Kennecott Utah Copper still studying ways to keep mine operational for next 30 years

Enterprise, The, Feb 11, 2008 by Olson, Debbi

Since 1906 Kennecott Utah Copper's Bingham Canyon Mine has been an important player in Utah's economy by being a major employer, a major supplier of resources used by members of the community and through its philanthropic contributions into the community.

"Kennecott has a great standing in the community and we want that to continue," said Andrew Harding, who took over as chief executive officer of KUC in October 2007. "Causing the mine to have a longer life that allows us to be economically sufficient is expected to continue."

Under Harding's new leadership, and through a program called "Giant Leap," which the company started roughly three years ago, KUC is looking to expand the life of the Bingham Canyon Mine past the formerly projected 2019 to 2036, based on new studies and technologies that may make it economically feasible to extract copper and other natural resources at the mine beyond what had been projected several years ago.

"We're looking at a new pushback that would see us expanding to the south," Harding said. "We know there is ore there that would allow the mine to continue to 2036. We're doing an engineering study to see how we're going to get to that, the approaches, to see if it's economical to go there."

The "Giant Leap" program includes a research team of 25 employees who are embarking on resource development using new technologies that will study addition-al pushbacks of the open pit and possible underground expansion. KUC is currently involved in a drilling program throughout the mine that provides data on what copper grade is there and what type and how much waste must be moved to access it.

"The economic conditions will also determine how we look at this option [of the new pushback]," Harding said. "This signals our intention, however, it has not been fully engineered yet, so it's not guaranteed."

If a new south pushback is approved by KUC's parent company, Rio Tinto, work could begin as soon as 2010 to begin moving dirt, which typically takes five to six years before the copper is actually extracted from the site.

It is estimated that, to date, 17.5 million tons of copper have been extracted from the Bingham Canyon Mine, "and we still have that much left," Harding said. "With today's technology, I don't expect that it would take us another 104 years to extract that same amount."

The accessibility of that ore, and the quality of the grade. are also factors KUC considers in continuing mining operations.

"Bingham's ore body is so widely disseminated that there are, below the surface, a number of areas that aren't as well defined as they might be," said Ted Hinebaugh, general manager of mining for KUC. "There is considerable mineralization that could extend that mine life, but, right now, it's not economically proven. Bingham has a lot of mineralization to consider. What might not be economic today, because of technology, it may very well be economic tomorrow."

In addition to the study of a new south pushback, studies are being done regarding the feasibility of underground mining - an option Harding said will only go forward when all other resources for open pit mining have been exhausted. The decision to go underground would come five to six years before the expected closure of the open pit mining process in order to make preparations for underground work.

"From the time we decide to go underground from the time we get the ore out of the underground mine, we think it will take about six years," former KUC CEO William Champion said last year. "If we're able to find additional open pit reserves then we can put that decision off [to go underground] by a few years or so before we would have to actually commit to that type of an operation."

To keep the Bingham Canyon Mine operating economically, Harding has already implemented practices that continue to save the company money in operational expenses.

Prior to being named CEO in October, Harding was global practice leader for mining in Rio Tinto's Technology and Innovation Group, where he focused on leading performance improvement initiatives. Those initiatives included finding ways to extend the life of tires on mining vehicles used at Bingham Canyon and obtaining better fuel efficiency. While tires may not readily come to mind as an important mining operation, the 80 trucks operating at the mine required new tires every nine months at a cost of $20,000 per tire, and each truck needed six tires.

"In 2004 tire makers informed the mining industry that they would not be able to keep up with the demand for tires in the mining industry," Harding said. "We had to figaure out a way to improve the life of the tires so that we didn't run out of tires and have a huge gap before getting replacements."

Rio Tinto put Harding in charge of finding ways to increase the life of the tires. Improvements came through teaching drivers to be more proactive by not driving through potholes or over rocks that can damage tires, as well as creating a global ordering system company-wide, instead of per mine, so that all tires within Rio Tinto's operations could be accounted for and used where needed rather than facing the possibility of one operation having an excess of tires not being used.