List of copper mines in the United States

Mines producing copper in the US in 2003. (Alaska and Hawaii produced no copper in 2003.) Source: USGS

The following lists of copper mines in the United States:

Leading copper-producing mines

Leading copper-producing mines in the U.S., 2018–2021, in order of output: ^[1] The mines on this list account for more than 99% of U.S. mine copper production.

Rank	Mine	County and State	Owner	Source of copper	Annual production (thousand tonnes)
1	Morenci	Greenlee County, Arizona 33°05′26″N109°22′00″W / 33.09056°N 109.36667°W / 33.09056; -109.36667	Freeport-McMoRan (72%), Sumitomo Group (28%)	Open pit, copper-molybdenum ore, producing copper cathode, copper and molybdenum concentrates	286 (2021) [2]
2	Bingham Canyon	Salt Lake County, Utah 40°31′23″N112°09′04″W / 40.523°N 112.151°W / 40.523; -112.151	Rio Tinto	Open pit copper-molybdenum ore, producing copper cathode, molybdenum concentrate, gold, silver, sulfuric acid	202 (2021) [3]
3	Safford	Graham County, Arizona 32°56′50″N109°39′03″W / 32.9472°N 109.6509°W / 32.9472; -109.6509	Freeport-McMoRan	Copper ore, leached	120 (2021) [2]
4	Sierrita	Pima County, Arizona 31°52′26″N111°08′02″W / 31.87389°N 111.13389°W / 31.87389; -111.13389	Freeport-McMoRan	Copper-molybdenum ore, concentrated and leached	86 (2021) [2]
5	Bagdad	Yavapai County, Arizona 34°35′05″N113°12′43″W / 34.58472°N 113.21194°W / 34.58472; -113.21194	Freeport-McMoRan	Copper-molybdenum ore, concentrated and leached	83 (2021) [2]
6	El Chino	Grant County, New Mexico 32°47′30″N108°04′02″W / 32.7917425°N 108.0672635°W / 32.7917425; -108.0672635	Freeport-McMoRan	Copper-molybdenum ore, concentrated and leached	56 (2021) [2]
7	Pinto Valley	Gila County, Arizona 33°25′55″N110°57′27″W / 33.43194°N 110.95750°W / 33.43194; -110.95750	Capstone Mining Corp.	Copper-molybdenum ore, concentrated and leached	54 (2020) [4]
8	Ray	Pinal County, Arizona 33°08′58″N110°59′14″W / 33.14944°N 110.98722°W / 33.14944; -110.98722	Grupo México	Copper ore, concentrated and leached	56 (2018) [5]
9	Robinson	White Pine County, Nevada 39°15′33″N114°58′24″W / 39.25917°N 114.97333°W / 39.25917; -114.97333	KGHM Polska Miedź	Copper-gold-molybdenum ore, open pit, concentrate products	51 (2018) [6]
10	Mission Complex	Pima County, Arizona	Grupo México	Copper-molybdenum ore, concentrated	44 (2018) [5]
11	Continental Pit	Silver Bow County, Montana	Montana Resources LLP	Copper-molybdenum ore, concentrated	33 (2015) [7]
12	Tyrone	Grant County, New Mexico	Freeport-McMoRan	Copper ore, leached	55 (2021) [2]
13	Silver Bell	Pima County, Arizona	Grupo México	Copper ore, leached	19 (2018) [5]
14	Eagle Mine	Marquette County, Michigan 46°44′47″N87°52′50″W / 46.74639°N 87.88056°W / 46.74639; -87.88056	Lundin Mining	Underground mine producing nickel and copper concentrates	18 (2018) [8]
15	Phoenix	Lander County, Nevada	Newmont Mining Corporation	Gold-copper ore, concentrated and leached	16 (2018) [6]
16	Lisbon Valley	San Juan County, Utah	Lisbon Valley Mining Company	Copper ore, open pit, heap leached	10–15 (2018) [9]
17	Miami	Gila County, Arizona	Freeport-McMoRan	Copper ore, leached	5 (2021) [2]
18	Carlota	Gila County, Arizona	KGHM Polska Miedź	Porphyry copper open pit, producing copper cathode	3.2 (2018) [10]
19	Pumpkin Hollow (see Anaconda)	Lyon County, Nevada	Nevada Copper	IOCG skarn, underground, producing copper concentrate	- (2019) [11]

Copper-mining projects not yet in production

Mine	County (Borough) and State	Operator	Type of Deposit	Status
Pebble	Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska 59°53′50″N155°17′43″W / 59.89722°N 155.29528°W / 59.89722; -155.29528	Northern Dynasty Minerals	Porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum	Pre-feasibility [12]
Rosemont	Pima County, Arizona 31°51′05″N110°45′26″W / 31.85139°N 110.75722°W / 31.85139; -110.75722	Hudbay	Porphyry skarn	Permitting [13]
Resolution	Pinal County, Arizona 33°18′11″N111°06′00″W / 33.3031115°N 111.1001195°W / 33.3031115; -111.1001195	Rio Tinto 55%, BHP 45%	Porphyry copper deposit beneath the inactive Magma Mine	Permitted [14]
Back Forty Mine	Menominee County, Michigan	Gold Resource Corp.	Volcanogenic massive sulfide
Northmet	St. Louis County, Minnesota	Polymet Mining	Copper-nickel-PGM deposit in disseminated and massive sulfides in layered mafic intrusion	All state and federal permits issued for an open pit mine [15]
Black Butte	Meagher County, Montana	Sandfire Resources America	SEDEX copper-cobalt-silver	Permitting [16]
Florence	Florence, Arizona	Taseko	In situ leach field	Under Construction

Inactive or defunct copper mines

There are hundreds of inactive or defunct copper mines in the United States. The list below includes only those with Wikipedia articles.

