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70 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | May | Jun 14
Standing at the top of the Bingham Canyon
Mine and peering down into the spacious
pit at myriad activities of numerous
giant haul trucks and other massive mine
equipment, Eric Cannon surveys the scene
and says, “just a big sandbox with a bunch
of cool toys.”
Cannon’s assessment of daily mining
operations at the 108-year-old mine
(production began in 1906) has a sliver of
truth to it – big boys playing with easily the
biggest toys one can imagine in a mine that
is more than 3,000 feet deep, 2.5 miles wide
and covers 1,900 acres – but the reality is that
KUCC workers and local construction firms
have been putting in long, arduous, round-
the-clock hours in some cases in an effort to
get back up to speed in recent months.
It’s been more than a year since Rio
Tinto-owned Kennecott Utah Copper
Corporation (KUCC) was rocked with the
largest landslide in North American history –
more than 145 million tons of earth – on April
10, 2013, enough to bury New York’s Central
Park under more than 60 feet of debris.
Since then, crews have furiously
worked to return the mine to full
operational capacity, but challenges still
remain at the Bingham Canyon site, which
is one of the largest open pit copper mines
in the world.
Cannon, who serves as a Contract
Coordinator with KUCC, was in charge of
commissioning all new equipment used
during the slide recovery process, which
shut down operations temporarily.
Fortunately, geological engineers
knew the slide was coming in advance
and KUCC made sure no one was in the
immediate vicinity. There were no injuries;
however, several pieces of large equipment
– including 13 giant haul trucks (many of
them Komatsu 930E models that are 29 ft.
wide, 51 ft. long, and have 12.5 ft. tires) –
were buried. A total of 16 pieces of large
equipment have been recovered, which
includes one giant electric shovel, two
electric drills, two water trucks, one front-
end loader and 10 haul trucks. Four of the
13 haul trucks buried are back in service.
“We knew the slide was coming,” said
Cannon. “It was surreal to see the amount
of earth that moved. It took us awhile to
get back up and running like this.”
Ground movement was originally
detected in February 2013, and geologists
carefully monitored acceleration rates
as they increased. KUCC officials took
preemptive measures to relocate
employees, facilities and roads weeks in
advance of the slide. On the morning of
April 10, work was halted and all employees
from the lower portion of Bingham Canyon
Mine were moved by 11:00 a.m. The slide hit
at 9:30 p.m. that night.
“We are currently facing tremendous
challenges as we recover equipment
and move dirt and rock from the
lower pit,” added Kyle Bennett, Senior
Kennecott Slide: One Year LaterOne of world’s largest open pit copper mines took seven months to recover from slide; company still faces challenges in returning to capacity production.By Brad Fullmer
> Owner Spotlight: Rio Tinto/Kennecott
May | Jun 14 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | 71
Communications Advisor for KUCC/Rio
Tinto. “Our employees have risen to the
occasion by moving our business forward
in a safe and resourceful manner. We have
slowed some projects as we reallocate
capital and resources. Bennett said
recovery efforts will continue for likely
close to two more years, until early 2016.
Despite slowed production, the mine
continues to produce large amounts
of copper (196,000 tons in 2013), gold
(192,300 ounces), silver (2.1 million ounces),
molybdenum (5,700 tons), and sulphuric
acid (922,590 tons).
Bennett and Cannon offered praise to
local contractors and equipment suppliers
for their quick response and timely efforts
in helping recover equipment and get the
main access road reopened by the end of
October, seven months ahead of schedule.
Some of the firms involved in this recovery
process included Granite Construction,
W.W. Clyde, Wheeler Machinery, Komatsu,
and Arnold Machinery.
“We have made tremendous progress
with our business recovery,” said Bennett.
“We have moved millions of tons of
material to stabilize areas of concern and
clean up the bottom of the pit, and we
reconstructed our mine access road and
continue to deliver and process new ore.”
Bennett added that while no new
slides are expected in the immediate
future, KUCC geotechnical experts are
utilizing sophisticated geotechnical-
monitoring equipment, including radar
and ground probes, to determine if a slide
would occur on the northeast wall of the
mine. n
> Owner Spotlight: Rio Tinto/Kennecott
View from the top of Bingham Canyon mine at Kennecott, just to the right of where the slide hit last April. (left) Giant 320-ton haul trucks carry ore from the pit to the crusher. (photos by Dana Sohm)
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