidelines are available upon request, and are listed on the Anaconda web pages [http://ahc.uwyo.edu/about/departments/anaconda/default.htm]. Please submit an on-line search request form to learn more about the specific collection holdings.

Collection Access

Anaconda Collection Memberships entitle researcher access to the collection material by advance appointment, weekdays only. The collection is available Mondays from 10am-9pm, and Tuesday through Friday from 8am-5pm (academic year) and 7:30am-4:30pm (summer hours). Six types of memberships are available. All appointments for on-site collection use are finalized two weeks in advance. Copy orders placed long-distance can be processed as soon as membership fees have been paid.

Beginning a Membership

To begin a commercial or governmental agency membership, please submit the following information:

• Membership name & Membership level
• Contact person name (address, phone, fax, email)
• Names of designated researchers (the number of researchers is determined by the membership level).

After receipt of this information an invoice will be prepared. Payment of the membership invoice is required prior to on-site visits or processing of photocopy orders. Application instructions for the Academic/Historical/Non-Commercial level are listed with the membership description.

Additional Information

For more information contact:

Ginny Kilander, Reference Archivist /
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
Dept. 3924 1000 E. University Avenue Laramie, WY 82071-3924
Phone: 307-766-2553 Fax: 307-766-5511
Email: papyrus@uwyo.edu
AHC Website: www.uwyo.edu/ahc