The Primary copper industry of Arizona in ...

              WALTER HEZNRICHS, JR,, TUCSON
(TERM EXPIRES JANUARY 31, 1977)
RONALD F. TEISSERE, 'TUCSON
(TERM EXPIRES JANUARY 31, 1978)
A.6, PERRY, TUCSON
(TERM EXPIRES JANUARY 31, 1 9 7 9 )
CURTIS RITTER, KIRKLAND
(TERM EXPIRES JANUARY 3 1, 1980)
MRS. ANN CWESLEY, GLOBE
(TERM EXPIRES JANUARY 31, 1981)
PROFILE ARIZONA'S
PRIMARY COPPER INDUSTRY
FOR
JOHN He JETT
DIRECTOR
GLENN A. MILLER
MINERAL RESOURCES SPECIAL1 ST
DEPARTPENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES
MINERAL BUILDING - FAIRGROUNDS
PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Abs t r a c t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v i
A. Purpose of the Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
B. . Scope and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
C . Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
la.. APreview = & P r e s e n t a t i o n . . . . . . . . . . . 2
H I . BAGKCROUND INFOWTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A . The Copper Industry . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1 . Primary Copper Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2 , Secondary Copper Industry . . . . . . . a , . 1 7
B . E.nd Us-e r s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
C . Pricing S t r u c t u r e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
111 . A' BRIEF MVIEX-4 OF THE ECONOMIC AND MARKETING
FACTORS WHICH AFFECTED ARIZONA S COPPER INDUSTRY
I N I974 AND 1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
IV . THE COPPER MINING GCMPANIES I N ARIZONA . . . . . . . .
B .. Asasco I n c o r p o r a t e d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 . M i s s i o n U n i t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2 . -S a nX a v i e r Un i t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
a . San Xavier Vat Leach Pl ant . . . . . . . . .
b . T-he -Sout-h Sa n Xavier P i t . . . . . . . . . .
c . . . . . . . . . . .
Page
3 . S i l v e r Be l l Uni t . . . . . . . . ‘ . . . . . . . 23
4 . Sacaton Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5 .Ha y d e nUn i t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
6 . H-ole Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
D . C i t i e s Service Compan)rvsM_amiD ivi s ion . . . . . . 24
I . Pinto Valley Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2 . Miami Leaching Uni t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3 . Miami Ea s t Underground Mine . . . . . . . . . . 25
4 . Copper C i t i e s open-pi t mines . . . . . . . . . . 25
5 . Copper C i t i e s Leach Uni t . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
E . Cont inent a l Ma t e r i a l s Corpor a t ion. . . . . . . . . 26
F . Cont inent a l O i l Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
6 . Cyprus Mines Corpor a t ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
P . Cyprus Bagdad Copper Company . . . . . . . . . . 27
2 . Cyprus Bruce Copper & Zinc Company . . . . . . . 28
3 . Cyprus Johnson Copper Company . . . . . . . . . 28
4 . Cyprus Pima Mining Company . . . . . . . . . . . 29
He k v a l Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1 . Eeperanza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2 . Mineral Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3 . h v a l S i e r r i t a Corporat ion . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Page
I .. Hecla Mining Company - .El Pa-so Na t ur a l Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
1. Lakeshore Mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
J . I n s p i r a t i o n Consolidated Copper . . . . . . 34
1 . I n a p i r s t i o n ~ i v l s i o .n . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
a . area mines . . . . . . . . . . . 34
b . %Hide and the Willow Mines . . . . 35
2 . Chr ietmas Divi s ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
K . Kennecot t Copper Corporat ion . . . . . . . . . . . 36
L. McAle a t e r h eI. Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
M . Mewmont MFningCorporat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
1 . SanManuel Division . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 38
2. Superior Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
N.. Phelps Dodge Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
1 . Copper Queen Branch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2 . Reduc t ionworks . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3 . Morenci Branch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
a. Morenci Mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
b e Netcal f Mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4 . New Cornelia Branch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5 . Safford Prdect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Page
0. h n c h e r s Exploration & Development Corporation. . . 41
1. Bluebi rd Mine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2. Old Reliable Mine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Appendix A: Table V. Copper and Moiybdenum Production
of Large Arizona Copper Mines. . . . . 43
Appendix B : Glos sary of Mining T e r n s . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
TABLE
I. ULTIMATE END USE MARKETS OF COPPER
(PRIMARY AND SECONDARY). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
X I . STOCKS OF REFINED COPPER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
111, LONDON METAL EXCHANGE COPPER PRICES -
MONTHLY AVERAGE, 1993. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
ZV. STOCKS OF REFINED COPPER . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . 16
Figure
1, Primary and Secondary Industry - Flow of the Output Generated by Semi f a b r i c a t o r s . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 , Ba s i c Steps - Copper Ore t o Fini shed Product . . . . . 6
3 . Quarterly Changes in Production
and De l i v e r i e s . 1973. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4. Q u a r t e r l y Changes i n Production
and Deliveries - 1974. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Page
b. Copper Prices in 1 9 7 4 and 1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5
6. Principal Arizona Copper Producers and the Di epos i t ion of Thei r Copper . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
7 . Lakeshore Pr o j e c t - Plant Flowaheet . . . . . . . . . . 33
Arizona was the leading copper producing s t a t e through 1974-1975.
In 1974, Arizona's primary copper output accounted for 54 percent
of t h e n i ~ tofn 's t o t a l copper product ion. Ar izona' s 1975 copper
output was 56.6 percent of the t o t a l U.S. production. To maintain
i t s d i s t i n c t i o n as the n a t i o n a s l a r g e s t producer of copper, the
industry, i n 1994, mined 178.9 rniflion tons of copper ore which
contained 1.8 b i l l i o n pounds of recoverable copper. In 1975,
Arizona's copper cmpankes mined 1643 million tone of copper
ore which contained 1.6 b i l l i o n pounds of recaretable copper.
Arizona" pprfmry copper industry is comprised of 13 firms,
Theae firms conduct copper recovery operations a t one or more
locations within the s t a t e , Two of the cmpaniee, Inspiration
Consolidated Copper Canpany and Newmont Mining Corporation, have
f u l l y f ntegrated operations (nining through f a b r i c a t i o n ) located
a t their Arizona p r o p e r t i e s . Three of the companies, ASARCO I n c . ,
JGinnecott Copper Corporation and Phelps Dodge Corporation, have
processing f a c i l i t i e s through the smelting phase within the s t a t e .
Four of the companies, Anamax, C i t i e s Service Company, Cyprus
Mines Corporation and Lhtval Corporation, mine and concentrate
t h e i r ores on 8f tee The concentrates are then shipped to smelters
and refineries for t o l l processing. These f a c i l i t i e s may or may
not be Located i n Arizona. Two of the companies, McAlester Fuel
Company and Ranchers Exploration and Development Corporation,
produce copper only by hydrome t a l l u r g i c a l processes, i .e., e l e c -
erowiming and cementation. The copper produced by cementation
i s smelted and-refined a t plants owned by other companies. One
company; ~ e c l aM ining C'ompany, was i n t h e -development s t a g e
through 1975 and reported no production. A l l but two companies,
Duvak S i e r k i t a Corporation and Newmont Mining Corporation, con-due-
t some type of leaching and recovery operations a t t h e i r
mine e i t e s .
Demand f o r copper was high and supplies, were t i g h t through mid-
1974. As the recession deepened, demand for copper took a sharp
downturn. Consequently, stockpiles a t the producer p o i n t , within
the copper pipeline, increased. Production cutbacks were i n i t i a t e d
in the Latter part of 1974.
A hoped-for upturn in demand for copper did not materialize i n 1975.
Further production cutbacks were i n i t i a t e d . Nonetheless, as i n 1974,
producers were unable to stem the increase i n stock buildup.
In June, 1973, price c o n t r o l s were placed on the domestic copper
i n d u s t r y . The p r i c e of copper was f roz en at 6 0 p~e r pound u n t i l
the cloee of 1973 when the domestic industry was allowed to i n -
crease its price by 8 . 5 ~ per pound. This price held u n t i l May,
1974, when the price a o n t r o l s were removed, A t t h a t time, U.S.
producer s ' price r o s e .to 8 0 p~e t pound. Prices peaked a t 850 pe r
pound i n mid-September, 1974. The year erided with copper a t 7 2 ~
per pound. Ea r ly i n 1975 prices dropped t o 6 3 p~er pound ind
remained a t t h a t level throughout 1995, except for a b r i e f
period mid -yeat when two U. S. producers lowered their prices
t o 4 0 ~pe r pound.
viii
PROFILE ARIZONA S
PRIMARY COPPER
f NDUSTRY
FOR
-I974 - -11975
INTRODUCTION
The Arizona Department of Mineral R e s ~ u r c e a was established i n
J u l y , 1939, and since t h a t time has compiled and reported s t a -
t i s t i c a l data on Arizona's primary copper i n d u s t r y . This data
was published annually i n The Copper Industry S t a t i s t i c s f o r
<year) Compared With Other Years, Arizona, The United S t a t e s
And the World, (The Copper Report) . Over t h e i n t e r v e n i n g "years,
e d i t o r i a l p o l i c i e s changed, the format of the r e p o r t changed,
but t y p i c a l l y t h e r e were two aections i n the r e p o r t -- a n a r - .
r a t i v e s e c t i o n and a s e c t i o n containing t h e y e a r ' s f i n a l sta-t
i s t i c a l data, A considerable time lag e x i s t s between the
c l o s i n g sf a c a l e n d a r y e a r and t h e a v a i -l a b. i l i t y of t h e s t a t i s -
tical data f o r that year. This lag, plus the time required f o r
writing and publishing t h e r e p o r t , causes any n a r r a t i v e sec-tion
on the i n d u s t r i e s t a c t i v i t i e s t o be out of date by the
p u b l i c a t i o n l e r e l e a s e d a t e . To reduce t h i s problem, a new
publication policy is being adapted.
Under the new policy, t h i s r e p o r t and f u t u r e Copper Reports w i l l
be issueld i n two volumes. Volume I w i l l present a p r o f i l e of
Arizona's primary copper industry and b r i e f s t a t i s t i c a l date.
This volrurne w i l l be published i n l a t e spring. Volume 11 w i l l
contain the f i n a l s t a t i s t i c a l t a b l e s and w i l l be published in
the l a t t l e r part of the year.
The present r e p o r t is a t r a n s i t i o n a l volume and p r o f i l e s the
copper industry f o r 1974-1975. It includes b r i e f sta t i s t i c a f
information for 1975. (Final s t a t i a t i c a l t a b l e s for 1974 were
publishe~d by the Department i n February, 1976). Volume II
w i l l contain t h e f i n a l s t a t i e t i c a l data f o r 1975.
Purpose & t h i s Report
The purpose of t h i s r e p o r t is to present a b r i e f non-technical d i s -
cussion of Arizona's copper-producing companies.
Scope anid Limitations
Only the c omp a n i e ~A~r izona f a c i l i t i e s which mine, conc ent r a t e ,
smelt, rlef ine and f a b r i c a t e Arizona's copper ores are preeented
i n the rceport, The exception Be the reference t o Phelps Dodge's
Hidalgo ~ m e l t e r . Theae parameters @ere chosen knowing, f u l l
well, t h a t only one aepect of a highly s o p h i s t i c a t e d , complex
induatry would be covered, Limiting f a c t o r s include: (1) the
s h ~ r at m ount of space a l l o t t e d f o r t h e di e cus s ion of each com-panyOs
slegarate operations, A major r e p o r t could be w r i t t e n on
each ope-cation. (2) w r i t i n g i n l a t e 1976 about a c t f v i t i e s which
took place i n P974-2975, Some of t h i s inf ormation i s out-dated
(3) r e l i a n c e on secondary eources for a l l information published
i n thia r e p o r t , No personal visits were made t o any of the cam-paniea
discussed i n t h i s r e p o r t .
The bnfsrmation presented i n t h i s r e p o r t was collected from many
sources: companiesv annual r e p o r t s ; S e c u r i t i e s and Exchange Com-mission's
Form 10-K; stock prospectus; p r o f e s s i o n a l j o u r n a l s ;
other pu'b$dshed sources and personal communication.
& P'evieTz the Presentation
This report is structured to accomodate a varied audience. Orig-i
n a l l y , k t was to contain only a p r o f i l e of Arizona's copper pro-ducers
i n terms of t h e i r Arizona operations. This limited t h e
range of the readership t o those persons already familiar with
the copper mining industry. Several new sections were incorpo-rated
i n t o the r e p o r t design t o s h i f t i t s focus toward those
who a r e not f a m i l i a r with the industry.
The s u b j e c t m a t t e r i s divided i n t o three major sections. A
gloeeary of mining terms i s provided to a l l e v i a t e d i f f i c u l t i e s
r e l a t e d to a specialized vocabulary. A l o g i c a l order of pre-sentation
is followed, however, each section of the r e p o r t may
be read independently.
The Background s e c t i o n c o n t a i n s b r i e f , elementary discussions
of topics t h a t w i l l help place Arizona's copper industry i n
the context of the copper-producing industry a s a whole.
The second section of the r e p o r t contains a review of economic
and marketing-factors which affected Arizona" copper production
f o r 1976-1975. It discusses the general reasons f o r the copper
i n d u s t r y l s major a c t i o n s during t h i s period. Many of these
actiona are expanded upon on an individual. baeie i n Section 111.
Section 111 presente d e t a i l e d d e s c r i p t i o n s of Arizona" copper
producers, t h e i r operations and a c t i v i t i e s f o r 1974-1995. Thie
is the section which s a t i s f i e s the r e p o r t t i t l e and consequently
is the longest and most involved portion of the t e x t ,
11. BACKGROUND INFORMAT ION
This s e c t i o n contains general information on the copper producing
i n d u s t r y , the end-users of copper and the p r i c i n g s t r u c t u r e f o r
copper.
Copper ha,s atomic number 29; atomic weight 63.54; a melting point of
1 9 8 1 ~( 1~ 0 8 3 ~c e n t i g r a d e ) ; a s p e c i f i c g r a v i t y of 8.93 t o 8.95; a
chemical valence of 1 or 2 and an el.ectricaL r e s i s t i v i t y of 1.682
microhrns/cm a t 20O~. Its chemical symbol i s Cu. Its name i s derived
from the Latin word Cuprum which i n turn comes from the Greek -
Cyprus or Kypros.
The CODD~P Producing Indus t r v
The copper production i n d u s t r y i s divided i n t o two major segments -
the - pr- i-m. - ary i n d u s t r y and t h e secondary i n d u s t r y . ( see Figur e 1,)
-P r im a r y I n d u s t r ~ _111___-
Secondary Industry
Col l e c t l o n - Pnckaglng
BI lster 1 ' I econdary Copper
Ref l n e d A l loy
V l r g l n R e f l n s d
Coppor, Secondary
Ref l n o d Copper
t
--
~ r a s s ' ~l ll s
I J 3
W l r e MlIls Foundr l es --P owder P l a n t s
-- 5. Y --
ll_J___ * 4- tndustrlal M a c : ~ l n u r y - B u l lding Consumor and
E l e c t r ~ c a l End
Construction Transportation General P r o d u c t s and Equ lpment
E l e c t r o n i c
Products
Figure 1. Primary and Secondary Industry - Flow of the Output Generated
by Semifabricators
Source : Charles River A s s o c i a t e s , I n c .
The domestic, primary copper i n d u s t r y s u p p l i e s over half of the
t o t a l copper consumed i n the United S t a t e s . Arizona's primary
copper industry f o r 1974 and 1975 provided 54 percent and 57
percent, r e s p e c t i v e l y , of the t o t a l U. S. production. The domeetic,
secondary copper industry provides approximtely one q u a r t e r of the
copper needed by the U.S. Xmgorts account f o r the remaining
quarter .
Industry The primary induatry produces copper from
'primary sources, i , e . , it recovers m e t a l l i c
copper from copper ores. Several operations are required to produce
a marketable product. These include (1) mining (2) concentrating
(3) smelting and (4) r e f i n i n g . (see Figure 2 .)
Each operational phase, a f t e r mining, i e designed t o increase the
copper content of the r e g u l t a n t material from t h a t phase. The
copper content bf Arizona's ore averaged 0.6 percent i n 1974 and
1975, whereas the copper content of the finished marketable pro-duct
wae 99.99 percent.
