Copper mining in Arizona
Rank Mine County Operator Source of copper 2012 Cu Production ( million lbs )
1 Morenci Greenlee Freeport-McMoRan Copper-molybdenum ore , concentrated and leached 632
2 Ray Pinal ASARCO Copper ore , concentrated and leached 213
3 Bagdad Yavapai Freeport-McMoRan Copper-molybdenum ore , concentrated and leached 197
4 Safford Graham Freeport-McMoRan Copper ore , leached 175
5 Sierrita Pima Freeport-McMoRan Copper-molybdenum ore , concentrated and leached 157
6 Mission Complex Pima ASARCO Copper-molybdenum ore , concentrated 134
7 Miami Gila Freeport-McMoRan Copper ore , leached 66
8 Silver Bell Pima ASARCO Copper ore , leached 45.9
9 Mineral Park Mohave Mercator Minerals Copper-molybdenum ore , concentrated 40.9
10 Carlota Mine Gila KGHM Copper ore , leached 23.3
Copper mining today
This section needs to be updated . Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . ( November 2016 ) Significant active Arizona copper mines in 2012 , by order of output :
Copper mining in Arizona, a state of the United States, has been a major industry since the 19th century. In 2007 Arizona was the leading copper-producing state in the US, producing 750 thousand metric tons of copper, worth a record $5.54 billion. Arizona's copper production was 60% of the total for the United States. Copper mining also produces gold and silver as byproducts. Byproduct molybdenum from copper mining makes Arizona the nation's second-largest producer of that metal. Although copper mineralization was found by the earliest Spanish explorers of Arizona, the territory was remote, and copper could seldom be profitably mined and shipped. Early Spanish, Mexican, and American prospectors searched for gold and silver (see Silver mining in Arizona), and ignored copper. It was not until the completion of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1876 that copper became broadly economic to mine and ship to market. All copper mining was done by underground methods until the early 20th century. After the Bingham Canyon mine in Utah successfully mined a large low-grade copper deposit from a large open pit, the same technique was applied to Arizona's porphyry copper deposits. Arizona's first open pit copper mine opened at Ajo in 1917.