Utah Natural Resources: Kennecot Mine

The Bingham Canyon Mine, better known as the Kennecott Copper mine, is the largest man made excavation in the world.  It has produced more copper than any mine in history.  It has been in production since 1906.  It has produced more than 19,000,000 tons of copper, and still today provides the United States with 12% of the copper needed every year.  The pit is now 3/4 of a mile deep, 2.5 miles wide and covers 1,900 acres.  Two brothers,  Thomas and Sandford Bingham discovered the copper ore while grazing their cattle in the canyon in 1848. The Bingham brothers told Brigham Young of their find, but he advised against mining, because survival of settlements was of greater importance at the time.  They abandoned it and moved to Weber County.  It began as a placer gold, lead-silver, and gold-copper mine. Porphyry Copper started to be mined when a railroad reached the mine and it could be hauled to a smelter. A mill was constructed at the mouth of the canyon in Copperton. Mines tend to pollute the water and soil around them, and that has happened with the Kennecott mine.  Since the early 1990s, Kennecott has spent more than $400 million on clean-up efforts on the affected areas to avoid regulatory laws that would have placed them on the Superfund National Priorities List   It employs more than 2100 people, and creates an additional 14,000 jobs in our economy. It is so big it can be seen from space.  Here is a satellite image of it.  The mine should have copper through the year 2032.  It also still produced some gold, silver, and molybdenum. Since 2013 it has paid nearly $500 million in taxes and royalties to the state of Utah. By US law mines have to go through a 'reclamation process when they close down now. That means the land must be restored to a functional healthy ecosystem once the mine is closed. 

Watch this short film..  Make three scientific observations about this natural resource and its impact on Utah.  Consider the needs this extraordinary resource fulfills, and the potential damages it causes to the environment to get it. .  How are these things balanced? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgEHmiOW1CI