Bingham District

The Bingham District is a molybdenum, copper, silver, and gold mine located in Salt Lake county, Utah.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Bingham District
Secondary: West Mountain District

Commodity

Primary: Molybdenum
Primary: Copper
Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Platinum
Tertiary: Bismuth
Tertiary: Nickel
Tertiary: Selenium
Tertiary: Palladium

Location

State: Utah
County: Salt Lake
District: WEST MOUNTAIN DISTRICT

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Deposit
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: SECONDARY ENRICHMENT, REPLACEMENT, DISSEMINATED
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1873
Year Last Production: 2009
Discovery Year: 1873
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Skarn Cu
Model Name: Porphyry Cu-Au
Model Name: Porphyry Cu-Mo
Model Name: Skarn Zn-Pb

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Not available

Comments

Comment (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)

Comment (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)

Comment (Identification): THE FOLLOWING SITES MAY BE INCLUDED IN THE DISTRICT DEP_ID NAME 10102110 Yosemite 10020896 Columbia 10252158 York Mine 10203269 Bingham Pit - Lead + Zinc Deposit 10020883 Venice Tunnel 10021051 Rosa Tunnel 10102134 Red Wing Mine 10041782 Black Dog Tunnels 10020866 St. Louis Workings 10096908 Lashbrook Workings 10055197 Melco Mine 10019996 Utah Metal Co. Mine 10087665 Butterfield Mine 10251857 Combined Metals Reduction Company 10087690 Middle Canyon Mines 10020909 Castro Placer 10020858 Old Jordan Mine 1863 10020900 Niagara 10155442 Badger 60000887 Bingham District 10102108 Copper Center Tunnel 10020899 Jubilee Tunnel 10020895 York Mines 10020872 New Mammoth 10020878 Apex-Delaware Group Mines 10020877 Wall Group 10102103 Clay's Bench 10103837 Heaton & Campbell Placer 10102131 Hoogley 10102132 Amazon Tunnel 10021059 Montezuma 10021058 Caledonia 10021055 Markham Gulch 10094831 Mary Emma 10021049 Midland 10041777 Clays Rim 10179340 North Bingham 10012740 White Pine Canyon Prospect 10020919 Don'T Care Tunnel 10102111 Butterfield Group 10020914 Butterfield Nw Mines 10020916 Silver Shield 10129768 Yes-You-Do No 3 Tunnel 10055142 U. S. Mine 10012744 Saints Rest Gulch Sw Mines 10020905 Revere 10129766 Yampa Mine 10041780 Ingersoll Mine 10020897 Commercial 10227265 Yosemite Mine 60000845 Bingham Canyon Deposit 10041781 Coromandel 10019988 Copper Boy Tunnel 10041786 Carr Fork Mine 10020875 Cuba Tunnel 10020873 Argonaut Pit 10020870 Extra Session 10021053 Ben Butler 10021050 West Mountain Placer 10154828 (Facility) International Smeltershut Down

