Cornelius Francis Kelley’s remarkable career with the Anaconda Copper Mining Company spanned more than 55 years. For 40 of those years, Con Kelley held top executive leadership positions, as President of the company from 1918 to 1940, as Chairman of the Board from 1940 to 1955, and as a member of the Executive Committee until the time of his death. During those years, Anaconda Copper — renamed The Anaconda Company in 1955 — expanded from its base in Butte, Montana, to become one of the world’s dominant mining companies.
Although the Anaconda name was synonymous with copper, during Con Kelley’s tenure, Anaconda was also the leading world producer of manganese and zinc. During those same years, it also became a significant producer of aluminum, uranium, silver, and other metals, as well as phosphate and sulphur.
In 1923, Anaconda acquired 51% of the Chuquicamata copper operation in Chile. Anaconda’s ownership of this magnificent property later grew to 99.5%, and production expanded until “Chuqui” became, for many years, the largest copper mine in the world. With Con Kelley’s guidance, Anaconda also developed the underground Potrerillos and El Salvador underground mines in Chile and the Cananea copper mine in northern Mexico.
In the late 1920s, Con Kelley initiated the vertical integration of Anaconda, with the formation of Anaconda Wire and Cable Co. Anaconda went on to become a leading fabricator of a variety of copper products.
Con Kelley guided Anaconda through trying years of operating losses during the Depression in the 1930s. When the Depression ended, Anaconda was debt-free and ready to produce record quantities of vitally needed metals for the United States during World War II. Following the war, Anaconda launched a major expansion program to supply metals to the rapidly expanding U.S. economy.
Con Kelley was a true son of the western United States and most especially of Butte. He was born in Mineral Hill, Nevada, and, with his family, arrived in Butte at the age of eight. His first job was as a water boy on Butte Hill. Other summer jobs included work with surface gangs at the Diamond Hill mine and as a nipper underground at the Anaconda mine. Later, he worked in the engineering department, first as a surveyor’s assistant and then as a mine surveyor.
After finishing high school, Con Kelley decided to combine his knowledge of mining with the practice of law. He obtained his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1898 and joined Anaconda’s law department in 1901. He became chief counsel for the company in 1908. In 1911, he was named Vice President for Operations in the West and held that position until he became company President in 1918. In the years that followed, Con Kelley became known as “Mr. Anaconda.” Indeed, for many years, Con Kelley was the personification of that great mining company.
