Utah mine evacuated after small landslide reopens


Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah mine employees are back at work following a small landslide at one of the country's biggest copper mines.

Workers at Bingham Canyon Mine returned to the job Wednesday, a day after they were evacuated from its lower pit when sensors picked up movement in the walls. About 50,000 tons of dirt and rock later fell down the wall.

Kennecott Utah Copper spokesman Kyle Bennett says such events are not uncommon, and this one was likely caused by moisture. He says no one was injured.

The mine is the site of a 2013 landslide that was large enough to bury New York's Central Park under 66 feet of rock, dirt and debris.

Bennett says yesterday's landslide was over 100 times smaller than that one.

The mine produces about 300,000 tons of copper every year.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent Business stories

Related topics

The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.
    Newsletter Signup

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button