Barry Fotheringham
barry@barryfotheringham.com
"Your Tucson Realtor®"
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CENTURY 21 Ability Realty
7360 E. 22nd Street
Tucson, AZ 85710
(800) 528-0626 Toll Free
(520) 721-6365 Fax
Contact me by email at:
barry@barryfotheringham.com
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Arizona is nicknamed "The Copper State" for good reason. Among the many ore deposits scattered throughout the state, copper is huge. Two-thirds of the Nation's copper production comes from Arizona. Only Chile produces more copper than Arizona.
Located at 1421 West Pima Mine Road in Sahuarita, Arizona, it is possible to take a tour of one of these mines.
The first thing you will see on a tour is the Open-Pit Viewpoint. There are binocular telescopes to provide a close-up view of the trucks and shovels working in the mine. From this viewpoint, they look like matchbox toys!
There are displays of some of the vehicles and equipment used and the mine also provides typical run-of-the-mill ore samples here you can pick up as a souvenir. The Mission Mine is a quarter-mile deep, two miles long, and a mile-and-three-quarters wide. There are about 700 employees working three shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week with an annual payroll of $40 Million.
The next you can see where copper ore from the mine is ground into a fine powder and the copper minerals are separated by the froth flotation process. This air-conditioned, soundproofed platform provides an excellent view of the grinding and flotation processes.
You can also see current reclamation areas that have been worked by the now-famous ASARCows. The mine tailings are nothing more than ground-up rock with the copper minerals removed. Tailings need to be amended with some sort of organic material to produce a sustainable soil. That's where the ASARCows come in.
Feed for a small herd of cattle is spread over a small enclosure on the tailings. The ASARCows eat the hay and their hooves till some of it into the tailings along with their own "naturally produced" fertilizer. This helps produce sustainable soil that will support a mixture of native and non-native plant species. The ASARCows have been moved to an area that is presently not visible from the regular tour route. Asarco is also testing the use of bio-solids from the Pima County Waste Water Treatment Plant as a soil amendment. This helps the county with their solid waste disposal problem, and helps Asarco reclaim the tailings – a win-win solution for both parties.
For more information: 520-625-7513 orhttp://www.mineraldiscovery.com
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