Kennecott's Copperton Concentrator

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Ore from Bingham Canyon mine arrives by a 5-mile long conveyor (3 miles of which are in a tunnel through the mountain) from the crusher within Bingham Canyon mine to the concentrator. Conveying the ore instead of hauling it in trucks is more energy efficient and reduces air emissions.

The concentrator removes much waste rock and concentrates the minerals so they can more easily be processed by the smelter. About 150,000 tons of ore are crushed and ground every day. The finely ground wet ore passes through a flotation process which separates minerals from the waste. This concentrate (about 1,125,000 tons are produced each year) contains about 26% copper, plus some gold and silver, whereas the original ore is 0.6% copper. The concentrate is pumped as a wet slurry for 17 miles through a pipeline to the smelter. Tailings (the barren waste material) is pumped to the huge tailings impoundment at Magna.