World Art Utopia

Bingham Canyon Mine

Terraced walls of the Bingham Canyon open-pit copper mine in Utah, with haul roads cut into the slopes and low cloud drifting over the pit
Artwork FileUnited States

Bingham Canyon Mine

StandingMay 2025

No artist: dug by the Utah Copper Company and its successor Kennecott, now Rio Tinto · Oquirrh Mountains, Salt Lake County, Utah, USA

Photo: Farragutful / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), as also published in Street Art Utopia.

Bingham Canyon Mine, also called the Kennecott Copper Mine, is an open-pit copper mine in Utah’s Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City. Large-scale open-pit mining began here in 1906. The terraced pit is now more than half a mile deep and over 2 miles across. Source Source Source Checked

Standing May 2025: a dated photo shows the active, terraced pit, and Deseret News reported visitor tours open for the 2025 season. Rio Tinto says the mine runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; its Visitor Experience is closed for the season until 2027 bookings open in spring. Source Source Source Checked

More photos

Black-and-white panorama of a steep mountainside cut by the first terraces and waste dumps of the Utah Copper and Boston Consolidated mines
1907 The first terraced copper minesPhoto: Walter Renton Ingalls (1865–1956) / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Early color photo of the curved, stepped benches of the open pit with rail tracks and power poles, mountains behind
1942 Rail benches in wartimePhoto: Andreas Feininger / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Aerial view of the huge terraced pit and the canyon below it, with the Oquirrh Mountains and a valley beyond
1972 Aerial view of the pitPhoto: Bruce McAllister / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

đź’ˇ 4 things to know

  1. Over half a mile deepThe pit is more than half a mile deep and over 2 miles across. The Utah Geological Survey called it the world’s deepest open-pit mine. Source Source Source Checked
  2. An open-pit pioneerSmall underground mines worked the canyon from the late 1880s. In 1906 the district became the first in the world to start large-scale open-pit copper mining. Source Source Checked
  3. The April 2013 landslidesOn April 10, 2013, two huge landslides carrying about 145 million tons of rock buried the old visitor center site. Monitoring predicted the slide, and no one was hurt. Source Source Source Checked
  4. Ten lookouts in 91 yearsKennecott built 10 observation points or visitor centers between 1928 and 2019. The newest, the Rio Tinto Kennecott Visitor Experience, opened in 2019 on the edge of the pit. Source Source Checked

đź“Ť Where it is

The Rio Tinto Kennecott Visitor Experience runs in season, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. A shuttle takes visitors to the mine overlook. Tickets are $6, children under 5 are free, and booking ahead is advised. It is closed for the season now; 2027 bookings open in spring. Utah Geological Survey (2017) also describes an unstaffed public overlook near the crest of the Oquirrh Mountains, reached by rough roads from about June 1 to November 1. Source Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

Opens a Google Maps search for the coordinates (40.523, -112.151); no Street View panorama was checked for this file.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 1906

    Large-scale open-pit copper mining begins · Utah Geological Survey

  2. 1907

    Panorama of the early terraced mines, printed in The Engineering and Mining Journal (7 Sep 1907) · Walter Renton Ingalls, Commons

  3. 1928

    First observation point for tourists built · Rio Tinto Kennecott history

  4. 1942Nov

    Color photo of the terraced pit and rail lines · Andreas Feininger, Commons

  5. 1972Jul

    Aerial view of the pit and canyon · Bruce McAllister (NARA), Commons

  6. 201310 Apr

    Two massive landslides bury the old visitor site · Utah Geological Survey

  7. 2019

    New Rio Tinto Kennecott Visitor Experience opens · Rio Tinto Kennecott history

  8. 201922 May

    Terraced walls under low cloud (post photo) · camera date (Farragutful, Commons)

  9. 202526 May

    Active terraced pit under blue sky · camera date (Hansueli Krapf, Commons)

  10. 20253 Jun

    Visitor tours open for the 2025 season · news

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark dated records and reports. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

Deseret NewsNews, 3 Jun 2025

Tours of world’s largest mine now available for the 2025 season

“Sitting over a half-mile in depth and over 2 miles across, Rio Tinto Kennecott is the largest mine in the world.”

Read the source →

Utah Geological Survey (Survey Notes)Feature, 18 Jul 2017

GeoSights: A View of the World’s Deepest Pit – Bingham Canyon Mine Overlook

“On April 10, 2013, before its scheduled annual re-opening, two massive landslides carrying about 145 million tons of rock scoured away the visitor center’s building pads, overlook, and parking lot”

Read the source →

Rio Tinto Kennecott (Groundbreakers)History story, 5 Nov 2024

The History of Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon Visitors’ Center

“Between 1928 and 2019, Kennecott built 10 different observation points or visitors’ centers in areas that provided spectacular views of the mine.”

Read the source →

âś… The facts

Location
Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah Source Source Checked
Open-pit mining began
1906 (Rio Tinto and Deseret News date the company/mine to 1903) Source Source Source Source Checked
Size
About 3,650 ft from bottom to rim (UGS, 2016) vs. over 0.75 mi (1,210 m) deep and 2.5 mi wide (Wikipedia); lean to the dated UGS figure Source Source Source Conflicting
Copper produced
More than 19 million tons Source Source Checked
Major landslide
April 10, 2013 (about 145 million tons of rock); no injuries Source Source Source Checked
National Historic Landmark
1966 (Wikipedia, citing NPS) vs. 1972 (Kennecott history, when the company signed); lean 1966 Source Source Conflicting
Status today
Active mine, operating 24/7; seasonal Visitor Experience at the overlook Source Source Checked

đź”— Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 5 November 2026. How we verify art