Copper is one of the few metals t h a t enjoye i t s greateet use i n
the csmierically pure form r a t h e r than i n an alloyed form. The
mined ore i s concentrated i n t o a 20 to 30 percent copper product
ref erred to ae "'conccantratee. Concentrates a r e then shipped to
a smelter to be f u r t h e r processed. The end product of smelting
i a b l i e t . e r capper which has an upgraded metal content of 98 to
99,5 percent copper, Because of t h e i m p u r i t i e s , such a8 gold,
silver, a r s e n i c , antimony, bismuth, lead, selenium, tellurium
and i r o n , (Mc&hsn, 1965, p. 115) b l i s t e r copper cannot be used
for most. applicatdons, The amount sf these impurities v a r i e s
g r e a t l y , depending on the o r i g i n a l character of the ore and the
degree t:o which the impurities a r e eliminated during the smelting
and converting processes, The removal of the impurities from b l i s t e r
copper a,nd the subsequent recovery of these economica1fy important
metals i s accomplished by e P e c t r o l y t i r r e f i n i n g ,
The csmlon sequence of r e f i n i n g operations is : (1) f f r e r e f i n i n g
of converter copper ( b l i s t e r copper) t o produce purer and more
hmogsnerous anodes (2) e l e c t r o l y t i c r e f i n i n g of the anodes t o
recover precious me tale, and to remove impurities and (3) a second,
f i r e r e f i n i n g to a d j u s t the physical properties of the e l e c t r o l y t i c
copper f o r casting i n t o shapes for use i n industry (McMahon, 1965,
p. 115) ., Refined shapee include : (1) wire bar (2) cake (3) b i l l e t
(4) ingat and ingot bar (5) cathode and (6) copper powder.
The recovery sf precioua metals in the e l e c t r o l y t i c r e f i n i n g
proc e s s ia of extreme economic impor tance t o A r i z o n a ' ~m ine r a l
industry. The recovery of gold as a r e f i n e r y byproduct amounted
to approximately 91 thousand troy ounces i n 1974 and approxi-mately
82 thousand troy ouncea i n 1975. Theae figuree are much more
- -
COPPER
,
- -
WesHq Loading
The Ore ~ d 15y bro ken up by The ore. averaging about 1 per- The cars of ore are hauled to
blast~ng. cent copper. IS loaded ~ntoo re the mil.
cars by electr~cs hovels.
MIL LING
Crushing , Gdwellimg
The ore 1s crushed to pieces The crushed ore 1s ground to The rnlnenl-bsar~~pga rticla
the size of walnuts. dl powder. in the powdered ore are con.
centrated.
RoorrHng Wteverbebmto y Furnsse, Converter
The copper concentrates law The roasted concentrate IS The matte IS converted Into
eraglng about 30 percent smelted and a matte. contain. bl~sterc opper w~tha purity of
copper) are roasted to remove ing 32.42 percent copper, 6 about 99 percent.
sulfur. produced,
+ "'Wk6R tRe f ~ t ef drdW p8f m ~Ih8t ~
*r f~calm$olI8 bnLOI01s. 11I ? uMd wtRouI lurther
iol~nlng.
b
"'ficw i) ~WIW reltnd e:mr~iytcar ~i ~ n
IEles&rolfle Refining lhm rg~orlO mQntvr a( ekctmlyOc COD#r If8 Refining Fumeee t ( ~ u u ~8.gd.. WM w ce~occa to k UN t~
Blister copper is treated in a Copper requiring further treat. eisttml conduetan, andlot ahen w a ~ ~ u l
refining furnace,* mcnt is sent to the electrolytic ~ ~ t ~ ~ Qm~ mto n o l FABROCAHING r~finery.**
REFINED C O P P E R
Fire refinad ar electrolyt~cc opper and/or brass Sheets, tubes, rods and wire are further fabr~cated
la m~xture of copper and tlno 1s made into into the copper articles you see ~n everyday use
sheets, tubes, rods and w~re. . . I
Figure 2, Bawic Steps -- Capper Ore to Finiehed Product
Source : bnnecot t C~pper Corpora tian
s i g n i f i c a n t when it is r e a l i z e d t h a t more than 99 percent of the
recovered gold is a byproduct of Arizona's primary copper industry.
As a r e s u l t of t h i s output, Arizona is the f o u r t h l a r g e s t producer
of gold i n the U. S. Arizona ranked second i n the production of
silver i n the U.S, f o r 1974 and 1975. Again, the s i l v e r i s p r i -
marily recovered as a byproduct from copper r e f i n i n g .
Many of the Industry's large firms a r e v e r t i c a l l y integrated and
control t h e i r mining, smelting, r e f i n i n g , f a b r i c a t i n g and market-ing
f a c i l l t i e ~ . Some companies only mine and concentrate their
ores and then ship t h e product to custom plante f o r m e l t i n g and
refining; (MeM.ahon, 1965, p. 2531,
The foregoing discussion appliei primarily t o s u l f i d e ores. Ores
or copper-bearing materiele,whi&h f o r reasons of grade, composition
or other consideratiowa are not amenable to concentration and pyro-metallurgical.
( f i r e ) e x t r a c t i o n , a r e recovered by another proceBa,
i , e , , leiaching or hydrome t a l l u r g y .
In Beaching, the copper is taken i n t o solution from the copper-bearing
material by disaoLution with an aqueous s o l v e n t , g e n e r a l l y
d i l u t e s u l f u r i c a c i d , The host material i s l e f t v i r t u a l l y unaffec-t
e d . Me! t a l l i c copper is recovered from the copper -bearing (pregnant)
solution by one of two methods: (1) chemical p r e c i p i t a t i o n (cemen-t
a t i on) or (2) e l e c t r o l y t i c deposition (electrowinning).
In the cementation process, copper is p r e c i p i t a t e d out of the preg-nant
solution onto s c r a p i r o n , generally shredded detinned cans, or
i n some cases, sponge iron. The end product is called cement copper.
The mairk disadvantage of thirs process is t h a t the cement copper i e
only between 50 and 90 percent copper; it s t i l l requires smelting
and r e f i n i n g to be marketed as high-grade copper,
Prior tc) efectrowinning, a l i q u i d , ion-exchange process i s used to
increase the copper concentration of the s o l u t i o n f r m which the
copper is then recovered by e l e c t r o l y t i c deposition. The advantage
of efectrowinning is t h a t the end product, high-grade copper cathodes,
can be nntmrketed d i r e c t l y . The smelting and r e f i n i n g stages a r e by-passed.
Secondary- Industry The secondary copper industry i s compri sed
of numerous e n t e r p r i sea which employ many
of the recovery and r e f i n i n g processes used i n the primary industry.
There are, however, processes unique to the secondary industry.
(Spendlove, 1961, p. 1)
The industry recovers copper from copper ecrap, copper-alloy scrap
and other copper-bearing scrap m a t e r i a l s , o r from copper-bearing
chemicef.~ and compounds, (Mcmhon, 1965, p, 75) Scrap is c l a s s i -
fied according t o two p r i n c i p a l c l a s s e s ; old scrap and new scrap.
Old scrap i s copper or copper-alloy products t h a t have been used
and then discarded because they a r e obsolete, worn out, or damaged.
It is t h e o n l y c l a s s of scrap which i s considered a supplement t o
primary production f o r any given year. New scrap, which i s scrap
generated i n f a b r i c a t i n g and manufacturing semi -finished and f i n -
ished products, does not supplement primary production. This scrap
represents a c i r c u l a t i n g q u a n t i t y of copper previously counted i n
the supply of primary copper. It i s returned t o the f a b r i c a t i n g
process without reaching t h e product stage (McMahon, 1965, p. 75)
End Users -- -
L i t t l e sf the copper output f r 8 m primary or secondary sources is mar-keted
d i r e c t l y a s consumer goods. The few items t h a t are marketed i n -
c l u d e p o t s , pans and decorative products. The prime ma2ket sources are
generated by sernifabricatoke which produce a v a r i e t y of products f o r
i n d u s t r i a l users. (see Figure 1 . ) Copper is primarily a producers'
goods, with demands for refined copper and other copper outputs being
d i r e c t l y generated by f a b r i c a t o r s . Refined copper is purchased by wire
m i l l s , b r a s s m i l l s , foundries and powder m i l l s for t h e production of
semi-fabricated goods. Some f a b r i c a t e d products include rod, wire,
skeet, castings and tube. These products are marketed to i n d u s t r i e s
which use. them i n the manufacture of consumer items or s e r v i c e s . Wire
and brass m i l l s process the l a r g e s t amount of refined copper i n t o semi-f
a b r i c a t e d products. In 1974 and 1975, r e s p e c t i v e l y , wire m i l l s
accounted f o r about 67.2 and 69.0 percent of the refined copper con-sumed
i n the United States. Brass m i l l s accounted f o r about 30.5 and
28.5 p e r c e n t , r e s p e c t i v e l y , f o r the same years.
~arnands f o r semi -fabricated copper products a r e . t y p i c a l l y generated
by five, p r i n c i p a l economic s e c t o r s . These are (1) e l e c t r i c a l and
el.ectronic products (2) t r a n s p o r t a t i o n (3) construction (4) consumer
and general products and (5) i n d u e t r i a l machinery and equipment.
(see Table I)
TABLE I
Ultimate end use markets of copper (primary and secondary)
I
E l e c t r i c a l L/. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52%
Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18%
I n d u s t r i a l machinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13%
Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9%
O r d n a n c e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3%
Miscellaneous. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5%
l.J Includes copper sold to other sectors t h a t is u l t i m a t e l y
used ae an e l e c t r i c a l o r e l e c t r o n i c prpduct.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Mines
P r i c i n g s t r u c t u r e
- *
This s e c t i o n presents a very b r i e f d e s c r i p t i o n of the copper p r i c i n g
s t r u c t u r e . Pricing i s a complex system, and a f u l l d e s c r i p t i o n of - * it i s beyond the scope of t h i s r e p o r t ,
In the Ur~ited S t a t e s , there are three main sources f o r price
quotations. They a r e the U. S. producers p r i c e , the Engineering
and Mining Journal quoted price and custom smelter p r i c e s . Of
Less importance are the New York Commodity Exchange price
(@WEX) and the h e s f c a n Metal Market p r i c e . U. S. copper prices
are expressed i n c e n t s per pound and are quoted for t h e ordinary
forms of wirebars and i n g o t s . Cathodes are priced to s e l l
s l i g h t l y below wfrebar and small d i f f e r e n t i a l s e x i s t f o r other
r e f i n e r y shapes.
The producers'' price and the custom smelter price are s e t quo-t
a t i o n s which respond t o supply-demand r e l a t i o n s h i p s . The En-gineering
and Mining Journal p r i c e is a weighted average h i s -
t o r i c a l p r i c e , calculated f o r a day, week, month o r y e a r , based
on the s a l e s reported by producers and t h e i r agencies (McWhon,
1965, p, 260). COMEX p r i c e s are r a r e l y , i f ever, used as a
pricing medium; however, they do provide a f a c i l i t y f o r hedging
as Ear ahead as twelve months. The American Metal Market price
i s the net price a t New Ysrk r e f i n e r i e s , derived from the pro-ducers
quotation l e s s an average delivery c o s t .
Copper scrap p r i c e s a r e quoted f o r numerous grades and s p e c i f i -
cations. "MQs~ scrap e i t h e r i s purchased d i r e c t l y by consumers,
refined by the large primary r e f i n e r i e s and marketed by them a s
refined c:opper, or is smelted and marketed aa b r a s s and bronze
ingots by secondary producers. Quotations for such i n g o t s bear
no fixed r e l a t i o n s h i p to the p r i c e of copper quoted by the large
producers, the content of a l l o y i n g metals and supply-demand
f a c t o r s have a marked influence on ingot prices." (McMahon,
1965, p. 261)
I n t e r n a t i o n a l trade In copper i s e s s e n t i a l l y based on three
pricing systems : (1) the quotations published by the London
Metal Exchange (ME) price (2) t h e export quotations published
by Engineering and Mining Journal ( E W price) and (3) the quo-t
a t i o n s by Union Miniere du Haut Katanga (Katanga quotation)
(McMahon, 1965, p. 261).
111. A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE ECONOMIC AND MARUTING FACTORS THAT
AFFECTED ARIZONA'S COPPER INDUSTRY I N 1974 AND 1975
This s e c t i o n d i s c u s s e s not only the economic and marketing f a c t o r s
f o r 1974 and 1975, but f o r 1973 a s well, The events of 1974-1975
can b e t t e r be understood by reviewing the i n d u s t r y s s respsnee t o
the increased consumption and speculative purchasing which occurred
i n 3973.
Copper u t i l i z a t i o n serves as a measure sf a country's i n d u s t r i a l
dewelopan.ent -- the consumption of copper being r e l a t . i v e l y propor -
t i o n a l to the l e v e l of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t f o n . As a basic and important
i n d u s t r i a l commodity, the demand f o r copper responds to changes i n
the general l e v e l of business a c t i v i t y . The demand f o r copper can
be broken down i n t o two d i s t i n c t a r e a s , i n d u s t r i a l use and specu-l
a t i v e purchases.
I n d u s t r i a l demands are influenced mostly by the l e v e l of economf c
a c t i v i t y , Speculatl.ve demands a r e highly influenced by the monetary
climate i n the asehse t h a t copper, l i k e most commodities, has p a r t i c -
ipated fa the f l i g h t s from paper i n t o tangibles during currency
c r i s i s periods. Large scale speculative buying appeared on the copper
market for the f i r s t time i n 1973. Both types of demand r e a c t t o
s p e c i f i c copper industry developments such as s t r i k e s , equipment
probfeme and other f a c t o r s which could prompt sudden change i n market
conditions and p r i c e (Conway and Trenthan, 1975). The t i m k frame
covered by t h i s r e p o r t , 1974-1975, i l l u s t r a t e s the d i f f i c u l t i e s faced
by an industry recovering from a period of i n d u s t r i a l demand coupled
w i th i n t e n s i v e specuLatfve purchasing.
Domestic copper consumption i n 1973 rose by over 6 percent from the
3972 l e v e l . U.S. mine production increased over the 1972 l e v e l , b u t
output of refined metals, although it increased somewhat, did not
keep pace with demand. Power shortages, p o l l u t i o n , control r e l a t e d
technical problems and breakdowns a t various p l a n t s were s i g n i f f cant
f a c t o r s c o n t r i b u t i n g to the f a i l u r e of refined metal output to match
demand.
Deliveries of refined copper f a r outdistanced industry production f o r
the first two q u a r t e r s of 1973; i n the f i n a l two q u a r t e r s , production
was s l i g h t l y below d e l i v e r i e s . (see Figure 3 , ) This f a i l u r e of pro-duction
t o keep pace wi t h d e l i v e r i e ~r e s u l t e d i n an i n v e n t o r y down-turn.
CansequsntTy, stocks of r e f i n e d copper i n the hands of U.S.
producers, LME, COMEX and U.S. f a b r i c a t o r s was reduced wsr 1972 l e v e l s .
(see Table 11)
In Thousand Tons
PRODUCTION
DELIVERIES
Figure 3. Quarterly Changes i n
Production and Deliv-e
r i e s
Source : Merrill Lynch Pierce
Fenner & Smith, Xnc,
TABLE 11
STOCKS OF REFINED COPPER
(in 800 metons)
End Of Year
1971 1972 1973 1974
Producer Stocks :
UeSCAm 4 0 . . e e e . 0 a 75 90 39 138
Out side U. SeAe
& Japan. . . . . . . . . . . 197 189 220 271
Japan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 66 102 172
Lonilon Me taf Exchange. . . . . . 140 183 35 126
cornex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 52 5 39 U. S,A. f a b r i e a t o r s . . . . . . . 122 70 66 131
- - - -
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . 627 650 467 877
Source : World Bureau of Metal S t a t i s t i c s
P r i c e s i n 1973 r e f l e c t e d t h e increase i n consumption and high
level of speculative buying. In f a c t , a s p e c i a l correspondent
writing f o r Mining Journal had t h i s t o say about the e x t r a o r -
dinary copper price s i t u a t i o n i n 1973 :
....th e p r e s e n t s c a l e of s p e c u l a t i o n i s a n o t h e r ma t t e r
and i t s e f f e c t i s not i n doubt; i t has sent the price
of copper perhaps 200 or 300 [poundsl above the l e v e l
which t h e p r e s e n t balance of market forces would jus-tify
or command, though such an e s t i m a t e can never be
more than a guess. What i s c e r t a i n i s t h a t the p r i c e
would be lower without t h e c u r r e n t l e v e l of specula-t
i o n .
