Copper Companies & Resources	Press Releases & Public Comment & Articles
Freeport McMoran BHPbilliton Carlotta Copper             Resolution Copper / Rio Tinto         ---------------------------------     Arizona Mining Association     Az Dept of Mines & Mineral Resources	Resolution Copper: Open for Debate; Tours  Resolution Copper may spend billions on mine - Azstarnet

COPPER MINING   excerpted from GlobeMiamiTimes Summer '08

Visitors to the Globe-Miami-Superior area will see right away that this is copper country. As you enter the "Cobre Valley" a visual history is painted by the colorful vistas of open pit mines rock piles, tailings dams and smelter stack. Copper has been produced here for over 100 years and still forms the backbone of the local economy.

There are several large mines which have operations in the area:

BHP Billiton
As the worlds largest mining company with 40,000 employees working in 25 countries. BHP Billiton operates the largest open pit mine which is visible from the highway as you top the hills on your drive from Superior to the towns of Miami and Globe. Developed in the early 1940's as the Castle Dome Mine, it was re-opened in 1974 as the Pinto Valley Unit. In February of 1998 as the price of copper dropped below $.75 a lb the company was forced to lay off many employees. They kept the facility on "care and maintenance" for nearly eight years and continued to operate an electrowinning solvent extraction facility until the price of copper went back up. Copper prices rose above $4/lb in 2007-8 and BHP restarted the Mill and Concentrator. When the economy took a downturn and copper prices fell below $1.60 lb the company closed the operation and currently employs workers mainly at their sx/ew plant.

FreeportMcMoran- The Rod Plant

On the south side of the Highway 60 as you drive into Globe ,you'll see the FMI Rod Plant. Here you will coils of pure copper rod stacked in the parking lot. It is at this plant that pure copper cathode is drawn out into copper rod which can then be shipped to manufacturing plants all over the world.

Freeport McMoran- The Tailing Dam

Driving past Walmart, you may notice cows grazing on the steep sides of the large tailings dam located directly across from Walmart. Tailings storage facilities are one of the most visible signs of milling and concentrating and these tailings are a result of decades of mining.  These tailing storage facilities have bee inactive for years.  Beginning in 1990, Phelps Dodge (and now FMI) began feeding and watering cattle on the steep grades in a controlled manner. This unorthodox process has worked in "seeding the tailings and establishing ground cover.

Freeport McMoran -The Smelter
The large black smokestacks which you see on your left as you wind your way towards Globe is the Smelter. Once copper has been concentrated it must be turned into pure copper for end use. This is done through a process of smelting copper concentrate is delivered to this location from other mines around Arizona including Bagdad and Seritta.  The material which comes into the Smelter is the fine-granular concentrate from the milling process. Through smelting and an electro-refining process, this smelter feed is then made into 300 pound sheets of copper which are 99.999% pure copper and ready for fabrication.
 

BHP Copper- Old Dominion Mine

It is still possible to see remnants of this once great Copper mine on the hillside just above the hills across from the Chamber. The Old Dominion began operating in the area in the late 1800's and was one of the largest copper mines in the country at the turn-of-the-century when there were over 35 mines operating in the area. In the 1930's, the combination of the Great Depression and water seeping into the underground shafts forced the Old Dominion to close.
Today there are efforts underway to establish a walking mine tour on the site.
 
Carlotta Mining - Pinto valley

Carlota Copper Company, owned by Quadra minin, has been developing a brand new mine in Pinto Valey just west of BHP's operation. Copper production came on line this year despite falling copper prices and the company is on line from heap leach and SX-EW  facility

Sleeping Beauty Turqouise Mine

Turquoise is known as the "Sky Stone" to many Native Americans. Without a doubt, it's  among the most beautiful semiprecious stones. The 'semi' here is very important because it means that owning a turquoise is possible for nearly
he Sleeping Beauty Mine which sits just a few miles outside Globe is world famous for the purity of the turquoise. In fact turquoise from the Sleeping Beauty Mine is considered by most gemologists to be the best in the world.
The mine maintains a retail outlet for both it's wholesale and retail products at 200 N Willow Street. See: True Blue Turquoise.