The Kennecott Copper Mine - Bingham Canyon, Utah [No Visitors]
N 40° 32.133 W 112° 08.893
12T E 402757 N 4487834
On 4/10/2013 a massive landslide totally destroyed the Mine Visitor Center. Because of advance warning everything at the Visitor Center had been removed to a safe location. A new Visitor Center will probably not be available until after 2014.
Waymark Code: WMBEEH
Location: Utah, United States
Date Posted: 05/11/2011
Views: 15
The World's first Open-Pit Copper Mine and Man's Largest Excavation. The mine has been in production since 1906, and has resulted in the creation of a pit over 0.75 miles (1.2 km) deep, 2.5 miles (4 km) wide, and covering 1,900 acres (7.7 km²). According to Kennecott, it is the world's largest man-made excavation. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966 under the name Bingham Canyon Open Pit Copper Mine.
Minerals, in the form of copper ore, were first discovered in Bingham Canyon in 1848. A significant development took place in 1903, when Daniel C. Jackling and Enos A. Wall organized the Utah Copper Company. Utah Copper immediately began construction of a pilot mill at Copperton, just beyond the mouth of the canyon, and the company actually started mining in 1906. The success of Utah Copper in mining the huge but low-grade porphyry copper type orebody at Bingham Canyon revolutionized the copper industry, and set the pattern for the large open-pit porphyry copper mines that today dominate the copper industry worldwide. Today, mining operations continue at full-swing in the mine. For years, the largest open-pit mine in the world, it is still the largest copper mine and among the world's largest open-pit mines.
As of 2010, Kennecott Utah Copper is the second largest copper producer in the United States and provides about 13-18% percent of the U.S.'s copper needs. Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon Mine is the largest man-made excavation in the world, and is visible with the naked eye from space.
Physical Address:
12800 South State Route 111
Bingham Canyon, Utah USA
84096
Related Web Site: [Web Link]
Description of Postcard Location:
Photo was taken from the visitor center parking looking southwest into the mine.
Parking Coordinates: Not Listed
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