Description

Morenci is an open-pit copper mining complex that has been in continuous operation since 1939 and previously was mined through underground workings.

Did you know?

The Morenci mill expansion project, which achieved full rates in second-quarter 2015, expanded mill capacity from 50,000 metric tons of ore per day to approximately 115,000 metric tons of ore per day, which results in incremental annual production of approximately 225 million pounds of copper and an improvement in Morenci's cost structure.

Location

Greenlee County, Arizona, approximately 50 miles northeast of Safford on U.S. Highway 191. 

Ores

The Morenci mine is a porphyry copper deposit that has oxide, secondary sulfide mineralization, and primary sulfide mineralization. The predominant oxide copper mineral is chrysocolla. Chalcocite is the most important secondary copper sulfide mineral and chalcopyrite the dominant primary copper sulfide.

Processes and facilities

The Morenci operation consists of two concentrators capable of milling 132,000 metric tons of ore per day (mtd), which produce copper and molybdenum concentrate; a 72,500 mtd, crushed-ore leach pad and stacking system; a low-grade run-of-mine (ROM) leaching system; four SX plants; and three EW tank houses that produce copper cathode. Total EW tank house capacity is approximately 900 million pounds of copper per year. Morenci’s available mining fleet consists of one hundred and forty-one 235-metric ton haul trucks loaded by 13 shovels with bucket sizes ranging from 47 to 57 cubic meters, which are capable of moving an average of 785,000 metric tons of material per day.

Background

Phelps Dodge & Company invested $50,000 in the property in 1881, marking the New York mercantile’s first venture into mining. Through acquisition, Phelps Dodge & Company consolidated all mining operations in the district by 1921.

Description

Bagdad is an open-pit copper and molybdenum mining complex.

Did you know?

Bagdad is home to the world’s first commercial-scale concentrate leach processing facility (2003) and one of the longest continuously operating solution extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW) plants in the world (1970). An unincorporated community, Bagdad is one of two FCX “company towns;” the other is Morenci, Arizona.

Location

About 100 miles northwest of Phoenix, Arizona.

Ores

The Bagdad mine is a porphyry copper deposit containing both sulfide and oxide mineralization. Chalcopyrite and molybdenite are the dominant primary sulfides and are the primary economic minerals in the mine. Chalcocite is the most common secondary copper sulfide mineral and the predominant oxide copper minerals are chrysocolla, malachite and azurite.

Processes and facilities

The Bagdad operation consists of an 77,100 metric ton-per-day concentrator that produces copper and molybdenum concentrate, an SX/EW plant that will produce approximately 9 million pounds per year of copper cathode from solution generated by low-grade stockpile leaching, and a pressure-leach plant to process molybdenum concentrate.

Description

Sierrita is an open-pit copper and molybdenum mining complex.

Did you know?

In addition to copper and molybdenum, the mine produces rhenium, a rare and highly valued metal.

Location

20 miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona.

Ores

The Sierrita mine is a porphyry copper deposit that has oxide and secondary sulfide mineralization, and primary sulfide mineralization. The predominant oxide copper minerals are malachite, azurite and chrysocolla. Chalcocite is the most important secondary copper sulfide mineral, and chalcopyrite and molybdenite are the dominant primary sulfides.

Processes and facilities

The Sierrita operation includes a 100,000 metric ton-per-day concentrator that produces copper and molybdenum concentrate. Sierrita also produces copper from a ROM oxide-leaching system. Cathode copper is plated at the Twin Buttes EW facility, which has a design capacity of approximately 50 million pounds of copper per year. The Sierrita operation also has molybdenum facilities consisting of a leaching circuit, two molybdenum roasters and a packaging facility. The molybdenum facilities process molybdenum concentrate produced by Sierrita, from our other mines and from third-party sources.

Description

Miami includes an open-pit copper mine, a smelter and a rod mill.

Location

90 miles east of Phoenix, in the heart of Arizona’s historic Globe-Miami mining district.

Did you know?

The Miami mine historically had been the major copper producer in the Globe-Miami mining area, one of America’s premier copper mining districts.

Ores

The Miami mine is a porphyry copper deposit that has leachable oxide and secondary sulfide mineralization. The predominant oxide copper minerals are chrysocolla, copper-bearing clays, malachite and azurite. Chalcocite and covellite are the most important secondary copper sulfide minerals.

Processes and facilities

Since about 1915, the Miami mining operation had processed copper ore using both flotation and leaching technologies. The design capacity of the SX/EW plant is 200 million pounds of copper per year. Miami is no longer mining ore, but currently produces copper through leaching material already placed on stockpiles, which is expected to continue through at least 2025.

