Over the years, the partnership between MineARC Systems and Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Utah Mine has grown tremendously. As a result, this mine has quickly become one of MineARC’s largest customers in North America.
MineARC is approaching a new and exciting challenge within Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Copper – Bingham Canyon Mine, located about 45 kilometres (28 miles) southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah. The C-6 Tunnel project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016.
In addition to several active projects that all use MineARC Refuge Chambers, the new C-6 Tunnel project will include three custom design refuge chambers for the Bingham Canyon Mine site.
One of the custom features involved in the project is designing the chambers around existing cutouts within the tunnel. Each will be an eight-person 36-hour refuge chamber mounted on rails and pulled back into its permanent location. Rail mounting the shelter will assist in getting the unit into place. The rail mounting will also affect the ease of movement for servicing and maintenance of the chambers.
MineARC is thrilled to be working on this custom design for Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Copper Mine.
Did You Know?…
- Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Utah Copper Bingham Canyon Mine is the largest open-pit copper mine in the world, located about 45 kilometres (28 miles) southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah.
- At 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) wide and 1.2 kilometres (0.75 miles) deep it is considered the largest excavation on the planet and can be seen from outer space.
- The Utah Copper Company purchased the Boston Consolidated Mining Company in 1912 and they themselves were purchased in1936 by the Kennecott Copper Corporation, at that time the workforce was around 5,000 workers.
- A review of its history reveals a series of investments in new technologies which together with a strict discipline of good maintenance has kept the mine leading the world in terms of its productivity.