1 UNIVERSITY OF UTAH DEPARTMENT OF MINING ENGINEERING PRESENTATION to IMOA by Louie Cononelos “Kennecott Utah Copper-Sustainable Over Time PHOTOS/VIDEO AUDIO This is a story that had its beginning over 150 ago…and that story is still being written today. It began in Bingham Canyon, Utah located about 26 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, which was destined to become one of the greatest “mining camps” anywhere in the country. Mining in Utah, which was part of Spanish Mexico, can be traced back to Spanish miners in the mid-1700s. The start of mining in Utah, however, is credited to the United States Army in 1863. Troops under the command of Colonel Patrick Connor are credited with the discovery of Utah’s first mining claim and helping to form the first mining company and mining district in Bingham Canyon. The early mining at Bingham was underground with the exception of placer mining. 2 Bingham Canyon was a beehive of mining activity at the turn of the Century. Dozens of small companies dug tunnels and sank shafts in the mountains where they were mining lead, silver and gold ores…but not the low- grade copper ores that were in abundance and considered a nuisance. Then, along came Daniel C. Jackling, a 29-year-old metallurgical engineer, who with his partner, a mining engineer named Robert Gemmell, studied and assayed ore samples from the operations that dotted the canyon. They determined that there were vast tonnages of low- grade copper ore in the main mountain that divided the canyon…it was the kind of ore the mining companies tried to avoid because it interfered with the recovery of the metals they were mining. Jackling’s vision was to mine and process this mountain of porphyry copper ore using steam shovels for removing the ore and waste, and steam locomotives to transport it from the mine to large scale mills. 3 This was the first time that mass production technology was used in copper mining. Mining experts of the day scoffed at his crazy idea…especially when 98 percent of the rock was waste. Most investors also agreed that it was a bad idea. But Jackling took some influential financiers to Bingham Canyon in June 1903 to convince them that his theory would work, and that handsome profits could be made by mining low grade ores containing 39 pounds of copper per ton. Jackling’s determined conviction was good enough for the backers. They invested $500,000…enough to get Jackling started…and that gave birth to the Utah Copper Company on June 4, 1903. That was the beginning of what was to become one of the greatest mining enterprises in the world. Jackling and Gemmell went to work and built a small experimental plant, the Copperton Mill, at the mouth of Bingham Canyon. They were testing 4 new engineering technologies and theories to prove they could mine, crush, grind and process about 300 tons daily of low-grade copper ore and produce high- grade copper concentrate. They did it and in its first year of operations showed a very handsome profit of $142,000. Some investors who initially were skeptical now wanted to come on board and invested an additional $5,000,000 for what would prove to be the ride of the decade. Other companies were also interested in these massive low grade copper ores. One of Jacking’s biggest competitors was the Boston Consolidated Mining Company operated by Samuel Newhouse. There were about 40 companies in the Bingham District mining underground for lead, silver, zinc and gold but only a few were interested in mining copper from the surface. In 1906, these two mining giants started mining “The Hill”. Utah Copper purchased steam shovels with two-and- 5 half-yard dippers, like those digging the Panama Canal, and steam locomotives with rail cars and started mining the mountain for the copper ore. Boston Consolidated did the same and was the first to actually remove waste with steam shovels but Jacking’s Utah Copper was the first to mine ore. Jackling built a large 6,000 tpd mill near the town of Magna to replace the successful experimental mill and his rival Boston Consolidated built their 3,000 tpd Arthur Mill one mile away. Demands for electricity were increasing, so Utah Copper built its own power plant near the Magna Mill. Meanwhile, a smelter was being built by American Smelting and Refining Company near the Great Salt Lake to process copper concentrates from both Utah Copper and Boston Consolidated into cakes of nearly pure copper. To move the ore from Bingham to the new Magna Mill, the 20-mile Bingham and Garfield Railroad was constructed. 