| Deposit ID | 60000887 |
|---|---|
| MRDS ID | K002906 |
| Record type | Deposit |
| Current site name | Bingham District |
| Alternate or previous names | West Mountain District |
| Geographic coordinates: | -112.1508, 40.51664 (WGS84) |
|---|
Political divisions (FIPS codes)
Salt Lake(county)
Utah(state)
United States(country)
North America(continent)
Land(continent)
USGS map quadrangles
Bingham Canyon(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)
Tooele(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)
Tooele(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)
Hydrologic units (watersheds)
Jordan(hydrologic unit)
Jordan(hydrologic accounting unit)
Great Salt Lake(hydrologic subregion)
Great Basin(hydrologic region)
| Country | State | County |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Utah | Salt Lake |
| Commodity | Importance |
|---|---|
| Copper | Primary |
| Molybdenum | Primary |
| Gold | Primary |
| Silver | Primary |
| Lead | Secondary |
| Zinc Critical | Secondary |
| Platinum Critical | Secondary |
| Palladium Critical | Tertiary |
| Selenium | Tertiary |
| Nickel Critical | Tertiary |
| Bismuth Critical | Tertiary |
| Model code | 79 |
|---|---|
| USGS model code | 21a |
| Deposit model name | Porphyry Cu-Mo |
| Mark3 model number | 2 |
| Model code | 78 |
| USGS model code | 20c |
| Deposit model name | Porphyry Cu-Au |
| Mark3 model number | 34 |
| Model code | 59 |
| USGS model code | 18b |
| Deposit model name | Skarn Cu |
| Mark3 model number | 8 |
| Model code | 60 |
| USGS model code | 18c |
| Deposit model name | Skarn Zn-Pb |
| Mark3 model number | 22 |
| (1) | -112.1508, 40.51664 |
|---|
| Development status | Producer |
|---|---|
| Significant | Yes |
| Discovery year | 1873 |
| Year of first production | 1873 |
| Year of last production | 2009 |
| District name | BINGHAM DISTRICT |
|---|---|
| District name | WEST MOUNTAIN DISTRICT |
MCKNIGHT, E.T., NEWMAN, W.L., AND HEYL, A.V., JR. (COMPILERS), 1962, ZINC IN THE UNITED STATES, EXCLUSIVE OF ALASKA AND HAWAII: USGS MINERAL INV. RESOURCE MAP MR-19, SEPARATE TEXT, 18 P.
HUNT, R.N., AND PEACOCK, H.G. 1948, LEAD AND LEAD-ZINC OF THE BINGHAM DISTRICT, UTAH: 18TH INTERNAT. GEOL. CONG. SYMPOSIUM ON THE GEOLOGY, PARAGANESIS AND RESERVES OF THE ORES OF LEAD AND ZINC, P. 81-85.
BOUTWELL, J.M., 1905, ECONOMIC GEOLOGY OF THE GINGHAM MINING DISTRICT, UTAH: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 38, 410 P.
| Subject category | Comment text |
|---|---|
| General | Minerals were first discovered in Bingham Canyon in 1850, but it was not until 1863 that extraction began and the potential of the canyon's mineral resources began to be widely recognized. At first, mining was difficult due to the area's rugged terrain, but a railroad reached the canyon in 1873, prompting greatly increased mining activity and accompanying settlement. The canyon's nineteenth-century mines were relatively small, however, and it was not until 1898 that plans for very large-scale exploitation of the canyon's ore bodies began to develop. That year, Samuel Newhouse and Thomas Weir formed the Boston Consolidated Mining Company, intending to increase mine development in the canyon. A more significant development took place in 1903, when Daniel C. Jackling and Enos A. Wall organized the Utah Copper Company. Utah Copper immediately began construction of a pilot mill at Copperton, just beyond the mouth of the canyon, and the company actually started mining in 1906. The success of Utah Copper in mining the huge but low-grade porphyry copper type orebody at Bingham Canyon revolutionized the copper industry, and set the pattern for the large open-pit porphyry copper mines that today dominate the copper industry worldwide. Utah Copper and Boston Consolidated merged in 1910. The Kennecott Copper Corporation, established in 1903 to operate mines in Kennecott, Alaska, purchased a financial interest in Utah Copper in 1915 and fully acquired the company in 1936. Bingham Canyon mine expanded rapidly, and by the 1920s the region was a beehive of activity. Some 15,000 people of widely-varying ethnicity lived in the canyon, in large residential communities constructed on the steep canyon walls. The population declined rapidly as mining techniques improved, however, and several of the mining camps began to be swallowed up by the ever-expanding mine. By 1980, when Lark was dismantled, only Copperton, at the mouth of Bingham Canyon and with a population of 800, remained. Today, mining operations continue at full-swing in the mine, and it is now among the largest open-pit mines in the world. Work to expand the mine 600 feet (180 m) east began in 2005, continuing to increase its size, growth, and capabilities. Rio Tinto committed US$170 million to the East 1 pushback project, which will extend the life of the open pit at Bingham Canyon until 2013. Various open-pit and underground alternatives will also be considered after that. (mostly from Wikipedia) |
| General | Over its life, Bingham Canyon has proven to be one of the world's most productive mines. As of 2004, ore from the mine has yielded more than 17 million tons (15.4 Mt) of copper, 23 million ounces (715 t) of gold, 190 million ounces (5,900 t) of silver, and 850 million pounds (386 kt) of molybdenum. The gold and silver are impurities removed from the copper during refining. The value of the resources extracted from the Bingham Canyon Mine is greater than the Comstock Lode, Klondike, and California gold rush mining regions combined. Cumulatively, Bingham Canyon has produced more copper than any other mine in the USA, and is the second in the world after Chuquicamata[4][5] in Chile. Mines in Chile, Indonesia, Arizona, and New Mexico now exceed Bingham Canyon's annual production rate. High molybdenum prices in 2005 made the molybdenum produced at Bingham Canyon in that year worth even more than the copper. The value of metals produced in 2006 at Bingham Canyon was US$1.8 billion dollars. (Wikipeidia) |
Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.