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Copper Open Pit Mining at the Copper Queen Mine, Cochise County, AZ

The Copper Queen Mine was a copper mine in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. Its development led to the growth of the surrounding town of Bisbee in the 1880s. Its orebody ran 23% copper, an extraordinarily high grade.[2] It was acquired by Phelps Dodge in 1885.

 

In the early 1900s, this was the most productive copper mine in Arizona.[3] While copper mining declined in the area in the 1930s and 1940s, the Copper Queen continued to be mined by the open-pit process during the years following World War II. With decreasing returns, Phelps Dodge closed it in 1985

 

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Uploaded on January 12, 2015
Taken on January 5, 2015