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SOUTH JORDAN — Officials at Kennecott Utah Copper reached out to their employees Monday about the future in the wake of a massive slide at the Bingham Canyon Minelast week.
Nearly 800 mine employees received phone calls and emails from their supervisors, asking if they would like to take "voluntary" time off. Employees will reportedly be able to take up to several weeks of leave.
Kennecott Utah Copper spokesman Kyle Bennett describes Bingham Canyon Mine as "the crown jewel" of Rio Tinto's operations. But in the days since the slide, it hasn't been business as usual.
"We're at an unusual time for Kennecott," he said. "We're typically operating around the clock."
Now, employees are being told they can stay home. Those who haven't been with Kennecott long or who have little vacation time accrued can still report for work, but their daily job requirements will different.
It's very early on, but our goal is to get back to safely producing copper. We need people to do that.
–Kyle Bennett, Kennecott Utah Copper spokesman
"Someone who usually drives a truck, we might have them work on a building, painting, maintenance work," said Bennett. "Our goal is to put everybody to work who comes to work at the mine."
Even Kennecott leaders aren't allowed inside the mine yet. The Mine Safety and Health Administration is still surveying the area and checking for stability.
So far, no further ground movement has been detected.
"Once our folks are able to get in, they will monitor the slide pattern and make a determination on what it means long term," said Bennett.
It's still not known just how much land the slide displaced or how long cleanup could take. On Saturday, a small portion of the mine known as Cornerstone — roughly two miles south of the slide area — reopened to a few workers for limited waste-rock removal. That operation will continue for the time being.
But as the "pit" of the mine still lies under massive amounts of rock, employees will be forced to play the waiting game.
"It's very early on, but our goal is to get back to safely producing copper," said Bennett. "We need people to do that."
Kennecott officials said any talk of a permanent closure of the mine would be speculation until further examination could take place.
