Kennecott Utah Copper LLC (KUC), a division of Rio Tinto Group, is a mining, smelting, and refining company. Its corporate headquarters are located in South Jordan, Utah. Kennecott operates the Bingham Canyon Mine, one of the largest open-pit copper mines in the world in Bingham Canyon, Salt Lake County, Utah. The company was first formed in 1898 as the Boston Consolidated Mining Company. The current corporation was formed in 1989. The mine and associated smelter produce 1% of the world's copper.
Bingham Canyon in 1942
Kennecott Utah Copper's Garfield Smelter, with Interstate 80 in the foreground
Utah Copper Mine, circa 1925, with a view of Main St. in Bingham Canyon. The Auditor lists the total earnings for the mine. Image from the Salt Lake County Auditor Annual Report, 1928.
Rio Tinto Group is a British-Australian multinational company that is the world's second largest metals and mining corporation. It was founded in 1873 when a group of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto, in Huelva, Spain, from the Spanish government. It has grown through a long series of mergers and acquisitions. Although primarily focused on extraction of minerals, it also has significant operations in refining, particularly the refining of bauxite and iron ore. It has joint head offices in London, England and Melbourne, Australia.
Rio Tinto headquarters in Melbourne, Australia
The company's name comes from the Rio Tinto in south-western Spain.
Hugh Matheson led the purchase of the Rio Tinto mines from Spain, and was the company's first president.
Pyrite was a major product of Rio Tinto's first mines.