Copper p r i c e on t h e LME began 1973 a t 4 8 ~pe r pound. U. S. p r o -
ducer p r i c e s t a r t e d a t 5 0 . 5 ~ per pound. By March, U. S. producer
p r i c e had reached h i s t o r i c h e i g h t s - 6 0 p~e t pound. LME p r i c e
r o s e t o 7 1 p~e r pound by t h e middl e of March. P r i c e c o n t r o l s
were placed on the domestic copper industry in June, freezing
U.S. producer p r i c e a t 6 0 p~e r pound. Copper p r i c e s exceeded
$1.00 per pound on the LME i n November and continued t o climb
reaching nearly $1.20 per pound i n e a r l y December. (see Table
111). The domestic i n d u s t r y was allowed t o increase t h e i r
p r i c e by 8 . 5 ~p e r pound t o 6 8 p~er pound a t t h e c l o s e of 1973.
TABLE 111
LONDON METAL MCHANGE COPPER PRICES -
MONTHLY AVEM (323, 1973
Month
- -- --
U,S. c e n t s Pounds S t e r l i n g
per pound per metric ton
January
February
March
April
&Y
June
July
August
September
Bc t ober
November
December
Source: Engineering and Mining Journal
Through imid-1974, demand f o r copper remained high and copper
supplies were t i g h t . This demand was p a r t l y due t o the fear
of s t r i k e s i n J u l y following domestic labor c o n t r a c t negotia-t
i o n s . P a r t l y , no doubt, it was a l s o a feedback from specu-l
a t i v e a c t i v i t y i n the market which did not f a l l off till e a r l y
May. In the f i r s t q u a r t e r of 1974,' production and d e l i v e r i e s
were about even, Second q u a r t e r production dropped, mainly
because of s t r i k e l o s s e s . As a r e s u l t , d e l i v e r i e s rose over
productiona (see Figure 4.) AS business and speculative ac-t
i v i t i e s began to d e c l i n e i n the second half of the year,
copper d e l i v e r i e s followed s u i t , e s p e c i a l l y t o end u s e r s , l i k e
the automobile, housing and e l e c t r i c a l appliances i n d u s t r i e s .
Declining d e l i v e r i e s were paralleled by production cutbacks.
However, the copper industry" p i p e l i n e i s long and productive
capacities increase each year. Thus, the e f f e c t s of the c u r -
tailments were slow i n coming which i l l u s t r a t e s the great d i f -
f i c u l t y of r a p i d l y reducing o u t p u t t o match a sudden f a l l i n
demand. The r e s u l t was an a c c e l e r a t i o n of s t o c k p i l i n g and
surpluses which were a worldwide problem and plagued the i n -
dustry through 1975. (see Table 11)
- -
In Thousand Tons
PfiODUCTION
DELIVERIES
Figure 4. Q u a r t e r l y Changes i n
Production and Deliv-e
r i e s
Source: Merrill Lynch Pierce
Fenner & Smith, Inc.
Prices on the W continued t h e i r upward s p i r a l through mid-1974.
The LME p r i c e peaked on April 1 a t a $1.52 per pound. As one
correspondent so a p t l y put it, "perhaps a f i t t i n g date." (Simp-son,
1975) From that point on, there was a sharp downward trend
t o a closing quote of 5 6 . 3 ~ per pound. (see Figure 5 .)
P1U
Prices of Copper $ per Ib.
JAM. FEE;. MAR. APR. MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEPT. WT. NOV. DEC.
- -- - --
Figure 5. Copper P r i c e s i n 1974 and 1975
Source : Newon t Nining Corporation Annual Report
'The U. 3. producer price,. which by decree of the Cost of Living
Counci l c los ed i n 1973 a t 6 8 p~e r pound, remained at that p r i c e
u n t i l April 30, 1974. When price c o n t r o l s expired on May 1,
U.S. producer inc r e a s ed t h e i r price t o $ 0 p~e r pound. That p r i c e
h e l d u n t i l e a r l y June when p r i c e s were r a i s e d t o 8 5 p~e r pound,
where they renained u n t i l mid-September, U.S. produces p r i c e
began i t s downward trend i n l a t e September, with the f i r s t of
t h r e e , suc c e s s ive price c u t s t o end the year a t 7 2 p~e r pound.
As 1975 began, a f o u r t h r e d u c t i o n t o 6 8 ~pe r pound was made.
(see Figure 5 .)
1975 surfaced a s the worst year f o r the copper i n d u s t r y s i n c e
the 1930qis. A hoped f o r upturn i n demand d i d n o t m a t e r i a l i z e .
In i t s s t e a d , U.S. demand f o r copper was off 31 percent from
1971 and 38 percent from 1973. Additional reduction i n mine
production was i n i t i a t e d by (1) f u r t h e r reduction of production a t
e x i s t i n g p r o p e r t i e s (2) delaying bringing scheduled new p r o p e r t i e s
on l i n e or bringing them an l i n e a t r a t e s considerably below rated
c a p a c i t i e s (3) slowing down or stopping development on p r o j e c t s
which were scheduled t o come on-stream i n the near f u t u r e and (4)
by c l o s i n g marginal p r o p e r t i e s . Nevertheless, l i k e 1974, producers
were una.ble to stem the increase i n stock buildup. (see Table IV)
TABLE liV
STOCKS OF REFINED COPPER
(in 800 tons)
End Of Year
1973 1974 1975
Producer stocks UeS.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Outside U, S.A. and Japan. . . . . . . . . . 197 Japan: a l l s tocks . . . . . . . 102
r = E. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
C C I ~ B X . . . * . . . . . . . . . . 5 U,S. Consumers . . . . . . . . . 66 U,,S. Stockpile . . . . . . . . . 228
E~~rapean. Consumers. . . . . . . . . . . 125
(Prance, Germany
and U. K, ) -
Source : Copper Studies
-
A s s t a t e d e a r l i e r , the U.S. producer p r i c e began 1975 a t 6 8 p~e r
pound. A t the end of January, the producer price was reduced by
5q p e r pound' t o 6 3 a~nd t h e r e i t s t ayed u n t i l mid -year when
Asasso and Phe lps Dodge c u t t h e i r p r i c e t o 6 0 p~e r pound. The
rest of the industry d i d not follow suit. By l a t e June, there
was a s l i g h t upturn i n the market, a t which time Asarco and
Phe lps Dodge upped t h e i r p r i c e t o 6 3 p~e r pound. U.S. producer
p r i c e closed t h e year a t 6 3 p~e r pound. (see Fi g u r e 5 . )
16V. THE COPPER MINING COMPANIES I N ARIZONA
This section of the report aumarizes Arizona's mining companies i n
terms of t h e i r Arizona operations. The data on each company includes :
(1) the location of the company's operation(8) (2) the type of oper-a
t i o n ( ~ ) conducted a t the property (3) t h e design capacity of plant
f a c i l i t i e s (for many reasons t h i s may vary from a c t u a l production
output) and (4) the production data f o r 1974-1975.
Arizona retained i t s standing as the Largest copper producing s t a t e
i n the U.S. through 1974-1975. In 1974, Arizona's production ac-counted
f o r 54 percent of thvs n e t i o n i s t o t a l output. The 1975 output
rose to 57 percent, placing i t f a r ahead of the second ranked a t a t e ,
Utah, which accounted for only 13 percent of the t o t a l production.
Most of APizona8s producers a r e v e r t i c a l l y i n t e g r a t e d . However,
not all of the processing f a c i l i t i e s are located i n Arizona. Two
of the corporations have v e r t i c a l l y integrated operations i n the
s t a t e . Other producers mine, concentrate and smelt ore i n Arizona.
Same companies mine and concentrate t h e i r ores on e i t e and ship the
concent:rates t o custom p l a n t s , e i t h e r in Arizona or other s t a t e s ,
for sme'lting and refining on a t o l l baasli~. (see Figure 6.) Cur-r
e n t l y , a l l but one Arizona company is conducting some leaching
and recovery operation.
Information on individual operations was obtained from (1) company
annual ireports (2) S e c u r i t i e s and Exchange Commission Form 10-K's
(3) p r o f e s s i o n a l j o u r n a l s (4) other published sources and (5) par-sonal
comunfcations.
Company Where Smelted Where Refined Sold By
ASARCO Incorporated
Anamax Mining Co., Twin Buttes,
Ariz.
Cyprus Bagdad Copper Corp,
Clties Semi ce Company
Maoaf Operations
Duval Corporation
Own plants. Own r e f i n e r i e s .
Inspiration Consolidated Copper U. S, Metals Refining
Co., Miami, Ariz., Asarco, Co., Carteret, N,J,
- --. Hayden, Ariz ,
Phelps Dodge, Ariz . , - _ Bhelps Dodge, Laurel
Hill, N.Y.
Xnspfratisn Sm,, Miami, Asiz. Asarco Inc,, Amarillo,
Texas, Tacoma, Washing-ton
Asarco, Tacoma, Washington, Asarcs, Arrmarillo, Texas,
Nayden, Ariz., and E l Paso, Tacoma, Washington
Texa s
Inspiration Consolidated Copper Own plant, Inspiration,
Cornpan y Arizona
plant, Inspiration,
Ariz,
Kennecott Copper Corp. m e l t e r e , k r f i e l d , Utah; r e f i n e r i e s a t @r-
Ray, Ariz.; McM11, Nevada; f t e l d , Utah; b r l e y ,
Harley, N,M, N.M., Qnnecott &fin-ing
Cssp, at Anne
ArundeP County, Md,
ASARCO Incorporated
Anaconda and hax
Copper Inc ,
Cyprus Mines Corp . ,
Cities Service Company
Metal Sales Dept.
Asarco, Duval Sales Corp.
Inspiration Consolidated
Capper Company
Kennecott Sales Csrp.
(continued next page)
Where Smelted Where Refined Sold By
Magma Copper Company
Superior Division
San Manuel Divi sf on
Phelps Dodge Csrp.
Cyprus Pima Mining Co.
Om plant, San Manuel, Ariz. Own refinery.
Own plant, San Manuel, Ariz. Own refinery.
M a p Copper Company
Magma Copper Company
Own plants, Douglas, Morenci Phelps Dodge Ref. Corp. Phelps Dodge Sales
and Ajs, Ariz . Company, Incorporated
Phelps Dodge Corp. , Hagma Phelps Dodge a t El Paso, Ametalco, Inc.
Copper, San Manuel, Ariz. Texas ; Magma Copper,
San Manuel, Arizona
Figure 6. Principal Arizona Copper Producers and the Disposition of Their Copper
Source: AslericanBureauof Metal S t a t i s t i c s , Ine,
Anamax Mining Company is a 50-56 partnership between the Anac~nda
Company and the American Metal Climax (Amax) Company.
In June, 1973, Aw(%x acquired the Banner Nning Company, owner of
actensive mineral. properties i n Pirna County, which ineluded the
Twin Butt.@$ copper mine. Thiss mine is Iscsated near Green Valley
i n the Santa Cmz River Valley. Anaconda, holder of sr h n g term
lease fram Banner Mining Company on the Twin Buttes mine, formed
a j o i n t venture with Amx a t t h a t time, The purpose of the new
Anamax Mining Company i e t o operate the open-pit mine, the con-centrator
end the new solvent extraction-electrowinning plant a t
Twin Buttes.
Each partner purchases i t s own share of production of copper
concentra.tes and is respon~lible for i t s own m e l t i n g , r e f i n i n g
and sales. ha%% ashrare sf Win Buttea concentratels is t o l l
smelted and is refined p a r t l y at Amax'a r e f i n e r y a t Carterht,
New Jersey, and p a r t l y on t o l l a t other f a c i l i t i e s . A portion
of Anaconda s ehare of concentrates is t o l l amel ted ; the balance
is shipped to its Anaconda, Montana, smelter. Anamax is respon-sible
for the solvent extraction-electrowinning plant through
the production of cathode copper. Each partner purchases i t s
share of cathode copper from the electrowinning plant. I
Twin Bu t t e s has been the ecene of an e x t e n s i v e , thr e e -ye a r ex-1
pansion program. The s u l f i d e conc ent r a tor ' e cepaci t y was i n - I.
creased from 30,000 tons per day (tpd) to 40,000 tpd. Dsvel- '
opment work was undertaken on the e a s t p i t which contains a
high graile ~ f :s u l f i d e o r e . The solvent e x t r a c t i o n - e l e c t r o -
winning plant has the capacity for t r e a t i n g lO,OOO tpd of
oxide ore and f o r producing 100 tpd of cathode copper. Ap-proximately
$246 million were expended i n t h i s program
through I)ece&es 31, 1975.
Overburden removal was completed a t the e a s t p i t during the f i r s t
p a r t of 1976. Unanticipated, poor ground conditions i n the west
p i t resulted i n s l i d e s which limited access to previously exposed
ore, This, coupled with an extremely weak copper market, led
ananagemaat t o two impor tant d e c i s i o n ~:l (1) t o commit more men
and equipment i n an intensf fied overburden removal project a t the
east p i t and (2) to c l o s e t h e s u l f i d e concentrator.
Twin Butte8' concentrator operated a t approximately 100 percent
capacity i n 1974 producing 92.95 million pounds of recoverable
copper; shut down for ten montha i n 1975, i t produced only 18.31
million pounde of recoverable copper (gee Table V).
The completion of t h e i n t e n s i v e overburden removal which increased
the stripped ore reserves and the expansion of the concentrator s
capacity placed the mine i n an e x c e l l e n t p o s i t i o n to r a i s e produc-tion
w i th improved coat performance.
Aearcs Incorporated
(American S m l t i n g and Refining Company)
Asarco was incorporated I.n 1899 as "The h a r i e a n Smelting and Re-f
i n i n g Company." I n A p r i l , 1975, a t t h e i r annual meeting, the
~ t o c k h a l d e r sa dopted a new name - ASARCO Incorpor a t ed.
ASARCO E n c . (AURCO) owns and o p e r a t e s f o u r open-pit mines and one
smelter in three of Arbzssaa'a countPe%r, The M i ejeion Unit, the
San Xasvi.er Unit and the S i l v e r Bell Unit are i n Pima County, The
fourth ornine, the Sacaton Unit, f e located i n Final County.
AMRCO'a Arizona ~tmelter, the Hs.yden smelter, i a i n Gila County.
M s s i oq. Unit
The Missfan Unit i s AWRCOb l a r g e s t Arkzsna mining property and
is located i n southcentral Arizona near Tucson. The open-pit mine
takes its name from a famous soeathwesterm landmark - the Mission
San Xavier del Bac,
kaign capacity of the Mission concentrator is 22,580 tons of ore
per day (tpd). Late i n 1974, a cutback i n production was i n i t i a t e d .
In the Pakter part. sf 19"B5, a reduction in the work week and a three
week vacation shutdown kept Miseion's production well below capacity.
The Mimion Unit processed 7.54 million tone of copper ore i n 1974 a s
compared t o 5.09 m i l l i o n t o n s i n 1975 (see Table V).
A new computer program i a i n operation a t the Mission Unit which an-alyzes
t h e o p e r a t i o n of open-pit mines. This program, called Optimum
Reaowrce Extraction (ORE), has been used successfully t o optimize
operations a t the Mission Unit. ORE e x p l o i t s a computer b u i l t model
of the orebody. The computer model is derived from d r i l l hole d a t a ,
geologic inf orme t i o n , topographic con tours and general economic
f a c t o r s a f f e c t i n g p i t design. It is used to determine the best prec-t
i c a l p i t form, including bench contours and haul roads. ( P h i l l i p s ,
p, 14, 1973)
The emoany has continued with i t s revegetation program a t the Mieeion
Unit. The p r o j e c t ie designed to s t a b i l i z e and improve the sppearance
of t a i l i n g s dam slopee end overburden dumps. The o v e r a l l operation
c o n s i s t s of (1) covering selected areas with a l l u v i a l topaoil (2) i n -
s t a l l i n g a temporary i r r i g a t i o n system and (3) p l a n t i n g g r a s s and
desert vegetation. For the year 1975, approximately 12,000 tons of
alluvium were used for revegetation a t the Mission Unit.
-San X -a-vie r U-ni t
The San Xavier Unit i s currently mining two separate orsbodies.
