Also known as Kennecott Copper, this site is the largest copper mine in the world, and the largest man-made excavation on earth. With a lot of effort over the last one hundred years, the mine is almost three miles across at the top and more than three quarters of a mile deep. In nine years the depth increases about eight hundred feet.
This mine is an open pit copper mine utilizing methods invented at the turn of the century. The equipment, however, has grown in size and complexity with every advance in technology. Each of the huge dump trucks you see on the mine roads can carry between 240 and 320 TONS per load. The largest electric shovels at the mine have 56-cubic yard scoop, gathering up to 85 tons of material with each pass.
In this day and age, computer models assist in Mine planning and communications systems monitor all truck and shovel operations. Geologists use information they collect to develop complex mine plans that are divided into ore and waste zones. Ore is material that can be mined and processed at a profit. Waste is material that isn't economic to process, but has to be removed to expose the ore.
There is a visitor's center at the edge of the mine where you can stand at the overlook and watch the action in the mine. There is a descriptive recording that explains the mine operations in several languages. You will see the 240 and 320 ton capacity trucks deliver copper ore to the in-pit crusher where the material is reduced to the size of soccer balls. Then the ore is loaded onto a five-mile conveyor that carries it to the Copperton Concentrator.
Inside the visitor's center you can take part in interactive displays and exhibits. There are even 3-D microscopes to examine rock and mineral samples. You can also view displays showing how copper plays a part in your everyday life. There are old mining artifacts and model trucks and three-dimensional models. The 90-seat theater plays a sixteen minute video describing the history, present day operations, and future of the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine.
The physical address of the mine and visitor center is, 12800 South State Route 111, Bingham Canyon, Utah. To get there from Salt Lake City, take I-15 to 126 South and head west towards Bingham Canyon. The Bingham Canyon Mine Visitors Center is open April through October, weather permitting. The hours of operation are from 8am to dusk, seven days a week. Please arrive one hour before dusk to allow time to visit. No reservations are necessary
Rio Tinto is the parent company of Kennecott Utah Copper, Kennecott Land Company, Kennecott Exploration and eight supporting functions. They've been in the Salt Lake Valley since 1989 and employ more than 2,400 people in Utah alone. Rio Tinto has operations on every continent and the company's products include aluminum, copper, diamonds, energy products, gold, industrial minerals and iron ore. It is headquartered in the United Kingdom.
Mining at the Bingham Canyon Mine began in 1903. This large, open pit mine revolutionized the copper industry. As the second largest copper producer in the United States, this mine provides about thirteen percent of America's copper needs. Every year, Kennecott produces approximately 300,000 tons of copper, along with 500,000 ounces of gold, 4 million ounces of silver, about 30 million pounds of molybdenum, and about 1 million tons of sulfuric acid, a by-product of the smelting process. Kennecott has spent more than $350 million on the cleanup of historic mining waste and $100 million on groundwater cleanup.
Interesting facts:
-Bingham Canyon Mine has produced more copper than any mine in history - about 18.1 million tons.
-You could stack two Sears Towers on top of each other and still not reach the top of the mine.
-The mine is so big it can be seen by the space shuttle astronauts as they pass over the United States.
-If you stretched out the roads in the open pit mine you'd have 500 miles of roadway - enough to reach from Salt Lake City to Denver.
