Today, as the second largest copper producer in the United States, Kennecott Utah Copper provides about 18-25% percent of the U.S.'s copper needs.[SUP]
[1][/SUP] Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon Mine is one of the largest man-made excavations in the world.[SUP]
[citation needed][/SUP] It is one of the top producing copper mines in the world with cumulative production at more than 19 million tons of copper.[SUP]
[2][/SUP] In 2011, Kennecott produced approximately 237,000 tons of copper, along with 379,000 troy ounces of gold, 3.2 million troy ounces of silver, about 30 million pounds of molybdenum, and about 1 million tons of sulfuric acid, a by-product of the smelting process.[SUP]
[3][/SUP] Since Rio Tinto purchased Kennecott Utah Copper in 1989 it has invested about $2 billion in the modernization of KUC’s operations. KUCC has also spent more than $350 million on the cleanup of historic mining waste and $100 million on groundwater cleanup.