The first stamp mill in the U.S. was built in 1829 at the Capps mine near Charlotte, North Carolina. They were common in gold, silver, and copper mining regions of the US in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries, in operations where the ore was crushed as a prelude to extracting the metals. They were superseded in the second half of the 19th century in many applications by more efficient methods. However their simplicity meant that they were used in remote areas for ore processing well into the 20th century. (19th century advertisements for some mills highlighted that they could be broken down, packed in by mule in pieces, and assembled on site with only simple tools.) Stamp mills are still in use in Colombia by artisanal miners, powered by electric motors.