What caused the Bingham mine rock avalanche?
William Brown The slide produced enough debris to bury New York City’s Central Park 66 feet (20 meters) deep. Photo by Kennecott Utah Copper, via University of Utah. April 10, 2013. On this date – six years ago today – a towering wall of dirt and rocks gave way and crashed down the side of Bingham Canyon mine in Utah.
Can you see the Bingham copper mine from space?
Founded in 1903, Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon Mine is one of the largest man-made open-pit excavations in the world. The operation is so immense, it can be seen from space. The mine operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Is the Bingham Copper Mine still active?
The mine has been in operation since the beginning of the 20th century and is expected to remain in operation until at least 2032. Bingham Canyon accounts for all the molybdenum and silver produced in Utah and nearly all the copper and gold.
When was the last landslide in Utah?
The Bingham Canyon Landslide. The landslide occurred on 10 April 2013 at the Bingham Canyon open-pit copper mine, located in the Oquirrh Mountains ~33 km southwest of downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (Fig.
Who owns the Kennecott Copper mine?
Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto Western Holdings Limited
Kennecott Utah Copper/Parent organizations
Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ) Corporation purchased Kennecott in 1989 and continued the company’s expansion. In 1990 a fourth grinding line at a cost of $220,000,000 was begun at the Copperton Concentrator, and it was completed in 1992. This increased the concentrator’s production to 125,000 tpd.
How deep is the Kennecott mine?
The Bingham City Copper Mine (or just Kennecott copper) is an open-pit mine creating the largest man-made excavation in the world! The pit is over half a mile deep, 2.5 miles wide, and covers 1,900 acres!
What happened at Rio Tinto Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon?
Officials at Rio Tinto Kennecott had anticipated the collapse and no workers were harmed. (Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) Eight years ago, Rio Tinto Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon mine experienced a catastrophic slide, pictured here in April 25, 2013.
Why did Rio Tinto’s Mongolian copper mine cost $1 billion?
This article is in your queue. An expert group examining the cause of a $1.4 billion cost overrun at a giant copper mine run by Rio Tinto PLC in Mongolia said in a report that it was caused by mismanagement and not the unfavorable rock conditions blamed by the world’s second-largest miner.
Why is the Rio Tinto share price dropping?
As the comment below notes, the Rio Tinto share price dipped a tiny bit on news of the failure. But nothing by comparison with the drop that reflects the drop in price of copper. There seems to be a surplus of copper for purchase and the price is dropping.
What happened at Bingham Canyon Mine?
A massive slope failure has occurred at the open pit of the Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah. Here is a link to a magnificent collection of photographs of the failure, which appears to have taken out part of a building, access roads, and filled the bottom of the pit with slide material.