The oxide ore whf ch overlies both orebodies i s being t r e a t e d a t
the u n f t a s vat leach p l a n t , Sulfide ore, which underlies the
oxide capping, w i l l be treated a t the Mission concentrator. The
u n i t c a n . a i ~ t so f t h r e e ope r a t ions : (1) the San Xavier Vat Leach
Plant (2) the South San Xavier p i t and (3) the North San Xavier
P i t *
Cutbacks fn 1995 production, which affected two sf Asarcoss other
Arizona u n i t s , were not r e f l e c t e d i n San X w i e r ' e production. In
1975, the u n i t mined 1.37 million tsna sf copper ore a s opposed t o
X $22 million tons i n 1974 (see Table V) ,
-San- X ~-v i-e rV- at -Lea ch Pl a n t The San Xavier l e a c h p l a n t i s
Asarco's newest copper recovery
operation. It is designed to process 4,000 tpd of copper oxide ore
and reeclver the capper as cement copper precipitates, For each ton
of ore processed, approximately 16 pourndsl of copper are produced.
Yearly, the plant i s expected to consume about 50,000 tons of sul-f
u r i c a c i d and apprsx2mteI.y 15,000 tons of shredded t i n can8 i n
the leaching prscese, The San Xavier vat leach plant i 8 one ex-ample
of hydrometallurgical technology. It uses consumer-generated
sobid waste and acid generated by pollution abatement to produce
copper from law-grade ore which previously wae diegosed of as waste
rock.
The Soazt:h San Xtlvier P i t The south p i t is an extension .
sf the Mission Unit1s present
orebody, The $are -mining operati on of overburden removal began i n
March, 3.973, Actual mining of ore began mid-year 1975, following
a year and a half of atrigping. This mine i s expected t o supply
copper oxide are t o the u n i t ' s vat leaching plant f o r approximately
3 years.
The North San Xavier P i t Stripping a t the north p i t began
i n 1967, Nine m i l l i o n tone of
unmineralized overburden were removed to allow access to the oxide
ore. 31+0,000 tons of this overburden, containing 77 percent silica,
were crushed and shipped to Asarca s amef ter s a t byden, Arizona,
and El Paso, Texas, for converter flux (Roberts, l974), Copper
oxide ore from t h i s p i t is expected to eupply the u n i t Is v a t leach-ing
plant f o r 5 years of the plant ' e expectad 8 year l i f e .
S i l v e r Bell Unit
The S i l v e r Bell Unit was Asarco ' 8 f i r s t important mining operation
i n Arizona and is located i n the S i l v e r Bell Mountains northwest of
Tucson, ALrizona. The company hae operated t h e S i l v e r Bell mines
since 19512. This u n i t consiets of (1) two apen-pit mines, the
Oxide p i t and the E l Tiro p i t (2) a 10,500 tpd concentrator and
(3) a dump leach o p e r a t i o n . S i l v e r B e l l ' s normal production of
10,500 tpd was cut 14 percent i n l a t e 1974. Likewise, reduction
i n the wcrk week and a vacation shutdown cut the u n i t ' s production
by approximately 57 percent of capacity during the l a t t e r part of
1975. 2.54 million tons of cop$er ore were mined a t the u n i t i n
1975 compared t o 3.85 m i l l i o n tons i n 1974 (see Table V) . The
u n i t ' s molybdenum concentrator was closed through 1974-1975.
Saca ton 'TJnit
The Sacatan Unit, a i t u a t e d 5 miles northwest of Casa Grande, is
Asarco9s newest producing Arizona mine, The mine, named a f t e r
t h e Saca tow Mountai ns , came on -8 t ream i n Marc h'; 1974.
Pre-production s t r i p p i n g began a t Sacatonss west orebody i n May,
f 972. Approximately 33.5 m i l l i o n tons of overburden were removed
A 9,QOO tpd c o n c e n t r a t o r , r e l a t e d surface f a c i l i t i e s and a 2.3
m i l e r a i l r o a d spur were constructed a t a cost of about $40 m i l l i o n .
The Sacaton Unit was unaffected by produetion cutbacks during 1975.
The u n i t m h e d 1,93 m i l l i o n tons of copper ore i n 1974 and increased
that ffgrare t o 3.61 m i a l i ~ nd u r i n g 1975 (see Table V) .
Saeaton8s s t o r y goes back beyond the pre-production work which s t a r t e d
i n 1972, Aaarco" g e o l o g i s t s made the o r i g i n a l discovery i n 1961.
Drilling operations delineated two separate reb bodies during the i n -
tervening years.. Geological evaluations and m e t a l l u r g i c a l t e s t i n g were
conducted after which the d e c i s i o n was made t o mine the shallow west
orebody 1~y open-pit methods. Two years were spent planning the open-p
i t mine, concentrator and surface f a c i l i t i e s . Design s t u d i e s are
r~till.u nderway t o mine t h e e a s t orebody by block- c aving methods. It
is expected t h a t t h i s phase of the Sacaton Unft w i l l be on l i n e i n 1980.
Asarco'a Hayden Unit, located i n Hayden, Arizona, is composed of
(1) a copper smelter with the capacity t o treat 960,OQO tpy of
input mat:erirsl and (2) a s u l f u r i c acid plant capable of producing
1,000 tpd of s u l f u r i c a c i d .
Bilf Hole Mining Company
The Big IIole Mining (Big Hole) Cmpanyla operations a t Jerome,
Yavapai County, Arizona, includes (1) t h e c o n t r a c t mining of
high-grade ore pockets (2) conducting dump leaching operations
and (3) operating a p r e c i p i t a t i o n p l a n t . --
I n the e a r l y 1950's, &helps Dodge Corporation closed down i t s
United Verde mining operatione a t Jerome. A t t h a t time, Big
Hole con~:raetad with Bhelps Dodge t o mine remaining ore and to
recover leachable copper from the dumps. Big Hale's operations
continaxeti from t h a t time u n t i l the cmpany shut down t h e i r op-e
r a t i o n in June, 1975.
Cf t i e s Service -pany0s
Miami Division
C i t i e s Service Company's Miami Division o p e r a t i o n s a r e located i n
the Globe-Miamf area, about 90 miles e a s t of Phoenix, Arizona, and
approximiatel y 120 miles north of Tucson, Arizona,
C i t i e s Service Company announced, on April 23, 1976, t h a t i t s
Miami Operations became a separate d i v i s i o n within t h e i r newly
organized Minerals Group. The new d i v i s i o n c o n t r o l s the following
major f a c i l i t i e s : (I) Pinto Val l e y operatf ons (2) Miami Leaching
(3) Miami East underground mine (4) Copper C i t i e s open-pit mine
and (5) Copper C i t i e s leaching u n i t . A11 f a c i l i t i e s are located
i n Gila County, Arizona.
Pinto Val1ey Operations
Cities Service Company's newest development, Pinto Valley, was
placed im production during 1974. The operation c o n s i s t s o'f
(1) an open-pit mine (2) a 40,000 tpd concentrator and r e l a t e d
surface f a c i l i t i e s and (3) a 10 m i l e c o n c e n t r a t e s l u r r y pipeline
t o the I n s p i r a t i o n smelter.
Pre-production s t r i p p i n g began a t the Pinto Vslley orebody i n 1972.
About 60 mi f lion tons of overburden were removed. The current p i t
design contains reserves of approximately 350 m i l l i o n t o n s of ore
averaging 0.4% percent copper. Based on an i n i t i a l production
t a r g e t s f 4Q,000 tpd ore and 60,000 tpd waate, mine l i f e is e s t i -
mated a t 24 years.
The current s t r i p p i n g r a t i o is 1.5:1, requiring the u l t i m a t e r e -
moval of more than 500 milPion tons of waste and leach-grade ma-t
e r i a l (Li and Carter, 1975). The 40,000 tpd concentrator, ac-cording
to Pinto Valley engineers, w i l l be monitored and controlled
by s o p h i s t i c a t e d e l e c t r o n i c monitoring systems complete w i t h a u t o -
matic analog control systems s u i t a b l e f o r f u t u r e computer hookup,
and an X-ray mineral a n a l y s i s syrstem (Li and Carter, 1975).
Pinto Valley's 1974 production of 3.26 m i l l i o n tons of ore mined
r e f l e c t the mid-year s t a r t - u p . For 1975, the operating r a t e av-eraged
approximately 90 percent of capacity or 13.90 m i l l i o n tone.
(see Table V)
By 1959, ore from the old Miami I n s p i r a t i o n orebody which could
p r o f i t a b l y be mined by underground methods was exhausted. Yet,
as i n any mining operation, s c a t t e r e d . m a l l , high-grade pocketa
remained umined, Aleo, most of the mineralized rock t h a t wae too
low i n copper content far mill feed remained i n place. To e x t r a c t
t h i s copper, leaching solutions are fed i n t o the block-cave eub-sidence
area and recovered through old undarground openings. The
pregnant solutions are pumped to the surface for cement copper
produsti on.
Currently, copper seeovered by solution mining is being precipi -
tated on shredded t i n cans. A solvent extraction-electrowinning
unit f s under construction which w i l l replace the older operation.
T h i ~ne w l e a ching p l a n t i~ expected t o be on-st ream sometime i n
1976 (on-line May, 1976, expected output i s 30,000 pounds per day).
The new plant w i l l produce cathode copper. Currently, p r e c i p i t a t e
copper i s being m e l t e d and refined eleewhere.
Miami East Mine
Thia deep, underground orebody i s located i n the down-faulted eection
of the clld Miami -Inspiration orebody. Diajcovery of t h i e large mfn-eralized
zone was the r e s u l t of an extensive surface d r i l l i n g program.
Once development work is completed, the mine 1s expected to produce
about 5,000 tpd of copper ore, using the cut and f i l l mining method.
Cities Service announced September 24, 1975, t h a t s t a r t - u p of the
Mami E a ~ s t Mine, scheduled f o r early 1976, had been postponed and
a e t i v i t i , e a a t the mine will. be gradually reduced. The project is
to be pl.aeed on standby maintenance i n e a r l y 1976 u n t i l economic
conditions warrant resumption of development.
Copper Cif t it3 B open - p i t mine 8
The Copper C i t i e s and the Diamond H open-pit mines, which have been
i n production since 1954, were shut down on May 9, 1975, because of
depletion of ore reserves, Milling o f a low-grade stockpile continued
u n t i l September 12, 1975, when a l l mining and milling operations
ceased.
Copper C i t i e s Leaching Unit
This u n i t i s responsible for the dump leaching a c t i v i t y a t Copper
C i t i e s mines. Copper from the pregnant leach eolution i s recovered
a t the u n i t ' s p r e c i p i t a t i o n p l a n t . Since 1962, the u n i t has been
leaching copper values f r m low-grade, n o n a i l l a b l e ores.
Continental Materials Corporati on
Continental Piaterials Corporation, through i t s wholly-owned sub-s
i d i a r y , Continental Copper Company, i a developing an underground
ore deposit a t the Control mine property. The property is patented
and l i e s within the Goronado National Forest, on the n o r t h e a s t s l o p e s
of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Pima County, Arizona. Continental
Copper acquired t h e p r o p e r t y i n 1969 and since t h a t time has conducted
an a c t i v e exploration program. In August, 1976, Continental Materials
Corporation announced t h a t i t had signed a l e t t e r of i n t e n t with Union
Miniere of Brussels to j o i n t l y develop an underground mine on the Con-t
r o l group property. The completed project w i l l cost an eetimated
$35 m i l l i o n and w i l l r e s u l t i n the development of a small, but high-grade,
underground copper mine, a 2,000 tpd concentrator and r e l a t e d
ground f a c i l i t i e s ,
Continental O i l Cmpany
Continental O i l Company (Conoco) is evaluating the f e a s i b i l i t y of
constructing an open-pit mine and r e l a t e d f a c i l i t i e s near Florence,
Pinal County, Arizona.
In 1970, Conoco announced the discovery of porphyry copper mineral-i
z a t i o n while conducting preliminary d r i l l i n g near Florence. Test
mining and operations a t the p i l o t m e t a l l u r g i c a l recuvery plant were
completed during 1975. A comprehensive engineering and economic
analysis of a commercial mine and plant is being prepared. This
study w i l l use data obtained during operation of the t e s t mine and
p i l o t recovery plant, ongoing environmental and hydrological studies
and industry marketing f o r e c a s t s ,
Archaelogical studies conducted by the University of Arizona and
sponsored by Conoco disclosed several p r e h i s t o r i c s i t e s l y i n g w i t h i n
the proposed miping area. The major e i t e , the Escalante r u i n , and
several outlying s i t e s were excavated by a team of archaeologists from
the Univerof ty of Arizona. The company is conducting f u r t h e r archae-ological
s t u d i e s .
Cyprus Mines Corporatf 0~
The Cyprus Mines Corporation wholly owns or c o n t r o l s , as subsidi-aries,
four mining companies i n three of Arizona's counties. They
a r e : (1) Cyprus Bagdad Copper Company, Yavapai County (2) Cyprus
Bruce Copper & Zinc Company, Yavapai County (3) Cyprus Johnson Cop-per
Company, Cochise County and (4) Cyprus Pima Mining Company,
Pima C o ~ ~ n t y .
Cyprus
Cyprus1 Bagdad operation i a loca ted 102 milee northwest of Phoenix,
Arizona, and 68 mikes west of Prescokt. The preaent operation con-sists
of (1) an open-pit mime (2) a 5,880 tpd concentrator producing
copper and molybdenum concentrates (3) an oxide dump leaching eystem
(4) a solvent extraction-electrowinning plant and (5) a town with a
h o s p i t a l , schools, a shopping center and other f a c i l i t i e s for its
550 employees and t h e i r f a m i l i e s .
In May, 1973, a t t h e i r annual meeting, the etockholdess voted t o
merge Bagdad Copper Corporation i n t o Cyprus, The merger was com-pleted
in June of t h a t year. The b a s i c reason f o r t h i s merger was
to faci l i t a g e expansion of the Bagdad operation, I m e d i d t e l y f o l -
lowing the merger, Cyprus undertook a major f e a s i b i l i t y study f o r
the expansion of the mine, m i l l and the p o s s i b l e c o n s t r u c t i o n of a
amektsr and a r e f i n e r y * Authorization to proceed with t h e expansion
project came i n 1974.
In Octoiaer, 1974, Cyprus Bagdad choee Holmes & Narver, Pnc., i n con-junction
wil th Fluor Utah, Inc., to complete the design, engineering
and groceurernent f o r the p r o j e c t . The planned expansion is t o include
(I) a 40,000 tpd concentrator using an autogenous grinding method with
secondary b a l l m i l l s (2) a water-supply eystem (3) a t a i l i n g s disposal
and rec:%airn water systems (4) warehou~les and (5) mine and m i 11 off i c e s
and shops. A g r e a t l y enlarged and improved employee cs n i t y also i e
t o be a major part of the expansion.
Proven ore reserves of approxi* t e l y 300 m i l l i o n tons containing an
average of 0.49 percent copper w i l l a s s u r e o p e r a t i o n a t t h e a c c e l e r a t e d
rate f o r about 20 years. Meanwhile, detailed d r i l l i n g is being con-ducted
:&n the surrounding area of mineralization with the i n t e n t of
developing ore f o r f u r t h e r expansions and extended mine l i f e .
A t the end of 1975, a l l major construction p r o j e c t s were on echedule.
The e n t i r e program, estimated to cost $240 m i l l i o n , i s expected t o be
completed during the l a s t quarter of 1977,
Stripping a c t i v i t i e s for the c u r r e n t expaneion project are expected
to add approximately 28 miPlion tons of leachable oxide material t o
the existing 88 m i l l i o n tons. However, Cyprus Bagdad does not pro-pose
any expansion of its copper oxide leaching eyatem,
Electrotvon ca thodes, firoduced a t the company's solvent extraction -
electrowinning plant, were c e r t i f i e d f o r New York Commodity Exchange
contractls. This was an important milestone f o r the plant because
Cyprus k2agdadVs cathodes were the f i r s t electrowon cathode8 to re-ceive
suck c e r t i f i c a t i o n . The cathodes have c o n s i s t e n t l y had the
same or b e t t e r q u a l i t y than cathodes made by conventional e l e c t r o -
r e f i n i n g .