6 Meanwhile, Utah Copper was mining the lower portion of “The Hill”, and its major competitor, Boston Consolidated, was mining the upper portion. Clearly, this mountain wasn’t big enough for two large mining competitors. Utah Copper purchased Boston Consolidated in 1910. From the vision of 1903 to the accomplishments of 1910, Utah Copper, through its acquisition, had grown to become part of the largest industrial mining complex in the world. People from all over the world, most of them immigrants from Europe, Asia and Mexico came seeking work and over 40 distinct ethnic groups lived in camps and towns throughout the mining district. Jackling had proved that mass- production of low-grade porphyry copper ore, using revolutionary new processes; technologies and innovations would set new standards for the copper mining industry. 7 Early on, even safety training was innovative, as evidenced by this 1913 “Rules and Regulations of the Mining Department.” Because of the multi- ethnic workforce, the manual was printed in English, Serbo-Croatian, Greek, Italian and Japanese. By 1914, the Mine had 23 steam shovels, 48 steam locomotives and more than 350 ore and waste rail cars. The Magna Concentrator was expanded to process 12,000 tons of ore daily, and the Arthur Concentrator was expanded to 8,000 tons per day. In a joint development between Utah Copper and ASARCO, the first acid plant was installed for pollution control at the Garfield Smelter. By 1915 Utah Copper’s operations were so successful that the giant Kennecott Copper Corporation acquired 25 percent of the company. World War I called for an increased demand for copper, and Utah Copper 8 was second only to the Anaconda Copper as a source for mined copper. Following a post-war slump, in 1923, a major innovation in operations at both the Magna and Arthur mills involved a change from standard gravity separation to froth flotation, which dramatically improved copper recovery. By 1924, the crushing and grinding operations were expanded and new rotary car dumpers were installed in both mills In 1920 electric service was introduced into the Mine and steam shovels were converted to electric power in 1923. By 1928, steam locomotives in the Mine were replaced by electric locomotives. In 1936, Kennecott acquired all the property and assets of Utah Copper. And that same year, engineers devised a new process in the concentrator flotation circuits to recover and produce another valuable by-product: molybdenite concentrate, another product for sale. 9 By 1939, everything was bigger, the Mine covered 648 acres. Electric shovels with four-and-a-half cubic yard dippers loaded 80 to 100-ton capacity ore cars, or 70-ton side-dump waste cars. New 75 ton electric locomotives did the haulage in the mine. Jackling, his Board and managers were proud to see his vision become reality through the accomplishments and innovations of his engineers and employees. Innovations, such as the track shifter, improved mine production significantly. This equipment provided important track relocation for rail operations much more efficiently than labor-intensive hands-on manpower. 350-ton Mallet locomotives pulled 50, 100-ton ore cars from the Mine to the Magna and Arthur Concentrators, The two mills followed almost identical procedures to crush, grind and process a combined 70,000 tons per day. 10 Copper concentrates produced at the Concentrators were hauled by rail to ASARCO’s Garfield Smelter for final processing. In 1941…the nation went to war and demands for copper in the production of munitions and armament soared. Many men at Utah Copper left their jobs to serve their country, and women stepped in to take over many of the mining jobs. Like “Rosie the Riveter” or “Millie the Miner” women were a real force in wartime production. Kennecott’s Utah Copper operations produced 320,000 tons of copper and Kennecott’s combined operations in Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada produced 637,000 tons of copper in 1943. During World War II, Bingham Canyon alone produced more than one third of the copper needed for the allies’ war efforts. In 1944, increasing demands for electricity were met by Utah Copper’s new 50,000 kilowatt power plant, built just above the Magna Mill. 11 In 1946, Utah Copper drove a 4,650-foot tunnel through the mountain…it was a rail haulage short cut that greatly improved efficiency and reduced costs. In 1947, the original Utah Copper Company was dissolved and became known as the Utah Copper Division of Kennecott Copper Corporation. In 1949… the Mine continued to be the largest man-made excavation on earth, at a depth of more than 1800 feet. The electric shovels were bigger, with five and seven-yard dippers scooping ten tons of material in a single bite. Ore and waste trains operated on 160 miles of standard gauge track inside the huge open pit. In the pit, there was a a network of steel towers that carried electrical service to the shovels and locomotives.