70 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | May | Jun 14

Standing at the top of the Bingham Canyon

Mine and peering down into the spacious

pit at myriad activities of numerous

giant haul trucks and other massive mine

equipment, Eric Cannon surveys the scene

and says, “just a big sandbox with a bunch

of cool toys.”

Cannon’s assessment of daily mining

operations at the 108-year-old mine

(production began in 1906) has a sliver of

truth to it – big boys playing with easily the

biggest toys one can imagine in a mine that

is more than 3,000 feet deep, 2.5 miles wide

and covers 1,900 acres – but the reality is that

KUCC workers and local construction firms

have been putting in long, arduous, round-

the-clock hours in some cases in an effort to

get back up to speed in recent months.

It’s been more than a year since Rio

Tinto-owned Kennecott Utah Copper

Corporation (KUCC) was rocked with the

largest landslide in North American history –

more than 145 million tons of earth – on April

10, 2013, enough to bury New York’s Central

Park under more than 60 feet of debris.

Since then, crews have furiously

worked to return the mine to full

operational capacity, but challenges still

remain at the Bingham Canyon site, which

is one of the largest open pit copper mines

in the world.

Cannon, who serves as a Contract

Coordinator with KUCC, was in charge of

commissioning all new equipment used

during the slide recovery process, which

shut down operations temporarily.

Fortunately, geological engineers

knew the slide was coming in advance

and KUCC made sure no one was in the

immediate vicinity. There were no injuries;

however, several pieces of large equipment

– including 13 giant haul trucks (many of

them Komatsu 930E models that are 29 ft.

wide, 51 ft. long, and have 12.5 ft. tires) –

were buried. A total of 16 pieces of large

equipment have been recovered, which

includes one giant electric shovel, two

electric drills, two water trucks, one front-

end loader and 10 haul trucks. Four of the

13 haul trucks buried are back in service.

“We knew the slide was coming,” said

Cannon. “It was surreal to see the amount

of earth that moved. It took us awhile to

get back up and running like this.”

Ground movement was originally

detected in February 2013, and geologists

carefully monitored acceleration rates

as they increased. KUCC officials took

preemptive measures to relocate

employees, facilities and roads weeks in

advance of the slide. On the morning of

April 10, work was halted and all employees

from the lower portion of Bingham Canyon

Mine were moved by 11:00 a.m. The slide hit

at 9:30 p.m. that night.

“We are currently facing tremendous

challenges as we recover equipment

and move dirt and rock from the

lower pit,” added Kyle Bennett, Senior

Kennecott Slide: One Year LaterOne of world’s largest open pit copper mines took seven months to recover from slide; company still faces challenges in returning to capacity production.By Brad Fullmer

> Owner Spotlight: Rio Tinto/Kennecott

May | Jun 14 | UTAH CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | 71

Communications Advisor for KUCC/Rio

Tinto. “Our employees have risen to the

occasion by moving our business forward

in a safe and resourceful manner. We have

slowed some projects as we reallocate

capital and resources. Bennett said

recovery efforts will continue for likely

close to two more years, until early 2016.

Despite slowed production, the mine

continues to produce large amounts

of copper (196,000 tons in 2013), gold

(192,300 ounces), silver (2.1 million ounces),

molybdenum (5,700 tons), and sulphuric

acid (922,590 tons).

Bennett and Cannon offered praise to

local contractors and equipment suppliers

for their quick response and timely efforts

in helping recover equipment and get the

main access road reopened by the end of

October, seven months ahead of schedule.

Some of the firms involved in this recovery

process included Granite Construction,

W.W. Clyde, Wheeler Machinery, Komatsu,

and Arnold Machinery.

“We have made tremendous progress

with our business recovery,” said Bennett.

“We have moved millions of tons of

material to stabilize areas of concern and

clean up the bottom of the pit, and we

reconstructed our mine access road and

continue to deliver and process new ore.”

Bennett added that while no new

slides are expected in the immediate

future, KUCC geotechnical experts are

utilizing sophisticated geotechnical-

monitoring equipment, including radar

and ground probes, to determine if a slide

would occur on the northeast wall of the

mine. n

> Owner Spotlight: Rio Tinto/Kennecott

View from the top of Bingham Canyon mine at Kennecott, just to the right of where the slide hit last April. (left) Giant 320-ton haul trucks carry ore from the pit to the crusher. (photos by Dana Sohm)