Floating Pinwheel

 

It’s the largest human-made excavation; the world’s deepest open-pit mine. You can see it from all over the Salt Lake Valley, and when you fly in or out of Salt Lake Airport, it’s impossible to miss. People have been digging copper ore here since 1848. I’ve heard it called Bingham Canyon Mine, and Kennecott Copper Pit. It’s owned by the Rio Tinto Group now, and the British/Australian Corporation intends to keep it running through 2038, maybe longer. But they won’t just abandon the mine when they’re done. They mean to restore and rehabilitate much of this area. In fact, they’ve already been doing so for decades now. One example is the East Waste Rock Reclamation project. They’re reshaping millions of cubic yards of dumped rock, covering it with topsoil and planting native grasses and shrubs for storm erosion management. The pit itself is simply too big to fill in, but the end plan involves stabilizing and securing what’s left.