Background

The first prospecting expeditions visited the area in the 1860s. Copper was mined underground until after World War II, when the first open-pit mining began. Miami was among the first to employ “vat leaching” (1926) and precipitation plants to recover oxide minerals. It did this in conjunction with its flotation concentrator, which processed sulfide minerals. The plant’s smelter was modernized in 1974 to meet Clean Air Act standards and further modernized and expanded in 1992. The success of an SX/EW plant commissioned in 1979 led to the demise of vat leaching by the mid-1980s and ultimately the concentrator in 1986. The rod mill was commissioned in 1966 and the refinery in 1993 (the refinery was permanently closed in 2005).

Ownership

100%

Description

Safford is an open-pit copper mining complex.  

Did you know?

The Safford mine is a zero-discharge facility and one of the most environmentally advanced copper mines ever built.

Location

Southeast Arizona, 170 miles east of Phoenix.

Ores

The Safford mine includes three copper deposits that have oxide mineralization overlaying primary copper sulfide mineralization. The predominant oxide copper minerals are chrysocolla and copper-bearing iron oxides with the predominant copper sulfide material being chalcopyrite.

Processes and facilities

The property is a mine-for-leach project and produces copper cathode. The operation consists of three open pits feeding a crushing facility with a capacity of 103,500 metric tons per day. The crushed ore is delivered to leach pads by a series of overland and portable conveyors. Leach solutions feed a SX/EW facility with a capacity of 305 million pounds of copper per year. A sulfur burner plant is also in operation at Safford, providing a cost-effective source of sulphuric acid used in SX/EW operations.

Description

Chino is an open-pit copper mining complex.

Location

Grant County, New Mexico, 15 miles east of the historic mining community of Silver City.

Ores

The Chino mine is a porphyry copper deposit with adjacent copper skarn deposits. There is leachable oxide, secondary sulfide and millable primary sulfide mineralization. The predominant oxide copper mineral is chrysocolla. Chalcocite is the most important secondary copper sulfide mineral, and chalcopyrite and molybdenite the dominant primary sulfides.

Did you know?

The historic Chino mine was among the first low-grade, open-pit copper mines in the world. During 2011, mining and milling activities were restarted at the Chino mine. In April 2020, operations at Chino were suspended to address COVID-19 concerns. A review of options for restarting Chino operations was completed in the second half of 2020 and in January 2021, FCX restarted mining activities at the Chino mine at a reduced rate. Since then, Chino has been operating at approximately 50% capacity.

Processes and facilities

The Chino operation consists of a 36,000 metric ton-per-day concentrator that produces copper, and a 150 million pound-per-year SX/EW plant that produces copper cathode from solution generated by ROM leaching. The available mining fleet consists of nineteen 240-metric ton haul trucks loaded by three shovels with bucket sizes ranging from 31 to 48 cubic meters, which are capable of moving an average of 180,000 metric tons of material per day.

Description

Tyrone is an open-pit copper mining complex.

Did you know?

The Tyrone mine has been in operation since 1967.

Location

Grant County New Mexico, 10 miles south of the historic mining community of Silver City.

Ores

The Tyrone mine is a porphyry copper deposit. Mineralization is predominantly secondary sulfide consisting of chalcocite with leachable oxide mineralization consisting of chrysocola.

Processes and facilities

Tyrone’s copper processing facilities consist of a solution extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW) operation with a maximum capacity of approximately 100 million pounds of copper per year.

Description

Henderson is an underground molybdenum mining operation.

Did you know?

The Henderson mill site is located 15 miles west of the mine. The mine and the mill are connected by the world's largest conveyor of its kind: a 10-mile conveyor tunnel under the Continental Divide and an additional five-mile surface conveyor.

Location

Approximately 42 miles west of Denver, Colorado.

Ores

The Henderson mine is a porphyry molybdenum deposit with molybdenite as the primary sulfide mineral.

Processes and facilities

The Henderson operation consists of a large block-cave underground mining complex feeding a concentrator with a current capacity of approximately 32,000 metric tons per day. Henderson has the capacity to produce approximately 15 million pounds of molybdenum per year. In response to market conditions, the Henderson molybdenum mine has operated at reduced rates since 2015.

Description

Climax is an open-pit molybdenum mining operation.

Did you know?

The Climax mine began commercial operations in May 2012. FCX operates the Climax and Henderson molybdenum mines in a flexible manner to meet market requirements.

Location

Approximately 13 miles northeast of Leadville, Colorado.

Ores

The Climax mine is a porphyry molybdenum deposit with molybdenite as the primary sulfide mineral.

Processes and facilities

The Climax mine was commissioned in mid-2012, and includes a 25,000 metric ton-per-day mill facility. Climax has the capacity to produce approximately 30 million pounds of molybdenum per year.

Background

In 1995, the Climax mine was placed on care-and-maintenance status by its previous owner.