 Mine in 2003 | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
  Bingham Canyon Mine | |
| Location | Salt Lake County |
| State | Utah |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 40°31′23″N 112°09′04″W / 40.523°N 112.151°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Copper |
| Type | Open-pit |
| History | |
| Discovered | 1848 |
| Opened | 1906 |
| Owner | |
| Company | Rio Tinto Group |
Bingham Canyon Open Pit Copper Mine | |
 | |
| Area | 900 hectares |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000736 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 13, 1966[1] |
| Designated NHL | November 13, 1966[2] |
The Bingham Canyon Mine, more commonly known as Kennecott Copper Mine among locals,[3] is an open-pit mining operation extracting a large porphyry copper deposit southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, in the Oquirrh Mountains. The mine is the largest human-made excavation, and deepest open-pit mine in the world,[4][5] which is considered to have produced more copper than any other mine in history – more than 19,000,000 short tons (17,000,000 long tons; 17,000,000 t).[5] The mine is owned by Rio Tinto Group, a British-Australian multinational corporation. The copper operations at Bingham Canyon Mine are managed through Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation which operates the mine, a concentrator plant, a smelter, and a refinery. The mine has been in production since 1906, and has resulted in the creation of a pit over 0.75 miles (1,210 m) deep,[5] 2.5 miles (4 km) wide, and covering 1,900 acres (3.0 sq mi; 770 ha; 7.7 km2). It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966 under the name Bingham Canyon Open Pit Copper Mine.[2] The mine experienced a massive landslide in April 2013 and a smaller slide in September 2013.[6]
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b "Bingham Canyon Open Pit Copper Mine". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 23, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
- ^ Mcfarland, Sheena. "Kennecott Copper Mine recovering faster than predicted". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
- ^ Lee, Jasen. "Kennecott laying off 200 workers". DeseretNews.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Rio Tinto's Kennecott wins clean air lawsuit in the US | MINING.com". MINING.com. June 9, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
- ^ Second landslide hits Rio's Bingham Canyon mine, 100 workers evacuated Archived September 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine September 16, 2013