Ray mine
Copper mine in Arizona
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ray mine is a large copper mine in Pinal County, Arizona, near the town of Kearny, in the southwestern United States. ASARCO, a subsidiary of Grupo México, currently owns the mine, which it acquired from Kennecott Copper in 1986.[1]
Teapot mesa, above Ray Mine | |
  Ray copper mine Location in Arizona | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Kearny |
| County | Pinal County, Arizona |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 33°08′58″N 110°59′14″W |
| Production | |
| Products | Copper, sulfuric acid |
| Production | 62.0 million lbs copper |
| Financial year | 2016 |
| History | |
| Opened | 1880 |
| Owner | |
| Company | Asarco |
| Website | Ray mine website |
| Year of acquisition | 1999 |
The Ray mine has one of the largest copper reserves in the United States, with proven and probable reserves of 835.7 million tonnes (822,500,000 long tons; 921,200,000 short tons) of ore grading 1.73% copper, as of December 31, 2018[update].[2][3][4] Copper from the Ray mine goes to the Hayden Smelter.
Mineral Creek, a tributary of the Gila River, flows north to south through the Ray Mine property.[5] It is dammed before reaching the mine pit at the north by a double-curvature concrete arch dam, Big Box Canyon Dam,[6] which outlets into an underground tunnel that diverts the creek around the mine pit till it emerges into a concrete channel that connects it to the Gila River, immediately south of the Ray Mine complex. This project was privately built and is maintained by the operators of the mine.[7]