Cyprus Bruce & Ztnc Company
Cyprus Bruce i s located 5 miles southweet sf the Cygrue Bagdad Mining
complex, The mine property c o n s i s t s sf (1) a small., high-grade, un-derground,
capper and zinc mine (2) a 2763 tpd concentrator and (3)
related f a c i l i t f e s ,
New f a c t o r s have been introduced i n t o the mining system. Theee
f a c t o r s g r e a t l y improved production and have s i g n i f i c a n t l y reduced
mining c o s t s . The cut and hydraufic f i l l mining eyatem has been
mechanized by addition of LHD (load, haul and dump) equipment. In
1975, a new, large, mobile d r i l l jumbo was placed i n s e r v i c e .
The Bmce mine is Arizona" l a r g e s t zinc producer. In 1975, the ore
treated a t Cyprus Bruce contained an average of 12.5 percent zinc
and an swerage of 3.73 percent copper. The concentrator treated
94,608 tons of ore containing 6.54 million pounds of copper and 19.12
rnPlEion pounds of zinc. (see Table V)
Intensive underground exploration a c t i v i t y was carried out through
1975 and w i l l continue i n 1976. Thus far, no additional ore has
been developed. Proven reserves of 195,000 tons a r e e u f f i c i e n t for
l i t t l e more then two years of operation ao t h e c u r r e n t mining rate.
Johnson Copper Company
The Cyprus Johneon property is s i t u a t e d 65 miles e a s t of Tucson near
Benson, Arizona. It c o n s i s t s of a small oxide-copper open-plt mine
wi trh a solvent extraction-electrowinning plant and r e l a t e d f a c i l i t i e s .
Production began i n March, 1975. It is expected that by 1976 design
capacity of 5,000 tons per year (tpy) of high-quality copper cathodes
w i l l be achieved.
A t the planned mining r a t e , Cyprus Johnson's reserve of nearly 13
million tons of oxide -copper ore, with 030 percent acid -soluble copper
content, w i l l assure an operating life of nine years.
Pima Mining Company
Cyprus 'Mines Corporation i s the operator and owner of 50.01 percent
of the Cyprus Pima Mining Company located near Tucson, Arizona. The
non-operating p a r t n e r s , Union O i l Company of California and Utah In-t
e r n a t i o n a l , each o m approximately 25 percent. The operation con-s
i s t ~o f (1) 8n open-pi t mine (2) a conc ent r a tor and (3) a recsearch
and developmnt section.
Resulta of an e x t e n s i v e d r i l l i n g program &onal~letedi n September of
1974 are being evaluated to determine i f expansion of t h e present
p f t to the east and southeast might be p r o f i t a b l e , I f 8uch expansion
proves f e a s i b l e , t h e operating l i f e sf the mine w i l l be extended s i g -
n i f i c a n t l y ,
The 53,500 tpd concentrator produces both copper concentrate and
molybdenum sulfide . Silver eont ained i n the copper concentrate i s
an important byproduct. The semi-autogenous grinding w i l l s i n s t a l l e d
in the concentrator i n 1973 have continued to prove s a t i s f a c t o r y with
a r e s u l t a n t reduction in per ton milling costs.
The Reaearch and Development Section is continuing with the develop-ment
of the Cymet procees. The process, being developed j o i n t l y by
Paul R. Kruesf, Hazen Research and Cyprus, has a s its o b j e c t i v e t h e
d i r e c t reduction of copper from copper s u l f i d e s . Such a process
could reduce the need f o r the pyrometallurgical procees of smelting
and fte r e s u l t a n t production of s u l f u r gases. Testing and improve-ment
of tha C p e t process continued during 1975 a t the demonstration
plant, Another r e s u l t a% the research and development program i s a
new patented process for removing t a l c from molybdenum ore by f l o t a -
tion separation. The process makes posclible s i g n i f i c a n t m e t a l l u r g i c a l
improvements i n the treatment of copper-molybdenum ores containing t a l c .
DUVAL CORPORATION
h v a l Corporation (DuvaL) is the mining subsidiary of the Pennzoil
Company,, Wval operates t h r e e , l a r g e , open-pit mines i n two of
Arizona's countie8: (1) the Esperanza property in Pima County (2)
the Mineral Park property i n Mohave County and (3) the S i e r r i t a
property i n Pima County, operated through its wholly-owned aubeid -
i a r y , Duval S i e r r i t a Corporation. The company also completed con-s
t r u c t i o n of a new CLEAR-procese hydrometallurgical plant near its
S i e r r i t a property. Copper production from t h i s plant began i n the
first quarter of 1976,
The Esp~ranza property, located near Tucson, Arizona, c o n s i s t s of
(1) a copper-molybdenum open-pit (2) an 18,000 tpd concentrator and
(3) a l e a c h - p r e c i p i t a t i o n operation.
This cspper-molybdenum property resumed opesatfons e a r l y i n 1973
followin,g a one-year shutdown intended to ,reduce the copper con-c
e n t r a t e inventory which had accumulated during a smelter s t r i k e .
A 25 percent increaae i n production was made possible through
p l a n t moldification i n i t i a t e d during the shutdown. However, i n
February, 1975, because of the weak deman6 f o r copper, Duval was
a g a i n forced t o r e d u c e produc t ion a t t h e ~ s p e r a n z ap r o p e r t y t o
5.49 m i l l i o n tons of copper ore. The I974 production was 6.41
m i l l i o n tons. (see Table V) The molybdenum output was not a f -
f e c t e d by the cutback i n copper groduc t f om. E~ p e s a n z a' e con-c
e n t r a t e s and p r e c i p i t a t e s are t o be t r e a t e d a t h v a l b new
CLEAR-proceas hydrometallurgical plant,
Mineral Park
Mineral Park is located approximately 16 miles northwest of
Kinman, Arizona. Production began a t t h f s h v a l property i n
l a t e 1964. The operation c o n s i s t s of (1) a copper-molybdenum
open-pit mine (2) an 18,500 tpd concentrator (3) a dump leaching
operation and (4) molybdenum t r f o x i d e plant (not i n use a t t h i s
time) ,
In l i n e with a g e n e r a l p o l i c y of curtailment of copper production,
hva3, reduced copper production a t Mineral Park i n 1975. Because
of a mechanical problem, the mine had been operating a t a reduced
capacity f o r two months p r i o r to t h i s l a s g a r cutback, 6.38 m i l l i o n
tons of copper ore were mined i n 1994 a s compared t o 5.57 million
tons En 1975. Copper concentrates and copper p r e c i p i t a t e s produced
a t this property a r e expected to be t r e a t e d a t the new CLEAR-process
hydrometallurgical p l a n t a t the S i e r r i t a property. Mineral Park's
molybdenum concentra tea a r e shipped t o Duvall s S i e r r i t a property
where they are processed.
In 1975, Duval Corporation's Mineral Park Division p a r t i c i p a t e d i n
the c o n s t r u c t i o n of two h i a t o r i c a l markers. The markers were con-s
tructed as a Bi'centennial -approved project and were placed along
U., S, Highway 93, north of Kingman. Constructed of redwood and
placed on n a t i v e stone foundations, the markers commemorate the
old mining camps of Cerbat and Mineral Park.
-Duv-al S i l e r r i ta Co r p o r a t i o n
Duval S i e r r i ts Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Duval
Corporation, owns and operates the S i e r r i t a mine. Thia property
is l o c a t e d a d j a c e n t to Duvel's Esperanma mine near Tucson, Arizona.
Duval acquired the S i e r r i t a property i n 1964. The purpose of t h i s
a c q u i s i t i o n was t o provide f u t u r e reserves for the Esperanza prop-erty,
The S i e r r i t a property is composed of (1) a copper-molybdenum open-p
i t mine (2) a 90,000 tpd concentrater and r e l a t e d ground f a c i l i t i e s
(3) a 2.2 m i l e long conveyor system (4) a molybdenum procesaing plant
which produces molybdenum trioxidu (5) a new f e r r o -molybdenum plant
which came on-line February, 1975, and (6) the CLEPIR-proces~ hydro-m
e t a l l u r g i c a l p l a n t .
In May, 11966, the General Services Administration (W), in the i n -
t e r e s t of n a t i o n a l s e c u r i t y , announced a program t o encourage ad-d
i t i o n a l dornea~ie production of copper, nuval formed the Duval
S i e r r i t a Corporation (Duvak S i e r r i t a ) which s u c c e s s f u l l y conducted
negotiations with G3.A for the development of the S i e r r i t a property.
The con tracts were signed Norannber, 1969. Under the conteact ,
Duwal S i e r r i t a waa advanced $83 m i l l i o n against f u t u r e d e l i v e r y of
copper t o the government a t a fixed price of 38 cents per pound,
Total c o s t f o r the development of the property approached $200
milk lo^^.
UnPf ke Dnval" other Arizona proper t i e a, h v a l S i e r r i t a ' s groduc -
tion was n o t c u r t a i l e d during the general I975 production slowdown.
S u b s t a n t i a l l y a11 of Buval S i e r r i t a b s 1975 copper production was
delivered to the C;SA pursuant to an accelerated loan repayment
schedule. Duval S i e r r i t a mined 30.50 million tone of copper ore
i n 1974. Production rose t o 31.43 million tons of copper ore
mined (see Table V) i n 1975.
In February, 2975, h v a l S i e r r i t a ' a new ferro-molybdenum plant
began production. The plant is designed to process 3.61 million
pounds sf rnalybdenum t r i o x i d e s annually f o r the production of 3.5
million pounds of ferro-molybdenum per y e a r . Prior t o the open-ing
sf t h i s p l a n t , t h a t portion of Buval.Oas molybdenum concentrates
which were marketed a s ferro-molybdenum were converted on a t o l l
baais, The remafning concentra tea are now marketed a s molybdenum
s u l f l d e or are processed and sold a s molybdenum t r i o x i d e .
The CLEAR-process , a new hydrome t a l l u s g i c a l process devef oped by
Duval and tested over a two-year period, i s no longer i n the ew-perimental
etage. The absence of s o l i d , l i q u i d and gaseous pol-l
u t i o n i s one of the major design f e a t u r e s of the patented CLEAR-process,
The process recovers m e t a l l i c copper from chalcopyrite
and other copper -con tainfng m a t e r i a l s by f e r r i c chloride oxida -
tion t o produce cupric c h l o r i d e . The cupric chloride i s reduced
to cuprous chloride and copper is recovered by electrolysis
(Engineering and Mining Journal, June, 1996, p. 245).
Duval began construction i n 1974 on the 32,500 tpy CLEAR-process
p l a n t . W i th cons t r u e tion completed , the plant comeneed production
of copper c r y s t a l s (equivalent t o a high-grade b l i s t e r copper)
during t h e f i r s t q u a r t e r of 1976.
-He-cla Mining Company - Paso Natural Gas Company
Hecla Mining Company (Hecla) , t h e o p e r a t i n g company, and E l Paso
Natural Gas Company (El Pam) each own 50 percent i n t e r e s t i n the
Lakeshore copper mining complex. The Lakeshore property i s pres-ently
under development and is expected to come on-stream e a r l y
1976, Mine production w i l l begin a t a r e l a t i v e l y low r a t e and
w i l l g r a d u a l l y i n c r e a s e over several months. Each partner w i l l
share eqyally i n a l l preproduction and plant constructfan c o s t s
which are currently estimated a t $195 milkian.
When p r ~ ~ d u c t i ocn n c e s , h e l a and E l Padp0 w i l l each r e c e i v e
a one-half share of the production output and a l l production
costs w i l l be divided equally,
The Lakeshore mine is located i n the Slate Mountains withfn the
Papago Indian Reservation, approximately 30 miles south of Casa
Grande and 3 miles east of Komelik, Penal County, Arizona.
Eakeshau:e I s orebody c o n s i s t s of three sections: (I) a thick,
c e n t r a l core sf s u l f i d e zone porphyry-type ore mineralization
simflar t o other Arizona deposf ts (2) a t a c t i t e s u l f i d e ore
occurring a t t h e base and marginal to the porphyry-type miner-a
l i z a t i o n and (3) an oxide zone, Present mine development allows
f o r concurrent mining of the t a c t i t e s u l f i d e are and the oxide
ore. The c e n t r a l core porphyry-type mineralization w i l l be developed
f o r later rnfning,
The Lakeshore property consis t e of (1) an underground mine (2) a
17,500 tpd f i n e crushing plant (3) a 6,450 tpd v a t leaching plant
(4) an f1,000 tpd s u l f i d e concentrator and r e l a t e d ground f a c i l i -
t i e s (5) a sponge i r o n p l a n t and (6) a r o a s t i n g , leaching and
electrowinning plant with an a s s o c i a t e d a c i d p l a n t . Hecla's
Lakeshore f a c i l i t i e s are designed to produce high-purity cathode
copper using a pollution f r e e , close-looped, hydrometallurgical
ore treatment process.
Underground mining i a carried out i n two r e l a t e d , but d i s t i n c t ,
operations. The s u l f i d e ore is mined by a continuoue panel-caving
method. It is then transported to an underground primary crusher.
From the crusher the s u l f i d e ore is brought to the aurface via a
conveyor b e l t syetam and stockpiled, Oxide ore i e a l s o mined by
a panel-caving method, but the ore i s hoisted to the surface then
crushed and stockpiled ,
After crushing, t h e sulfide ore i s concentrated and the concen-trates
are sent to the r o a a t i n g , leaching and electrowinning plant
(RLE p l a n t ) . Waste products from the RLE p l a n t , i . e . , r o a s t e r
gases, spent e l e c t r o l y t e and l e a c h r e s i d u e , are ef ther converted
Oxide Ore Sulfide Ore
Water 1
Res idue VAT LEACHXNG GRXrnING AND FLOTATION
Air
ROASTING
Water
I
Sponge Iron.
Spent
Solutio
v Cement Copper
~regliont
Solution
0
Figure 7. Lakeshore Project - Plant Flawsheet
Source : Mecla Mining Company
or are used "as i s " and recycled through the oxide ore treatment
system. (see Figure 7.) When operating a t f u l l production, the
IPLE plant i s expected t o produce 30,000 tpy of electrowon copper
The oxide ore t r a v e l s d i r e c t l y from the f i n e crushing plant t o
the vat leaching plant where cement copper i s p r e c i p i t a t e d by the
use sf sponge iron. The waste products from the s u l f i d e ore
treatment -- s u l f u r i c acid from r o a s t e r gases, spent e l e c t r o l y t e
from the production of ca tkode copper, and sponge iron from s u l -
f i d e ore l e a c h r e s i d u e -- are used i n the production of cement
capper a t the v a t leaching plant. A t f u l l production capacity
the leaching plant will produce 55,000 tpy of copper p r e c i p i t a t e s
containing 35,000 tons of copper. The p r e c i p i t a t e s a r e p e l l e t i z e d
and skipped to ASARCO smelters f o r f u r t h e r processing,
I n s p i r a t i o n Consolidated Copper Company
The I n s p i r a t i on Consolidated Copper Company ( I n s p i r a t i o n ) was the
f i r s t Arizona copper company to mine, smelt, r e f i n e and f a b r i c a t e
Arizona copper i n Arizona. Tfxe company s main o p e r a t i o n s , t h e
I n s p i r a t i o n Division, are centered about 90 miles e a s t of Phoenix
a t the town of I n s p i r a t i o n , Gila County, Arizona. The Christmas
Divisisn i s located about t h i r t y - e i g h t miles south of I n s p i r a t i o n ,
a t the town of Christmas, Gila County, Arizona. S t i l l under con-s
i d e r a t i o n by the company is a j o i n t venture wherein I n s p i r a t i o n
would operate the Sanchez mine near Saf ford, &aham County, A r i -
zona.
1nspirat:-i on D ivi s ion
The I n s p i r a t i o n Division i s composed of (1) three open-pit mines
(2) a 20,000 tpd concentrator (3) heap and waste dump leaching
operations (4) in-plan t leaching (vat -leaching) (5) an e l e c t r o -
winning plant (6) an e l e c t r i c smelter with a capacity of 595,000
tpy of input material (7) an a c i d p l a n t capable of producing
14,000 tpd (8) an e l e c t r o l y t i c r e f i n e r y with a capacity of 70,000
tpy and (9) a continuous -cast copper rod plant.
I n s p i r a t i o n area mines - Ore from the I n s p i r a t i o n a r e a ' s three
p i t s -- the Thornton, Live Oak and Wd
H i l l mines - contains varying degrees of s u l f i d e and oxide min-e
r a l s . That ore which has a predominance of oxide minerals i s
treated by heap leaching. O r e which has a predominance of s u l -
fide minerals i s sent to the concentrator, Dual process ore,
ore which contains a more balanced amount of oxide and s u l f i d e
minerals, i s f i r s t treated by vat-leaching. The leached mater-i
a l is then taken t o t h e concentrator where the s u l f i d e minerals
are recovered by f l o t a t i o n .
