Kennecott Copper Mine in Utah
Take a tour of a high-altitude working mine
by Vivienne Mackie
This open pit mine with the coveted title of “The Biggest Pit in the World”, has also been called “The Richest Hole on Earth." The company has been digging this hole for 100 years (since 1903), extracting mainly copper but also silver, gold, titanium, and molybdenum.
The actual "big hole" is just one part of the whole operation, but the hole is mind-boggling.Standing at the overlook by the Visitors Center you can see, hear and feel the awesome scale of the largest man-made excavation on earth, visible from outer space even. It is half-mile deep and 2 1/2 miles wide and if it were a stadium it could seat 9 million people, so deep that you could put two Sears Towers on top of each other.
Kennecott extracts about a quarter million tons of rock out of the pit every day of the year, so this is one attraction that keeps getting bigger. By 2015 it will be 600 ft. deeper.
The hole is layered downwards, with roads zig-zagging along, and you can peer down to watch the world’s largest earth-moving equipment working. From above they look like miniature toys but if you could get into one of the trucks it would be like a wheeled two-story building. From the overlook you can watch these 240- and 320-ton trucks haul copper ore to the in-pit crusher where it’s reduced to the size of soccer balls and placed on a 5-mile conveyor that carries the ore through a tunnel in the mountain to the processing plant.
While you watch the action in the mine, a recording in various languages (we heard English, German and Japanese) explains the operations. A huge tire from a dump truck provides a great photo-op.
The large, modern Visitors Center has educational and interesting things for all ages to do and see: historic photographs; interactive displays and exhibits, including how copper is used in your every-day life; and 3-D models.Watch an entertaining video presentation in the 80-seat theater that follows the history of the mine and the production of copper from low-grade ore in the mine, to 99.9 percent pure copper in the refinery. The company tries to follow a good environmental philosophy, attempting to balance producing the metal that society needs with land reclamation, tree planting, water conservation etc.
End up in the small gift shop with some rather nice copper items.
Information
• The mine, usually called Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon Mine, is run by Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation, owned by Rio Tinto.
• It’s a major tourist draw, only a 30-minute drive from Salt Lake City. Many tours from the city also visit the mine.
• Maps available at Salt Lake City Convention and Visitors Bureau.
• Cars $5 to enter, mini tour bus $20 (100% fees donated to charity)
• Open every day 8 a.m. - 8 p.m., April 1 – October 31, weather permitting; 801/252-3234
Article, captions, and photography by Vivienne Mackie
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