Huge landslide at the Kennecott Copper Bingham Canyon Mine. Mine slope monitoring paid off.

 A landslide finally occurred at the Kennecott Copper Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah.  The Kennecot Copper Bingham Canyon Mine is the second largest copper producer in the United States, providing approximately 25% of the country's copper needs. Kennecott produces approximately 275,000 tons of refined copper each year.

Rio-Tinto has been monitoring the slope and had observed movement since February. Movement accelerated in recent weeks leading to the failure on Thursday April 11 2013. The day before the slope was moving at a rate of 5 cm per day. Rio-Tinto, to its credit, apparently realized what was going to happen and had evacuated the mine at 11:00 am, about 10.5 hrs before the failure. The exact size of the slide has not yet been determined.

Sources: NBC, Salt Lake Tribune

Info about the Kennecott Copper Mine