C i t i e s Service Company and I n s p i r a t i o n completed n e g o t i a t i o n s under
which I n s p i r a t i o n w i l l mine and t r e a t , on a royalty b a s i s , ore from
C i t i e s Service property adjacent t o I n s p i r a t i o n ' s Joe Bush mine.
The agrecament w i l l a l s o allow the campany t o mine a substantial ton-nage
of material which otherwise could not be mined without d i s t u r b -
i n g a cotmon boundary. Pr eproduc t ion ~ t r i ~ p fionr ~t h e Joe Bush
mine began i n the f i r s t q u a r t e r of 1975. By the end of 1975, some
5.21 million tons of overburden had been removed.
I n s p i r a t i o n % mnmine s began 1975 on a seven -day -per -week schedule.
Early i n 1975, the work week was reduced to five days, but the
d a i l y mining r a t e of 27,500 tons was maintained. For economic
reasons, a t rnid-year I n e p i r a t l a n @topped mining oxide ore and
mined only dual procese and s u l f i d e oree for the remainder of
the year. The dfvieion mined 8,45 million tons of copper ore
i n 1974 as compared to 6,29 m i l l i o n tons i n 1975.
Ox Hide and the W%f < - -
- low Springs Nine$ I n s p i r a t i o n o p e r a t e s two prope r t i e s
where heap-leaching operatf ons a r e con-ducted.
They are the Ox Hide mine which has been i n production since
1968 and Willow Springs which came on-stream in the eecond q u a r t e r of
1974,
Heap-leaching d f f f e r s from waste dump leaching i n several important
aapecta. Heap-leaching material i s usually crushed or ripped, then
placed on specf a l l y prepared "leaching padetO, whereas, g e n e r a l l y , i n
dump leaching the material is not s p e c i a l l y prepared p r i o r to the
l e a c h i n g p r o c e s s ,
S u l f u r i c acid f o r these two operations and for I n s p i r a t i o n ' s other
leaching p r o j e c t s is supplied by the new, 1400 tpd, double-absorp-tfon
acid p l a n t . This plant produced 175,000 tons of s u l f u r i c acid
i n 1975,
Christmas Division
The Christmas Division c o n s i s t s of (1) an open-pit mine, formerly an
underground mine (2) a 5,500 tpd concentrator and (3) r e l a t e d ground
f a c i l i t i e s , I n s p i r a t i o n acquired the Christmas property i n 1955 and
from t h a t time u n t i l l a t e i n 1966 the property was mined by under-ground
methods. In l a t e 1966, open-pi t mining was introduced and
s t i l l continues. Studies a r e being conducted to determine. the ad-vi
sabiPi ty of resuming underground operations .
The division entered 1975 wf th a seven-day work week which was r e -
duced to a five-day work week i n February. Later in the year,
shutdown8 were scheduled from November 24 t o December 7 and from
December 20 to January 5. The l a t t e r period was extended through
January 20 because of the ahutdown a t the E n s p i r a t i ~ n m e l t e r where
Christmas concentrates a r e t r e a t e d . Consequently, the 1975 pro-duction
of 1.40 million tons. of ore mined was down from 1974's
1.68 million tons, (see Table V)
Tests were conducted by t h e d i v i s i o n on the p r a c t i c a l i t y of
leaching ore from a new, large, low-grade orebody whose near -
aurface ores do not yield adequate recovery by f l o t a t i o n . Plans
a r e a l s o underway f o r a n oxide ore mining f a c i l i t y with dump
leaching, solvent extraction and electrowinning operations. A
new $632,080 primary crusher was i n s t a l l e d during t h e l a t t e r
p a r t of 1974.
Kenneco t t C s ~ ~ Ce or r ~ o r a t i o n
Kennecott Copper Corporationb Arizona d i v i s i o n , the Ray Mines
D i v i s i o n , o p e r a t e s (1) an open-pit mine (2) a 25,400 tpd concen-t
r a t o r with r e l a t e d ground f a c i l . i t i e s (3) dump leaching i n con-junction
with a p r e c i p i t a t i o n plant (4) a 10,000 tpd s i l i c a t e
ore leach-electrowinning plant (5) a smelter capable of t r e a t i n g
420,000 tpy of i n p u t m a t e r i a l (6) an acid plant designed to pro-duce
1,9'TO tpd of s u l f u r i c acid and (7) a 6 mile r a i l r o a d from
the mine to the Southern Pacific junction a t Kelvin. The Ray
Mine I s 'located 10 miles northwest of Kearny, Pinal County, A r i -
zona. L~acated a t the mine s i t e i s the s i l i c a t e leach-electrod
winning ]plant along with the dump leaching operations. The
other f a c i l i t i e s a r e approximately 18 milers reouth a t the town
of Haydeal, Gila County, Arizona. The Ray Mines Division's
headquarters are also located a t the Hayden plant s i t e .
The Ray Mine was mined by underground methods u n t i l 1955 when
Kennecott inf t i a t e d open-pit operations a t the s i t e , In the
mid-1960fs, as t h i s p i t expanded, the company began stockpiling
s i l i c a t e ores containing 0.8 percent copper and began experi-menting
to develop a leaching system (Beall, 1973, p. 45). The
r e s u l t was a 10,000 tpd s i l i c a t e leach-electrowinning p l a n t ,
designed and completed by 1969. Kennecott announced plans i n
1973 to expand the leaching f a c i l i t i e s by 40 percent to 14,000
tpd. The expansion was expected to coat $7 million. The ex-panded
plant began production mid -1976.
The Ray Nine Division mined 11.72 million tons of copper ore i n
1974, Tlze 1975 production was considerably lower a t 6.69 million
tons. Ray was shut down f o r 12 weeks during the summer of 1975.
(see Table V)
Kennecott is continuing to evaluate a large copper deposit near
Safford, Arizona, The company has been experimenting with a
s o l u t i on mining procese. This process would use high preesure
t o f ~ r c ea l e a ch s o l u t i o n through i n j e c t i o n h o l e s which are
several thousand f e e t deep. The copper-bearing rocks a t t h a t
depth would be soaked with leaching solution which would a t t a c k
the copper minerals, Recovery w e l l s i n the leach area would estab-
Zf sh a c i r c u l a t i o n system r e turning t o the surface the pregnant
solutions (Dimock, 1976, p. 581,
McAh eter Fuel Company (McAle a t e r ) operated the Zonia mine located
22 miles southwest of Prescott near Kirkland Junction, Yavapai
County, Arizona,
McAlestes began mining operatio$s at the Zonia mine in 1966. The
operation consisted of an open-$it mine which supplied low-grade
oxide ore for heap-leaching. The company changed i t s mining
methods in 1973 by preparing the mine area f o r i n - s i t u (in place)
leaching.
In -si tu leaching d i f f e r s f roa other beaching practicee i n t h a t
the material to be leached is not transported. Preparation sf
t h e ore f o r i n - s i t u l e a ching ~ o mfmt e e r e q u i r e s f r a c t u r i n g which
is accomplished by b l a s t i n g or hydraulic f r a c t u r i n g . Mailester
prepared a part of the Zonia ore d e p o s i t with (a8 of April, 1973)
the world's l a r g e s t , man-made, nan-atomic blast. The b l a s t u t i l -
ized 4,125,000 pounda of explosives. The b l a a t area covered 10
acres.
Economic reasons forced Mdilester to cease operatione at the Zonia
mine i n March, 1975. The company plans to re-open when the economic
climate improves,
Newmon t Corpora tion
Nemont 14ining Corporation Is represented i n Arizona, by f ts wholly-owned
subsidiary, Magma Copper Company (Maw). Magme i s the second
Arfzona mining company t o mine, s m e l t , r e f i n e and manufacture A r i -
zona's copper i n Arizona. Its operations are divided i n t o two d i -
v i s i o n s *- the San Manuel Division and the Superior Division.
The Sen Manuel Division i s located in s o u t h e a s t e r n P i n a l County,
Arizona, approximately f o r t y - f i v e miles northeast of Tucson. The
concentrator, smelter, e l e c t r o l y t i c r e f i n e r y , administration
building and other plant f a c i l i t i e s are located some seven m i lea
southeast sf the mine a r e a , adjacent to the town of San Manuel.
The Superior Division i s eituated a t Superior i n Pinal County,
Arizona, approximtely 7Q milee eou theast of Phoenix and 21 miles
west of Miami.
-San M -a-n uel Di v i s i o n
%an Manuel is Magma's l a r g e r divirsion, It is the l a r g e s t uhdergraund
mining operation in the U.S, lit c o n s i s t s of (1) an underground mine
with a rated au tput of 62,000 tpd 92) a 62,000 tpd concentrator with
r e l a t e d ground f a c i E i t i e e (3) a nrndter with a r a t e capacity of 1
million tpy of input material (4) an acid plant capable of producing
from 1,000 to 2,868 tpd of s u l f u r i c acid and a n e u t r a l i z a t i o n plant
with r e l a t e d f a c i l i t i e s f o r dispoaal of the s u l f u r i c acid produced
by the acid plant (5) an e l e c t r o l y t i c copper r e f i n e r y with an annual
production capacity of 200,006 tons of refined copper ( 6 ) a contin-usus
cast capper rod mill capable of converting 120,000 tpy of r e -
fined copper i n t o rod (7) a thirty mile standard gauge r a i l r o a d
system and (8) a modern, employee town.
The Division was the l a r g e s t producer ~f copper i n Arizona f a r the
years 1974 and 1975. The mine i s an underground block caving oper-ation
which produced 248,85 m i l l i o n pounds of recoverable copper
i n 1974. L t s 1975 production was l87,49 m i l l i o n pounda* (see
Table V)
Mapa % 5San Manuel Division, like many other Arizona copper producers,
began reducing production e a r l y i n 1974. The reduction continued
through 1975 with a corresponding temporary reduction i n the work
E ~ s c e , T h i s measure was designed to prevent further i n c r e a s e s i n
the copper metal i n v e n t o r i e s and i t succeeded, but as a p a r t i a l con-sequence
!, u n i t operating costs per pound of capper i n 1975 were close
to 21 percent higher than i n 1974. The weak copper market forced
mgma t o defer previws1y announced plans f o r expanding the capacity
of the mine and concentrator from 62,080 tpd to 75,000 tpd and f o r
doubling the capacity of the continuous c a s t copper rod m i l l ,
S u ~ e r i o rD i v i s i o n
The Superior Division consfsts of (1) an underground mine with a
rated out:put of 3,3QO tpd and (2) a 3,300 tpd c o n c e n t r a t o r w i t h
related ground f a c i l i t i e s . Concentrates have been shipped t o the
San Manuel smelter since J u l y , 1972, when the Superior smelter was
closed down a f t e r 47 years of operation.
A program of modernization and expaneion was completed i n 1973 a t
the Superior Divf s i o n i s mine and concentrator, This expansion ap-proximately
doubled the divie~ion production capacity.
MapsDs Superior Division mine, unlike most other Arizona mines,
d i d not s u f f e r from production cutbacks i n 1974 or 1975, The
d i v i s i o n mined 732,937 tons of ore i n 1974 and i n 1975 increased
t h a t to 1.087 m i l l i o n t o n s . (see Table V)
Phelpss Dodge Corporation
Phelps Dodge Corporation (Phelps Dodge) i s Arizona's l a r g e s t copper
producer. The company owns and operates nines, concentrators,
leaching operations, smeltera and acid plants i n three of Arizona's
c o u n t i e ~ . Two projectasi under developmnt by Phelps Dodge, i n A r i -
zona, are (1) the Safford P r o j e c t , an underground mine near Saffard,
Arizona, where preproduction work is i n progress and (2) the Copper
Basin P r o j e c t , an area of copper mineralf zation southwest of Pres-c
s t t , Arf zona, where the company i s studying the f e a s i b i l i t y of
developing an open-pit cspper mine. Phelps Dodge i s a190 eonetructing
a new smelter, s modern employee town and a 36 n i l e i n d u s t r i a l rail-road
in FLidalgo County, New Mexieo .
Phelps Dcdge's Arizona sperationra are divided i n t o four operating
u n i t s : (1) the Copper Queen Branch (2) the Douglas Reduction Works
(3) the Morenci Branch and (4) the New Cornelia Branch.
Queen Branch
The Copper Queen Branch operations a r e located a t the town of Bisbee,
Cochkse Clountly, Arizona. The operations c u r r e n t l y c o n s i s t of (1)
dump leaching (2) underground leaching and (3) a p r e c i p i t a t i o n plant.
The Laverider p i t mine, concentrator and r e l a t e d ground f a c i l i t i e s
were closed down on December 14, 1974, Underground mining operations
continued u n t i l June 13, 1975, (FrPday the 13th) when Phelps Dodge
teminated the last: of Its ore mining operations i n the Bisbee a r e a .
This ended 95 years of continual mining a c t i v i t i e e . Reasons cited
f o r the closure were a combination of depleted ore reaerves, rapidly
dropping copper p r i c e s and a decreasing demand f o r copper. However,
the C~pper Queen Branch w i l l continue t o contribute to Phelps Dodge's
copper production by recovery of copper through leaching a c t i v i t i e s .
$teduction Works
The Douglas Reduction Works, a t Douglas, Cochbse County, Arizona,
eansiats of a smelter with r e l a t e d ground f a c i l i t i e s . The Douglas
smelter has a rated capacity of 700,000 tpy of input m a t e r i a l .
Phelps Dodge's western operations headquarters are a180 located a t
Douglas.
Marenci Branch
The Morenei Branch operations are located i n the Clift~n-Morenci area
near the town of Morenci, Greenlee County, Arizona.
The Branch operations include (1) two open-pi t mines, the Morenci
and the Metcalf (2) two concentrators with r e l a t e d ground f a c i l i t i e s
(3) dump leaching operations (4) a new f a c i l i t y to leach concentrator
t a i l i n g s (5) a emelter with a rated capacity of 900,000 tpy of input
material and (6) an acid p l a n t with a capacity to produce 2,500 tpd
of sulfu.ric acid.
Marenci Mine Mining operations a t the Morenci mine consist
of (I) a r a i l and truck haulage, open-pit mine
(2) a 60,000 tpd concentrator with r e l a t e d ground f a c i l i t i e s (3)
dump leaching operation with a p r e c i p i t a t i o n plant and (4) newly
constructed f a c i l i t i e s f a r leaching concentrator tailings f rm the
Morenci and Metcalf concentrators,
The Mc4re;crei mine i s the oldest mining operation i n the Clif tsn-
Morenci a r e a . Mining operatione began i n the Morenci area in the
9860% s. The present open-pit was s t a r t e d i n 1938 and has expanded
u n t i l mining i s being conducted i n what was once part of t h e old
town sf Msrenci , Phelps Dodge constructed the current towneite
providing i t with housing u n i t s , a motel, a hospita1,a shopping
center, a l i b r a r y and schools,
Prodwetion cutbacks r e f l e c t i n g the decreasing demand f o r copper were
i n i t i a t e d a t the Morenei Mine through 1974 and 1975. For a time
during 1975, mine operation was equivalent t o a 4-day work week.
The Moremci mine mined 16.79 million tons sf ore i n 1974 a s compared
to 16,17 million tons in 1975. (see Table V)
Metcalf The Metcalf mine is located s e v e r a l m i l e s n o r t h
of the Morenci mine, The operation c o n s i s t s of
(1) an open-pi t mine and (2) a 30,800 tpd concentrator with related
ground f ac%fities. Metcalf i s Phelps Dodgeq s newest producing Arizona
copper property. The mine and r e l a t e d f a ' c i l i t i e s came on-stream in
January, 1975. It is expected t h a t copper production from the Metcalf
mine will more than o f f s e t the production loases incurred by closure of
the BPsbee area mines. Development work on the Metcalf mine began
i n 1969. Phelpa Dodge has spent more than $200 million and 6 years
time bringing t h i s new mine on-s tream. Metcalf s 1975 production was
5,564 million tons of ore mined, (see Table V)
New Cornt;Pia Branch
The New Cornelia Branch fa located i n western Pima County a t the town
of A j o , Arizona. The branchs@ operations consiat of (1) a r a i l haulage
open-pit mine (the A j o p i t and the Morenci p i t are the only Arizona
mines which u t i l i z e rail haulage) (2) a 33,000 tpd concentrator with
r e l a t e d ground f a c i l i t i e s (3) a smelter with a rated capacity of 250,000
tpy of input material (4) an acid plant capable of producing 640 tpd
of s u l f u r i c acid and (5) the Tucson, Cornelia and Gila Bend Railroad
Company.
