During Spring Break we went to visit the Bingham Copper Mine. We had planned to go for Cole's birthday in
November, but it is only open part of the year. It just so happened that we went on
the first day it opened to visitors this spring. It was COOL.
Here are some facts about the mine:
The Bingham Canyon Mine has produced more copper than any mine in history--17 million tons.
The mine is 2 1/2 miles across at the top and 3/4 of a mile deep. You could stack 2 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 US.
By 2015, the mine will be at least 500 feet deeper than it is now.
If you stretched out all the roads in the open pit mine, you'd have 500 miles of roadway--enough to reach from SLC to Denver.
The tires on the trucks cost from $18,000 to $26,000 and last for approx. 9 months.
At5 1,214 feet tall, the Kennecott smokestack is the highest structure in Utah.
My favorite Fact: Gold and Silver are some of the by products of the mining process at Kennecott. Tiffany and Co. has had a contract with Kennecott since 2002 to use their silver for their jewelry because of its fine quality.
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