Paul Wheeler Allen, for many years the operational executive of Cyprus Mines Corporation, was a key participant in that company’s growth to a position of leadership in the mining industry. Beginning in 1955, with Paul Allen's guidance, Cyprus Mines embarked on a highly successful program of mine acquisition and development. Major projects included startup and later expansion of the Pima copper operation in Arizona, reopening of the Old Dick/Bruce underground copper-zinc operation in Arizona, development of the Mount Goldsworthy iron ore operation in Western Australia, and acquisition and expansion of the Bagdad copper operation in Arizona.
At Pima, with Utah Construction and Union Oil as partners, Cyprus started up a 3,000-ton-per-day mill in 1957. Ongoing expansion of reserves and production eventually brought mine output to more than 50,000 tons per day, and Pima grew to become one of Arizona's great open pit copper mines.
Paul Allen was an outstanding executive, who exhorted his managers to perform at their best and encouraged innovative thinking. At the Dick/Bruce operation, Cyprus engineers devised an innovative and very successful cable bolting system for ground support, one of the first such applications of cable bolting in the United States.
In Western Australia, with Paul Allen as General Manager, the Mount Goldsworthy iron ore partnership of Cyprus Mines, Utah Construction, and Consolidated Gold Fields of Australia completed extensive infrastructure development to support mine operations. Included were a 70-mile railroad and a 3,000-ton-per-hour ship-loading facility at Port Hedland. The latter required movement of 10 million cubic yards of material during dredging of a channel for ocean-going ships and construction of a jetty capable of dealing with 24-foot tides.
At Bagdad, Cyprus expanded production from 6,000 to 42,000 tons per day in the mid 1970s. Later expansions, completed after Paul’s retirement, lifted mill throughput first to 55,000 and then 85,000 tons per day.
Paul Allen received his BS in Mining Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1937. He worked as a mine engineer for Inland Steel from 1937-1941 and for National Lead from 1942-1947. During 1947 and 1948, Paul was a mine engineer at Cyprus Mines’ copper operations on Cyprus Island. In 1948, he returned to National Lead’s Tahawus, New York, operations and in 1951 became Plant Manager, a position he held until 1955.
Paul Allen rejoined Cyprus Mines as a Vice President in 1955 and from 1965 through 1968 served as General Manager of Goldsworthy Mining Ltd., based in Perth, Western Australia. From 1969 until his retirement in 1980, Paul was Executive Vice President of Cyprus Mines Corporation, Los Angeles, California. After retiring, he continued as a mining consultant.
Paul Allen’s life and career — his skill, dedication and highest level of integrity — exemplify the very best in a mining executive.