The New Cornelia Branch, l i k e Phelps Dodge 'e other Arizona p r o p e r t i e s ,
operated a t a reduced capacity during the l a t t e r p a r t of 1974 and
through 1975. Production from the Ajo p i t i n 1974 was 9.04 million
tons of ore mined and 7,27 miklion tons i n 1975. (see Table V)
Saf ford P'roject
Phelps Dodge is developing a deep underground orebody approximately
10 m i l e s n o r t h of Safford, Graham County, Arizona.
Preliminary development continued through 8974 and 1975. During 1974,
work on the e x i s t i n g No, 1 shraft W ~ E I finiehed for a t o t a l depth of
2,150 feet.. Sinking of the new No. 2 $haft was a t a r t e d i n conjunction
with the b e g i ~ n i n g construction on underground and surface facilities
requlred f or the operation of a l a r g e underground mine. The No. 2
a h a f t wag1 at a depth of 1,439 f e e t by the end of 1975. Construction
continued through I975 on the surface i n s t a l l a t i o n s and the underground
f a c i l i t i e s . The development p r o j e c t w i l l proceed through 1976 but a t
a slower pace,
The Safford orebody i s e~atirnated t o contain 400 million tons of ore
with an average grade of 0.7 percent copper.
Rancher8 Exploration and Development Corporation
Ranchers Exploration and Development Corporation (Ranchers) operates
i n twa of Arizona's counties (1) two mines, the Bluebird and the Old
Reliable (2) e s o l v e n t e x t r a c t i o n - e l e c t r o w i n n i n g plant and (3) a pre-e
i p d t a t i s n p l a n t .
Bluebird Nine
Rancher% Bluebird mine i a located approximately 2 miles west of Miami,
GiPa County, Arizona. The operation c o n s i s t s of (1) an open-pit mfne
(2) s p e c i a l l y cone t r u c t e d leaching pads and (3) a solvent e x t r a c t i o n -
electrowinning p l a n t ,
Bluebird% ore i e r i p p e d , loaded i n scrapers and hauled t o dump loca-t
i o n s . The ore Ps stacked on heaps i n layers 20 f e e t t h i c k . Each
new layer is sprinkled with a leaching s o l u t i o n which p e r c o l a t e s
through the heap. The pregnant s o l u t i o n is then c o l l e c t e d . The
heap c u r r e n t l y extends a maximum of 180 f e e t above ground (production
began a t the mine i n 1964) ,
In 1974, Ranchers cancelled a proposed venture i n which Mitsubishi
I n t e r n a t i o n a l would operate the Bluebird mine. The company then
began plans t o expand i t s own operations a t the mine. However, the
expansion planned for 1975 wae postponed because of the unf a ~ o r a b l e
economic climate and the lower copper p r i c e s .
Nine production f o r 1974 was 15.34 million pounds of copper; the
1975 production was 15.12 million pounds. (see Table V)
-Old R-e l i-a b l e M-ine
The Old Reliable mine f s s i t u a t e d nine miles e a s t of Mamoth, Pinal
County, A.Pizona. The mine i s composed of (1) an in-sf tu leaching
operation. and (2) a p r e c i p i t a t i o n plant. Rancher's owna 83 percent
of the mine and i s the operating company. E. 1, du Pont de Nemours
and Co. c~wns the remaining 17 percent.
The Old Weliable p r o j e c t represents a piodeering e f f o r t i n copper
production. The project is believed to be the f i r s t i n mining
h i s t o r y fn which an e n t i r e orebody was fractured with explosives
f o r i n - s i . t u leaching (Sfkillings Jr* , 197LC9 p. 12) Four million
pounds of explosives were used to f r a c t u r e the orebody. The b l a s t
was detonated on March 9, 1972, (A larger b l a s t was detonated by
McAhester Fuel Co. i n April, 1973).
Copper production from the Old Reliable mine f o r 1874 amounted t o
4.35 m i l l i o n pounds of copper. The mine was placed on standby i n
1975 by F!ancher1s management i n atkticipation of higher copper p r i c e s .
Prior to shutdown, 466,506 pounds of copper were recavered. (see
Table V)
APPENDIX A .° TABLE V
A
Twin Buttes
Cathode Copper I/
Total
COPPER
. .- GE: ARIZONA COPPER MINES
1974 1975
Tons Pound s Pounds 'Pons Pounds Pound s
Copper Ore Recoverable Recoverable Copper Ore Recoverable Recoverable
Mined Copper Pdo1ybdenum Mined Copper Molybdenum
Silver Bell 3,848,500
Precipitate Copper
Mission 7,539,100
San Xavier
Brecipi tate Copper 1,221,008
Sacaton ZJ/
Total
CITIES SERVICE -I OPERATIONS
-COPPER CITIES OPERATIONS :
Copper C i t i e s 3( 3,698,317
Copper C i t i e s Precipitate
Miami - Precipitate
Total 3,698,317
Pinto Valley Operations &/ 3,263,331
Total 6,961,648
COPPER AND MQLYBDE PRQI>UCTIQH OF LARGE ARIZONA COPPER MINES (csntd . )
2974
Recoverable Recoverab ke
Copper Molybdenum
1975
Tons Pound s Pounds
Copper Qse
Mined
Tons
Copper Ore
Mned
Recoverable Recoverable
CYPRUS MINES :
Bagdad
Cathode Copper
Bruce 51
Pima
Johnson 6/
Cathode C~pper
Total
DUVAL :
Esperanza
Precipitate Copper
Mineral Park
Precipi tate Capper
S i e r r i t a
Total
INSPIRATION :
Inspirat ion
Copper recovered by
dump, in-place and
vat leaching
Christmas Division
@be Hide Mine
Total
MENNECO'H"r :
Ray
Precipitate Copper
Total
McUESTER FUEL C ..
Zsnia Mine a/
Precipitate Copper
Total
mm:
San Manuel
Superior
T o t a l
PHELPS DODGE:
Morenci Branch
Morenci Mine
Metcalf Mine £5-/
Precipitate Copper 9-/
New Cornelia Branch
Copper Queen Branch
Lavender P i t g/
Precipitate Copper
Copper Queen Mine =/
Total
COPPER AND MOLYBDENW PRODUCTION OF MRa ARIZUNA COPPER MPNES (contd . 1
1974 1975
Tons Pound s Pounds Tons Pound s Pound s
Copper Ore kcoverable &coverable Copper Ore ReeoverabPe Recoverable
Mined Mo 'B ybdenum Mned Copper Molybdenum
Company
Mine
RANCHERS EXPLOMTIm AND
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION :
Bluebird Mine
Cathode Copper
Old Reliable =/
P r e c i p i t a t e Copper
Total
COPPER AND MOE19BDEm PRODUCTION OF LARGE AEPICZOm COPPER MINES (contd .)
1974 1975
Tons Pounds Pound a Tons Pound s Pound s
Copper Ore Recoverable Recoverable Copper Ore Recoverable Recoverable
Mned Copper Molybdenum Mined Copper Molybdenum
Total Large Companies 178,884,730 1,766,395,267 27,332,190 164,526,602 1,633,652,571 28,312,423
Total (Az. Dept. of Hn. Res. estimate) 1,766,864,434 1,633,749,690~
Total (USBM-Of f i c i a l ) 178,913,296 1,717,566,000 28,346,000 n.8 . 1,626,422,000 26,409,063
Footnotes :
p pre l iminary
n.a , -not available
-1/ Twin But t e s oxide p l a n t came on l i n e August 1975
2_/ ASARCO1s Sacaton Unit was formally dedicated i n March 1974
3-/ Copper Cities open-pit mine shutdown May 9, 1975
-41 Pinto Va l l ey' s i n i t i a l s t a r t - u p w a s i n J u l y 1974
5-/ Cyprus Bruce Copper & Zinc Company mines a copper -zinc ore.
The company is Arizona's l a r g e s t zinc producer. In 1974,
the mine produced 20,211,000 pounds of zinc. The 1975
production was s l i g h t l y l e s s at 19,124,000 pounds of zinc.
-6 1 Cyprus Johnson came on-stream March 15, 1975
-7/ Stopped product ion i n March 1975
-8 / Phelps Dodge ' 8 Metcal f Mine and concen-t
r a t o r began production in January 1975
-9/ The 1974 f i g u r e ref l s c t s p r e c i p i t a t e
copper production f o r the Morenci Mine
only. The 1975 f i g u r e r e f l e c t s both the
Morenci and Metcalf Nines.
-101 The Lavender p i t and Bisbee conc ent r a tor
operations were terrnina ted December 14,
1974,
-11/ Phelps Dodge '8 Bisbee underground mines
ceased operations on June 13, 1975, thus
ending 100 years of production
-12/ Stopped product ion July 1975 *I (r
I
- - - - - . .- - .
APPENDIX B : GLOSSARY OF MINING TERMS
Acid plant: The plant a t the smelter s i t e t h a t recovers s u l f u r
dioxide and manufactures from i t s u l f u r i c a c i d ,
Anode : Fire -refined copper c a s t a t the smelter i n t o alabs
weighing 680 to 1280 pounds of about 99.5% p u r i t y ; skipped
to an e l e c t r o l y t i c r e f i n e r y f o r f i n a l p u r i f i c a t i o n process.
(eee Anode copper)
Anode copper : Special -shaped copper slabs, rersulting f rm the
refinement of b l i e t e r copper i n a reverberatory furnace,
uaed a s anodes i n e l e c t r o l y t i c refinement. (see Anode)
Autogenous: The eeeondsry grinding of ore by tumbling the
material i n a revolving cylinder with no b a l l s o r b a r s taking
part i n the operation.
Ball m i l l : A r o t a t i n g horizontal steel cylinder loaded with
a t e e l balls which grind the ore to a f i n e powder consistency.
Beneficfation: Concentrating the copper content of the ore;
the crushing, screening and grinding of ore and removal of
copper-bearing minerals by a f l o t a t i o n process p r i o r to
smeHting the copper concentrates.
Billet : Refinery shape primarily f o r tube manuf acture. C i r -
cular i n cross-section, usually 3 to 1Q i n . i n diameter and
i n lengths up to 52 i n . ; weight from 100 t o 1500 l b s .
B l i s t e r copper : An impure intermediate product i n the r e f i n i n g
of copper, produced by blowing copper matte i n a converter,
the name being derived from the large b l i a t e r on the c a s t
surface t h a t r e s u l t s from the l i b e r a t i o n of SO and other
gases. Normally b l i s t e r copper i s f u r t h e r reflned a t the
smelter i n t o a f i r e - r e f i n e d copper and c a s t i n t o anodes.
Block caving: A form of underground mining wherein a block of
ore is removed by undercutting i t , causing i t to f a l l by
gravity through previously driven r a i s e s and is loaded
through chutes i n t o nine c a r s , hauled to t h e s h a f t and
l i f t e d t o the surface,
Cake: Refinery shape f o r r o l l i n g i n t o p l a t e , sheet, s t r i p or
ehape. Rectangular i n crose -section of various sf zes.
Cast e i t h e r h o r i z o n t a l l y or v e r t i c a l l y , with range of
weights from 148 to 4000 Ibs. or mare,
Cathode: UnrnePted f l a t p l a t e refined from anodes i n the e l e c -
t r o l y t i c r e f i n e r y f n t o p l a t e s of 99.99 percent pure copper;
these a r e shipped to f a c t o r i e s t o be melted and cast i n t o
shapes ready f o r r o l l i n g , drawing or extruding i n t o finiehed
products. The customary s i z e is about 3 f t . square and about
to 718 i n . thick weighing up to 280 I.bs.
@at hode clopper : E l e c t r o l y t i c a l l y r e f i n e d copper which has been
depostted on the cathode of the e l e c t r o l y t i c bath of a c i d i f i e d
copper s u l f a t e e;lolution, Such copper i s usually melted a s
e1estx:olytic copper. (see Cathode)
Chemical p r e c i p i t a t i o n : In the leaching process, displacement
of a metal from eolution by a l e s s noble metal. Usually
l e s s c o s t l y than e l s c t r s % y t i e p r e c i p i t a t t o n , but the l a t t e r
produces a purer metal and regenerates t h e solvent. Also
called cementation,
Concentrate : Copper -bearing material from the f l o t a t i o n proeeee;
contains 15% to 30% p l u s v a r i o u s q u a n t i t i e s of s u l f u r , iron
and other impurf tiea,
Concentrating: See beneff c i a t i on.
Concentrator : A plant where ore or metal is freed and eeparated
frm i t 8 containing rock or e a r t h , The concentration of ores
always proceeds i n steps or stages, e . g , , crushing, s i z i n g
and f l l o t a t i a n to produce a concentrate,
Convertel:: A brick-Pined c y l i n d r i c a l vessel i n the smelter f o r
proceseing molten copper matte from the reverberatory furnace ;
the i m p u r i t i e s , p r i n c i p a l l y iron and s u l f u r , are removed by
blowing air through the molten bath; the r e s u l t is b l i s t e r
copper, about 99% pure,
Copper powder: Fjlnely divided copper p a r t i c l e s produced by
(1) high velocity atomization of molten copper with stream
of compressed gas, ateam or water (2) gaseous reduction of
f i n e l y divided oxides and (3) p r e c i p i t a t i o n from s o l u t i o n s .
Crusher : A machine f o r crushing rock or other m a t e r i a l s . Among
the various types of crushers a r e the b a l l m i l l , gyratory
crusher, rod m i l l , r o l l s , stamp m i l l and tube m i l l .
Development: The process ~f preparing an orebody f o r mining;
sinking a s h a f t and driving haulage tunnels f o r an under-ground
mine, or removing the overburden f o r an open-pit
mine; i n s t a l l i n g c r u s h e r s , c o n c e n t r a t o r s , t r a n s p o r a t i o n ,
power and water l i n e s , o f f i c e s , shops, warehouses, e t c .
Dump: The s i t e for dispaesal of waete rock from the mine, or
slag from the smelter; may be extremely bow-grade or where
dump leaching takea place,
E l e c t r o l y t i c deposition: The production of a metal from a
solution containing i t s s a l t s by the passage of an e l e c t r i c
current through the s o l u t i o n . (see Electrowinning)
Electraly t i c r e f i n e r y : The process i n which f i r e - r e f ined copper
anode8 are immersed i n an acid solution with pure copper
cathode s t a r t e r s h e e t s . An e l e c t r i c current pasaed between
them deposita 99,99% pure copper on the cathodee.
Electrowinning: Recovery of a metal from an ore by means of
electrochemical proceases. (see E l e c t r o l y t i c deposition)
E l e c t r o l y t i c winning process, wherein copper from copper
s u l f a t e (leach) solution is e l e c t r o p l a t e d onto cathodes,
ready f o r market.
Exploration: The process of locating and proving t h a t a
mineral occurrence i s indeed an orebody; t h a t i s , deter -
mfnfng, t h a t it is large enough, contains enough copper
to be mined p r o f i t a b l y .
Ferro-molybdenum: Ferro -molybdenum i s a. f e r r o a l l o y which
considerably increaees the mechanical and physical grop-e
r t i e%r lo f s t e e l $ ,
Fire r e f i n i n g : Last step i n a smelter wherein molten b l i s t e r
copper from the converter i s deposited i n the r e f i n i n g (or
casting) furnace and gas blown through i t to remove more
of the impurities, p r i n c i p a l l y oxygen. Also, general term
for pyrsrnetallurgical r e f i n i n g or smelting.
P l a t products: A rectangular or square solid section of
r e l a t i v e l y great length i n proportion to thickness.
Included i n the designation " f l a t product" depending
on the width and thickness, are plate, sheet, s t r i p
and bar. Alao included is the product known as " f l a t
wire.
Fl~tation: The process of mixing powdered ore with water and
chemical reagents to separate the m e t a l l i c p a r t i c l e s from
the waste rock; the m e t a l l i c p a r t i c l e s a r e collected and
d r i e d and t h i s concentrate i s sent to the smelter f o r f i r e
ref Sining *
Flux: Ar~y chemical or rock added to an ore to a s s i s t i n f ts
reduet:ion by Rest, euch ss s i l i c a and limestone with capper
ore i n a convertor furnace.
kngue : Undeeired minerals associated with ore ; that pokt%on
sf ths ore rejected a s t a i l i n g i n the f l o t a t i o n process.
