Founded in 1903, Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon Mine is still the largest man-made, open-pit excavation in the world. The operation is so large, in fact, that it can be seen from space! More than 2,100 employees help to keep the mine operating 24 hours per day and 365 days per year. The mine creates about $10 million in revenue each day, making it one of the most productive mines in the world nearly 120 years since its founding. The main material produced at Bingham Canyon Mine is copper, but silver and gold are produced there as well.
Like Brunel, Rio Tinto and the Kennecott operation are committed to reducing their carbon footprint and producing copper responsibly. For example, in 2019 Kennecott retired its coal-fired power plant in Magna, UT after 75 years of operation. After closing the plant and acquiring renewable energy certificates, Rio Tinto will “remove more than one million tons of carbon dioxide every year from Kennecott’s Wasatch Front operations, reducing its annual carbon footprint by as much as 65%.”
Additionally, Rio Tinto has invested more than $5 billion in “modernization, environmental stewardship and mine-life extension initiatives” since acquiring Kennecott in 1989.