Comment (Identification): THE FOLLOWING SITES MAY BE INCLUDED IN THE DISTRICT MOST ARE PAST PRODUCERS FROM THE MANY MINING CAMPS AND ARE OF HISTORICAL INTEREST DEP_ID NAME 10020910 Lucky Boy Mine 10107869 Butterfield Mine 10252116 Albino Mine 10130337 Butterfield Group Mines 10020918 Albino 10012743 Butterfield S. Mines 10102113 Neptune 10087683 Butterfield Canyon Mines 10020906 St. Joe 10102105 Frisco 10096905 Bulldozer Tunnel 10020921 Colorado Mine 10104191 Highland Boy Mine 10020886 Boston Consolidated Group 10020893 Utah Metal Tunnel 10096906 Paradox 10008465 Utah Copper Division of Kennecott Cu 10020890 Mary Mine 10095565 Cherikino Bar 10227569 Venice Tunnel Mine 10021061 Erie Mine 10094830 Bingham Tunnel #2 10012755 South Fork Mine 10021048 North Bingham Mine 10097826 Butterfield Se Mine 10179354 Queen Lode Mine 10020913 Bingham Group 10094828 Combined Metals Reduction Company 10102112 Park-Bingham 10300555 St James Mine 10252062 Eagle-Bird Lode Mine 10202962 Castro Mine 10227038 Us and Lark Mines 10020912 Yes-You-Do No. 3 Tunnel 10102107 Bully Boy 10020892 Mountain Gem 10020901 No You Don't 10041783 Stewart Mine 10020881 Susquehanna Tunnel 10020879 Chandler 10020871 Fortuna 10301122 Star 10020874 Crown Point 10020882 U - and - I Mine 10021060 Sweden Tunnel 10021063 Navajo Tunnel 10021062 Julia Dean 10021056 Vespasian 10020865 Red Wing Extension 10020868 Winamuck Mine 1867 10021057 Broad Gauge Mine 10012687 Yellow Fork Prospect 10012741 Bishop Fork Prospect 10203129 Lucky Boy Mine 10102101 Queen Mine 10102122 American Tunnel 10096907 Daylight Extension 10020889 Last Chance 10094827 Badger 10102106 Nast 10102130 Chicago 10094505 Yosemite Prospect 10020903 Lead Mine 10155204 New Mammoth 10202688 Apex Delaware Pit 10021047 Mascotte Tunnel 10087682 Lark Sand Dunes 10276611 North Ore Shoot Extension 10021052 Alforata 10021064 Old Channel 10020867 Tiewaukee 10102133 Dixon Mine 10012710 West Mountain Prospect 10020917 St. James Mine 10020915 Northern Chief 10012759 Spring Tunnel Prospect 10040409 U.S. Lark Mine 10300884 Ashland Mine 10020968 Ashland 10020902 Rough and Ready 10094826 Giant Chief 10102104 Phoenix 10020884 Argentine Shaft 10155394 Zelnora Mine 10106663 Highland Boy 10179766 Copper Center Tunnel Mine 10130039 Armstrong Tunnel Mine 10129805 Bingham Canyon 10020891 Minnie Tunnel 10020876 Dixon Channel 10179704 Rosa Tunnel 10129816 Dixon Mine 10301120 Winamuck Mine 10087669 Bingham West Dip Tunnel 10012753 Dry Fork Mine 10087666 Rose Canyon Mine 10098066 Stockings Fork Mine 10020911 Lenox 10098080 Bazouk 10300704 American Tunnel Mine 10020888 Greeley Tunnel 10020887 Burning Moscow 10097830 Yosemite Mine 10276975 Chicago Mine 10069296 Bingham Open Pit Mine 10098078 Parnell Tunnel 10020857 Dalton and Lark 10130304 Susquehanna Tunnel 10020880 Petro 10094825 Susquehanna Tunnel 10020869 Blaine Tunnel 10098077 Jersey Blue 10102102 Congor 10041779 Gardella Pit 10102068 Star Mine 10300633 Carr Fork Copper Deposit 10226933 Sweden Tunnel 10021054 Liberal 10021044 Silver Bell 10087684 Castro Gulch Mine 10203216 Northern Chief Mine 10087685 Saints Rest Gulch Ne Mines 10020898 Franklin Tunnel 10020904 Old Telegraph 10098079 Story Mine 10252052 Argentine Tunnel 10020885 Zelnora 10102109 Brooklyn 10020894 Yampa

Comment (Identification): ****Significant Deposits within the district SEE: Bingham Open Pit Deposit ID 10069296 Bingham Canyon (plant)Deposit ID 10129805 Carr Fork Mine Deposit ID 10041786 North Ore Shoot Extention Deposit ID 10276611

Comment (Production): The Bingham District or West Mountain Mining District in Utah, which includes the Bingham Canyon Mine and adjacent Mines, has produced over 52 million ounces of gold, 572 million ounces of silver, 63 billion pounds of copper, 2.9 billion pounds of molybdenite, 4.6 billion pounds of lead and 1.9 billion pounds of zinc.

Comment (Commodity): Bingham district cumulative production to 2009 at 8/2009 commodity prices in billions of dollars: Cu $183 Mo $98 Au $50 Ag $8 Pb $4.1 Zn $1.6 The Bingham Pit, Eilers 1913 grade in $/ton sorts very differently: Au $2700 Ag $490 Cu $35 Pt $4.2 Pd $3.3 Se $1.4 Ni $0.24 Bi $0.04 The annual Bingham Pit production rate ending May 2008 in billions of $: Cu $1.6 Mo $1 Au $0.5 Ag $0.06 Bingham Canyon mine cumulative production to 2004 at 8/2009 prices in billions of dollars: Cu $95 Au $22 Mo $3.4 Ag $2.7

References

Reference (Deposit): 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.

Reference (Deposit): 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.

Reference (Deposit): BOUTWELL, J.M., 1905, ECONOMIC GEOLOGY OF THE GINGHAM MINING DISTRICT, UTAH: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 38, 410 P.

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