Mine	County and State	Operator	Type of Deposit	Status
New Cornelia	Ajo, Pima County, Arizona	Phelps Dodge	Porphyry copper	Inactive since 1983
Copper Queen	Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona	Phelps Dodge	Manto (replacement) in limestone	Mining stopped in 1975; now open for tours
Lavender Pit	Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona	Phelps Dodge	Porphyry copper	Closed in 1974
United Verde Mine	Jerome, Yavapai County, Arizona	Phelps Dodge		Closed in 1953
Iron Mountain	Shasta County, California		Volcanogenic massive sulfide	Operated 1860s to 1963; now a superfund site
Minesota	Ontonagon County, Michigan		Native copper	Mined from 1848 to 1870
Nonesuch	Ontonagon County, Michigan		Native copper	Closed since 1912
Quincy	Hancock, Houghton County, Michigan	Quincy Mining Co.	Strataform native copper	Closed since 1945. Now part of Keweenaw National Historical Park
Cliff	Keweenaw County, Michigan	Pittsburgh & Boston Mining Co.	Vein native copper	Productive 1845 to 1887
Victoria Mine	Victoria, Ontonagon County, Michigan	Victoria Copper Mining Company		Closed in 1921
C&H	Calumet, Houghton County, Michigan	C&H Mining Co.	Native Copper	Closed in the late 1960s
Anaconda	Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana	Anaconda Copper		Closed since 1947
Berkeley Pit	Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana	Anaconda Copper	Porphyry copper	Closed in 1982; now a superfund site and tourist attraction
Troy Mine	Troy, Lincoln County, Montana	Revett Minerals, Hecla Mining		Closed 2015; active between 1981 and 1983, and 2005–2015
Yerington - Anaconda	Lyon County, Nevada	Anaconda Copper		Closed since 1978
Pahaquarry	Warren County, New Jersey			Closed since 1928
Schuyler	Bergen County, New Jersey			Closed since 1901
Burra Burra	Ducktown, Polk County, Tennessee	Tennessee Chemical Company	Volcanogenic massive sulfide	Closed in 1987; now part of a state-owned historical site
Elizabeth	Orange County, Vermont		Volcanogenic massive sulfide	Open 1809–1957; now a federal superfund site
Tubal Cain	Washington	Tubal-Cain Copper & Manganese Mining Co.		Operated 1902–1906
Flambeau Mine	Ladysmith, Wisconsin	Kennecott Minerals	Copper, gold, and silver	Operated 1993-1997

See also

• Copper mining
• Copper mining in the United States

References

1. Brininstool, Mark and Flanagan, Daniel M. 2015 Minerals Yearbook: Copper - U.S. Geological Survey - U.S. Department of the Interior - October 2017 - (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document)
2. "Freeport-McMoRan 2021 Form 10-K". Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Phoenix, AZ. February 15, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
3. "2021 Annual Report" (PDF). Rio Tinto. Melbourne. p. 56. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
4. "Capstone Mining Corp. 2020 Annual Report" (PDF). Capstone Mining. p. 15. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
5. "Informe Anual 2018" (PDF). Grupo México (in Spanish). Mexico City. March 31, 2019. p. 166. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
6. Perry, Rick; Visher, Mike (2019). "Major Mines of Nevada 2018" (pdf). Nevada Division of Minerals. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
7. "Reporter's notebook: Visiting depths of Butte's Continental Pit". Montana Standard. Butte, Montana. May 31, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
8. "Eagle". Lundin Mining. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
9. "Operations Overview". Lisbon Valley Mining Company. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
10. "The Management Board's Report on the activities of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. and of the KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. Group in 2018" (PDF). Lubin, Poland: KGMH Polska Miedź. March 2019. p. 13. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
11. Schmidt, Donna (January 6, 2020). "Pumpkin Hollow carving begins". Mining Magazine. London. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
12. "Condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018" (PDF). Vancouver, BC: Northern Dynasty Minerals. 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
13. "Hudbay Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Results and Provides Annual Guidance" (PDF). Toronto, Canada: Hudbay. February 20, 2020. p. 15. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
14. Klemetti, Erik (August 13, 2019). "North America is About to Get Its Largest Copper Mine". Discover Magazine. Waukesha, Wisconsin. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
15. Black, Zachary J. (March 6, 2018). "NorthMet Project - Form NI 43-101F1 Technical Report" (PDF). Polymet Mining, Inc. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
16. Thompson, Brad (January 29, 2020). "Sandfire anxiously awaits news on US copper project". Australian Financial Review. Sydney. Retrieved February 27, 2020.