Kennecott Copper Corporation had its start when Enos A. Wall realized the potential of copper deposits in Bingham Canyon in Utah in 1887 and acquired claims to the land. Underground mining in the area was begun in 1890, and Daniel C. Jackling and Robert C. Gemmell, both engineers, examined Wall's properties and recommended open-pit mining. In 1898, Samuel Newhouse and Thomas Weir formed the Boston Consolidated Mining Company.

Jackling and Wall formed the Utah Copper Company in 1903, and the company immediately started a pilot mill at Copperton. With financing from Guggenheim Exploration, the first digging began in 1906. The same year, the Kennecott Mines Company was formed in Alaska, named after explorer and naturalist Robert Kennicott. A smelter was also started at Garfield by the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) to refine the Bingham ore.

In 1907, a railroad was built to transport the ore, and the Utah Copper mill in Magna started operation. Utah Copper and Boston Consolidated merged in 1910, and in 1915, Kennecott acquired 25 percent interest in the company. In 1936, Kennecott acquired all the assets of the Utah Copper Company.

During World War II, Bingham set new world records for copper mining and produced about 30 percent of the copper used by the Allies. Many women worked in the mines, mills, and smelters.

By 1961, Kennecott's copper mines included four large open pits in the Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada, and one underground mine in Chile. As the mine in Utah expanded, it subsumed the land on which the town of Bingham was built, and the city ceased to exist in 1971.

In 1981, a world-wide fall in copper prices brought about the acquisition of Kennecott by Standard Oil of Ohio (SOHIO). Production was interrupted from 1985 to 1987. In the latter year, British Petroleum acquired SOHIO, and Kennecott became part of BP Minerals America.

Modernization and implementation of clean-air provisions have made the operation one of the most efficient and clean mining and smelting operations in the world.

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[[1]] History of Kennecott Copper Corporation