An n Open pen Pit 0 of Treasure I- I e onro rr Y a. a k x S' S Jp Ja J p pa r w a aa Aerial photo of Bingham Canyon Mine from passenger jet Photo by Kent Williams r By K Kent nl Williams Staff Writer BINGHAM COPPER MINE UTAH-There UTAH are two manmade manmade manmade man- man made objects that can be e seen from space without a telescope One is the Great Wall of China the other is Utah's Bingham Canyon Mine The mine is not only the worlds world's largest mine but also the worlds world's largest man-made man excavation of any kind and its it's still growing Reaching almost 3 miles wide and nearly 1 I mile deep this spectacular mine is as interesting interesting interesting interest interest- ing a site as the Great Pyramids of Egypt If you visit the Great Pyramids in Giza Egypt you look at them and say Wow I l Iwonder Iwonder wonder how they built them When youre you're at the Bingham Mine you get to see them building building building build build- ing it From the best vantage point within the mine you'll watch as 66 gigantic trucks are loaded by 12 super The largest trucks weigh tons have tires 14 feet high and cost 3 million dollars each Each truck has 6 tires that need to be changed every 9 months that cost a piece The trucks are loaded by shovels 6 stories high and cost 85 million dollars each One scoop is the equivalent weight of 50 passenger cars Each day there are three or four blasts Dozens of 50 foot deep holes are drilled and filled with explosives The best time to see a blast is about l 11 lam am a.m. or I pm p.m. but varies each day Six billion tons of ore has been removed from the mine since it opened in 1906 Seventeen million tons of copper have been processed enough to wire every home in Canada Mexico and the United States combined As a a product by-product ounces of gold and 3 million ounces of silver come from the mine each year Molybdenum a metal used to harden steel is another important important important tant mineral taken from the mine mme The visitors visitor's center is open to the public from April 1 l through October 31 seven days a week At the parking lot you'll find a museum movie theater and gift shop The mine is located 13 miles West South-West of Redwood Campus For more information call l 9 n v J R Mn N y y yg g W Dynamite Blasts at the Bingham Copper Mine Photo by Kent Williams