Hydrome t a l l u r g y : The treatment of o r e s , concentrates and
sther metal-bearing m t e r i a l s by wet processes, usually
invol~ring the solution of some component and i t s gubse-quent
recovery from the s o l u t i o n . (see Leaching)
Ingot and Ingot bar: Refinery shape8 employed for a l l o y pro-duction
(not f a b r i c a t i o n ) . Both used for remelting. Ingots
usually weigh from 20 to 35 l b s . and ingot bars from 50 to
70 I b g ~ Both usually notched t o f a c i l i t a t e breaking into
smaller pfeces.
Leach ma:er%al: Material suf f i c i e n t l y mineralized to the
extent: that f t can be economically recovered by aebectively
dissolving the wanted mineral i n a s u i t a b l e solvent,
Leach pi1.e: Mineralized materials stocked l~lo a s to permit
wanted minerals to be efEeetiveEy and s e l e c t i v e l y dissolved
by application of a s u i t a b l e s o l u t e l
Leaching: A prsceas of using a weak s u l f u r i c acfd solution to
dfsaolve copper from low-grade oxide ores; may take place
i n V B ~ S h~ea ps , dumps or i n s i t u ( i n p l a c e ) .
Matte : A mixture of s u l f u r , iron and copper containing approx-imately
20'33 to 45% copper tapped from reverberatory furnace
i n the smelter.
M i l l : The f a c i l i t y containing rod m i l l s ( i f used) b a l l m i l l s
and f l o t a t i o n c a l l s where t h e o r e i e ground and copper cm-centrate
e x t r a c t e d . A1 so eal l e d the cqncentre t o r . (see
Concentrator)
Open-pit mining: A surface mining method i n which overlying rock
and s o i l are removed to expose the orebody which is then d r i l l e d ,
blasted and loaded i n t o trucka or r a i l r o a d ears f o r haulage from
the p f t .
Ore : Ros:k containing enough mineral, value to warrant the expense
of mining it.
Brebody: Generally a golid and f a i r l y continuous maee of ore which
may iraclude low-grade and waste a s well oe pay ore, but is i n d i -
vidualized by form or character frm adjoining country rock.
mide ore: Ore containing copper minerals which have bean a l t e r e d
by oxidation or weathering process.
Fe%letiz!Lng: A method In which f i n e l y divided material i a r o l l e d
i n a drum sr on an inclined disk so t h a t the p a r t i c l e s c l i n g
together and r o l l up i n t o emall, spherical p e l l e t e .
Pipe:: St;ssmlees tube conforming t o the p r t i c u b a r dimensions,
c o m e ~ r e i a l l y known as "gstandard pfpe eizes, g8
Porphyry copper: a, Disseminated copper minerals i n a large
body of porphyry. b. In the comercia1 sense, the term is not
restricted to ore i n porphyry but is applied to depoeits char-acter:
lxed by huge s i z e , g a r t i c u f a r l y with respect to horizontal
dimension, uniform dissemination and law-average -per -ton copper
content.
Pregnant solu tbon : A value -bearing solution i n a hydrome t a l burgical
operation,
Prospeet:Lng: The process of searching f o r new mineral d e p b s i t s .
P.gm:ometa:L$urgy: Metallurgy involved i n winning and r e f i n i n g metals
where heat i t 3 used, as i n r o a s t i n g and smelting. It is the most
important and o l d e s t of the e x t r a c t i v e processes.
Rebated ground f a c i l i t i e s : Roads, power and water l i n e s , o f f i c e s ,
shops, warehouses, e t c ,
Reverberatory furnace : In the smelter, the furnace in which copger
concen trateea are me1 ted , slag drawn off and molten copper -bearing
matte tapped f o r f u r t h e r processing.
Rod : A round, hexagonal or octagonal s o l i d s e c t i o n . Round rod
f o r f u r t h e r processing i n t o wire (known as "hot-rolled rod ,"
"wire--rod," or "redraw wire") i s furnished coiled. Rod f o r
other uses i s furnished i n s t r a i g h t lengths.
Rod m i l l : A r o t a t i n g horizontal steel. cylinder i n which steel.
rods i,ni t i a l l y grind the crushed ore.
Shape : Ai ealid s e c t i o n , other than rectangular, square or
standard rod and wire a c t i o n s , furnished i n s t r a i g h t lengths.
Shapes1 are usually made by e x t r u e i o n b u t may also be fabricated
by drabwing. ,
Sheet: aee F l a t products.
Slag: Wa.ste rock from the m e l t e r , The black l a v a - l i k e material
i a primarily iron and s i l i c a ,
Slurry: A liquid mixture of f i n e l y ground p a r t i c l e s of rock and
minerals i n water.
Smelt; smelting: Any m e t a l l u r g i c a l operat'ion i n which metal i s
reparted by fusion from those irnpuri t i e s with which i t may be
chernf c:ally combined or physically mixed, such a s i n ores.
Smelter : In the United S t a t e s , smelting works; an establishment
where ores are smelted.
J
Smelting: The chemical reduction of a metal from its ore by a
process usually invoZvfng fusion, eo t h a t the earthy and other
impurities separating as l i g h t e r and more f u s i b l e elags, can
r e a d i l y be removed from the reduced metal.
Sponge i r o n : Either poroue or powdered iron produced d i r e c t l y
without fusion.
Sulfide clre : Ore composed of copper, s u l f u r and usually i r o n
along with the v a r i o u s o t h e r minerals making up the host
rock.
Tailing pond: Area closed a t lower end by constraining wall or
dams t o which m i l l e f f l u e n t s a r e run. Clear water may be
returned a f t e r settlement i n dam, via penetock(s9 and piping.
Taf l i n g e : The finely-ground reeidue or waste materials contained
i n the ore remaining a f t e r floating off the copper-bearing
concentrate ,
Tailings dam: One t o which s l u r r y i s t r a n s p o r t e d , t h e s o l i d e
s e t t l i n g while t h e l i q u i d may be withdrawn.
Tube : A hollow product of round or any other cross-eection,
having a continuous periphery.
Underground mining : Extraction of ore through v e r t i c a l ahaf ts
from the surface or horizontal tunnels d r i f t s or cross-cuts
d r i v e n i n t o the orebody.
Vat : A v e s s e l or tub i n which ore is washed or subjected t o
chemical treatment, Used as a synonym for tank.
V e r t i c a l l y i n t e g r a t e d : A combining of business firms engaged
in d i f f e r e n t phaaes sf the manufacture and d i s t r i b u t i o n of
a produc t i n t ~an i n t e r a c t i n g whole.
Wire: A s o l i d section, including rectangular f l a t wire but
excluding other flat products, furnished i n c o i l s o r on
spools, r e e f s o r bricke. F l a t wire m y a l s o be furnished
i n st:raight l e n g t h s ,
Wire bar: Refinery shape f o r r o l l i n g i n t o rod (and subeequent
drawing i n t o wire) s t r i p or shape. Approximately 34 t o 5 i n .
square i n crose-eectfon, u s u a l l y from 38 t o 54 i n , in lehgth
and weighing from 135 t o 420 l b s . Tapered a t both ends when
used f o r r o l l i n g i n t o rod f o r subsequent wire drawing and may
be unpofnted when used for r o l l i n g i n t o s t r i p . Cast e i t h e r .
h o r i z o n t a l l y or v e r t i c a l l y .
Amax Incorporated . 1974 Annual Report , Amax Incorporated , New
York:, 1975.
Amax Incorporated. 1975 Annual Report, Amax Incorporated, New
York:, 1976.
Amax Incorporated. February, 1976,
h a w Inccrrporated . Securi tieas And Commission, Fom
10-M 1975, Amax Incorporated, New York, 1975. ---$ -
American Bureau of Metal S t a t i s t i c s Inc. NON-FERROUS METAL
Dm,1975, Ameriean Bureau of Metal S t a t f a t i c e Inc., New
York;, 3.976.
American moJogiea1 I n s t i t u t e . Glossary sf Geology and Related
-Scien-ces w-i t h h r i c o n Geo'logfcal I n s t i t u t e ,
Waehkngton, D. C, , 1966.
Armericm Smelting And Refining Company. 1974 Annual Report,
American Smelting And Refining Company, New York, 1975.
Asareo Incorporated. 1975 Annual Report, Aaarco Incorporated,
New York, 1976.
American Smelting And Refining @ampany. Securities And Exchange
Com~iasion, Form 10-K, 1974, American Smelting and Refining
Cofn~mrny, New York, 1974.
Asareo Incorporated . S e c u r i t i e s and Exchange Conmisaion, Form
-2- 0-El, 1975, Asarco Incorpor a t ed, New York, 1975.
The Anaconda Company. 1974 Annual Report, The Anaconda Company,
New York, 1975.
The Anaconda Company. L975 Annual R e p o r t , The Anaconda Company,
New York, 1975.
The Anaconda Company. Secur i t i e s and Comiesion, Form
10-E:, 1975, The Anaconda Company, New York, 1975. -m
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, Vole 25, No. 4 (April 1973) :35 -47.
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-of Copper From Pr imary Domestic Sources . Bureau of Mines
Information Circular 8598, 1973.
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terrna, U. S. Dept. of the I n t e r i o r , Bureau of Mines, 1968.
C i t i e s Service Company, 1975,Annual Report, C i t i e s Service
Company, Oklahoma, 1976,
C i t i e s Selrvice Company. S e c u r i t i e s A& Exchange C
Form 10-K, 1975, Cities Service Company, Oklahoma, 1975.
Clay, J.A,. "Copper i n the Mining Annual +view."
Journal, London, (June 1976) :37 -41.
Continental O i l Company. 1974 Annual Report, Continental O i l
Company, Connecticut, 1975.
Continent;al O i l Company. 1975 Annual Report, Continental 011
Company, Connecticut, 1976.
Conway, Vincent J, and Threnthan, Robert E. Copper-Situation
7 Repcjrt, M e r r i l l Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. September
19751.
I"
'Copper in the Mining Annual Review. " M%nlng Journal, London
(June 1974) : 41 -44.
"Copper i n the Mining Annual Review." Mining Journal, London
(June 1975) :45 -48.
Cyprus Mines Corporation. 1973 Annual Report, Cyprus Minee
Corporation, C a l i f o r n i a , 1974.
Cyprus Mines Corporation. 1974 Annual Report, Cyprus Mines
Corporation, C a l i f o r n i a , 1975.
Cyprus Minee Corporation, S e c u r i t i e s And Exchange Commiesion
Form 10-K, 1974, Cyprue Mines Corporation, C a l i f o r n i a , 1974.
Cyprus Minee Corporation. S e c u r i t i e s And Exchange Commission
F- orm1 -1Q-K, 1975, Cyprus Mines Co r p o r a t i o n , Ca l i f o r n i a , 1975.
Dimock , Itober t R. "Solution Mining, I' Mining Engineering , Vol .
28, No. 2 (February 1976) :58-61.
Evans, Lamar and Sheffer, Herman W. "Bump and Heap Leaching Prac-t
i c e s i n the Western United State~a." Mining, Congress Journal,
Vol. 54, No. 9, (September 1968) :96-100.
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December 197G.
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Mnt:& 12 Bureau of Mines, Waehington,
Dect2mber 1975,
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R-ev-iew , Vol. 6 3 , No. 17 (April, 27, 1974) :I, 8-10.
&if fi th, W.A. e t a1 , 'Development of the Roa~t-Leach-Electrowin
Process f o r Lakeshore," Hecla Mining Company, Wallace, Idaho,
1973.
Hecla Mining Cmpany. 1974, Annual Report, Hecla Mining Company ,
Idaho, 1975.
Hecla Mining Company, 1975 Annual Report, Hecla Mining Company,
Ida110 , 2 976.
"Hydrometallurgy . Engineering and Journal, Vol. 177, No, 6
(dune 1976) :244 -46.
I n s p i r a t i o n Consolidated Copper Company. 1974 Annual Report, In-s
p i r a t i o n Consolidated Copper Cmpany, Arizona, 1975,
I n a p i r a t i o n Consolidated Copper Company. 1975 Annual Report, In-s
p i r a tion Consolidated Copper Company, A r i zona, 1976,
Kennecott Copper Corporation. 1974 Annual Report, Kenneco tt
Copper Corporation, New York, 1975.
Kennecott Copper Corporation. 1975 Annual Report, Kennecott
Copper Carpsrat ion, New York, 1976'.
Kennecot t Copper Corporation. Securi t i e s and Exchange Commission
Forrn 20-K, 1974, b n n e c o t t Copper Corporation, New Ysrk, 1974.
Leseman, Robert H. "Copper-Huge Stock Buildup W i l l Slow Market
Recwery . " Engiaeerine, and Mining Journal, Vol . 177, No. 3,
(March 1976) :88-91.
Ei, Ta M, and Carter, Russ. "Pinto Valley Copper Mine - Blue-print
for Insured Productivity." , Vol.
27, No. 6 (~una 1976) :25 -33.
McMsahon, A.D, 4 Materials Survey, Bureau of Minee In-fortnation
Circular 8225, 1965.
Newmont Mining Corporation. 1974 Annual Newmont Mining
Corporation, New York, 1975.
Newmont Mining Corporation. 1975 Annual Report, Newmont Mining
Corporati on, New York, 1676,
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Form 10-K, 1975, Nemont Mining Corporation, New York, 1975.
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kneering and Journal, Vol. 177, No. 5 (May 1976):97.
i
$cC _ Pennzoil Company. 1973 Annual Report, Pennzoil Company, Texas, 1974.
Pennzoil Company. 1975 Annual Report, Pennzoil Company, Texas, 1976.
*I
a
PennzoPl Cmpangr. Prospects offering debentures. Pennzoil Company,
May 1975.
Pennzoil Company. S e c u r i t i e s and Conmission, Form 1 0 4 ,
1975, Pennzoi l Company. Texas, 1975.
Perlman, Louis, "Copper -There has never been a year l i k e 1973, "
end Mining Journal, Vol. 175, No. 3 (March 1974):
Phelpe Dodge Corporation. 1974 Anrlual b p o r t , Phelpa Dodge Corpor-a
t i o n , Mew York, 1975,
Phelps Dodge Corporation. 1975 Annual Report, Phelps Dodge Corpor -
a t i o n , New Y ~ r k , 1976.
Phelps Dodge Corporation. Prospectus offering debenturers, June 1971.
Phelps Dodge Corporation. S e c u r i t i e s Exchange Commieaion
F-_o rm -1&K, 1974, Phelps Dodge Corporat ion, New York, 1974.
Phelps Dodge Corporation. Securltkea and Exchange Colnwission
Form 10-8, 1975, Phslps Dodge Corporation, New York, 1975. -9
P h i l l i p s , Ken A. THE COPPER INDUSTRY - S t a t i s t i c s For 1974
Compared With Other 'Years Arizona, The United S t a t e s Grid
The World. Arizona Department of Mineral Resourcee ,
Phoenix, Arizona, February, 1975,
P h i l l i p s , Ken A. and Miller, Glenn A,. THE COPPER INDUSTRY -
S t a t i s t i c s For Other Yeate Arizona
The United States , Arizona Department ;)of -l Mineral Resources, Phoenix, Arizona, February 19'16.
Ranchers Errplorati on and Development Corpora tion. 1974 An-nual
Ranchere Exploration and Development Cor-p
o r a t f m , New Mexico, 197%.
Ranchers Exploration and Development Corporation. 1975 An-nual
, Ranchers Exploration and Development Cor-poration,
New Mexico, 1976.
Roberte, Rollin W. San Xavier Vat Leach Plant operation, pre-sented
a t the 1974 Mining Convention/Exposi t i o n of the
American Mining Congress, Las Vegae, Nevada, American
Mining Cmgresa, Washington, D. 6. , 1974.
Schroeder, Harold J. "Copper in 1974." Mineral Industry
-S u r v e ~ ~Bu, r eau of Mines, Washington, Ap r i l 1975.
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~racticss In The Western United States. Bureau of
Mines Inf omation Circular 8341, 1968.
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- ref lee t i n g World economic blues, Engineering and
Mininpr Journal, Vol . 176, No. 3 (March 1975) :90-92.
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Reaches Full Capacity. " Skillinge Mining Review, Vol.
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Material a Shortages - . S. Rept. 1975, 94th Cong.,
lot Sossion, 1975.