Safford Mine
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The Safford Mine is an open-pit copper mine located in Graham County, Arizona, eight miles north of the town of Safford. The mine is owned and operated by Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold.
Construction on the Safford mine began in mid-2006. Production began December 26, 2007, with full production started in 2008.[1] It is the first new large-scale copper mining project in Arizona in more than 30 years.[2] In September of 2005, as part of the deal, Phelps Dodge (which was subsequently purchased by Freeport-McMoran) transferred 3,867 acres of "environmentally sensitive" land to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and purchased 16,297 acres, located next to where the mine is located, from the BLM.[2][3]
The mine composes two porphyry copper deposits (the San Juan and Dos Pobres copper ore bodies) that have leachable oxide and secondary sulfide mineralization. Freeport-McMoran estimates that it will remove 205 to 240 million pounds of copper from the deposits annually between 2008 and 2011.[4]
The area where the mine is located is at an average elevation of 4,186 feet (1,276 m).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Safford Mine Tops 5 Million Pounds of Copper in First Month" - Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold - (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document)
- ^ a b "Renzi Pleased to See Safford Land Exchange Completed" - Congressman Rick Renzi (AZ – 1) - U.S. House of Representatives (c/o House.gov) - September 20, 2005
- ^ Stockton, Lindsey. "Officials glad land exchange is complete" - Eastern Arizona Courier - September 28, 2005
- ^ Safford Mine - Freeport-McMoRan
[edit] External links
- Safford Mine is at coordinates Coordinates:
