Utah Kennecott Copper Mine – Things To Do in Salt Lake City

The Bingham Canyon Copper Mine, also known as the Kennecott Copper Mine, is one of the most amazing sights to see when you visit Utah!

One of the most interesting things to do in Salt Lake City is to take a short trip out of Salt Lake City to the Utah Kennecott Copper Mine. For over 100 years, this mountain-turned-hole has been producing copper and precious metals. The Bingham Canyon Copper Mine is the largest man-made hole in history, with over 7 billion tons of rock removed, it measures almost 3 miles wide and 3/4-mile deep. It is also known as the richest copper mine in history. Over it’s lifetime, the Utah Kennecott Copper Mine has produced enough copper to rewire all of the homes and apartments in North America and all of the cars in the United States. In recent years, the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine produced as much as 25% of all of the copper consumed in the United States. Gold and silver, as well as important minerals like molybdenum, are also extracted from the mine.

You can see the steps or terraces in the picture above, each one was a road created and used to transport materials out of the mine. There are over 500 miles of dirt road in the Utah Kennecott Copper Mine, enough to stretch from Salt Lake City to Denver. The roads may look small from a distance, but are actually wider than an eight-lane freeway!

To learn more about the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine and visit one of the top tourist attractions in Utah, please join us on the UTAH COPPER MINE TOUR. *Due to a massive landslide in 2013, access to the Kennecott Visitors Center has been restricted. Plans are underway to reopen the mine to visitors, but no decisions have been made as of yet. As such, the 2014 start date for our UTAH COPPER MINE TOUR has not yet been set, but please check back with us in the spring for an update.