The Billion-Dollar Dig to America’s Biggest Copper Deposit

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Inside the Billion-Dollar Dig to America’s Biggest Copper Deposit

The No. 10 mine shaft at Resolution Copper is 30 feet wide and 6,943 feet deep—for now. The two largest mining companies in the world have spent more than $1 billion in a joint venture in hopes of tapping nearly 2 billion metric tons of ore and have plans to dig four more shafts in the next 15 years. At peak production, it will be the biggest copper mine in the U.S., producing 100,000 tons of rock a day. It could also end up being a financial problem for its owners.

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