Lavender Pit
Wednesday, 25th October 2006 by Alex Turnbull
This is the Lavender Pit, part of the Copper Queen Mine in Bisbee, Arizona. The Phelps Dodge Corporation began work on this huge hole in 1951, but they had to move 46 million tons of material before they reached the copper.
However, by 1975 over one billion tons of copper had been successfully extracted, at which point the price of copper plummeted, and the whole mine was closed.
Given that the demand for copper is currently rising again (and therefore the price), I wonder which bright spark will try to reopen one of these ecological disasters first?
Read more about the Lavender Pit at Wikipedia.
Thanks to Jeff and John B.
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
I’m probably the only one who sees that and says: “there’s a great outdoor concert venue nearly made.”
Why the link ‘Wiev in Google Earth’ is not working?
Hi Andy, the link works fine for me – can you tell me more about an errors you’re getting?
I get this error,
When i try to move this map, or click anyware on the map, it redirects me to a BBC news site about the price of copper.
Hope this helps
Me too!
Hey guys, I’m confused – this is when using Google Earth or the map page?
The map page for me. Same story as 717
Sorry for not explaining better. I have Google Earth up and running, I click the link ‘View in Google Earth’ and I get a window alert saying the file cannot be downloaded. Same if I try to open the address directly from Google Earth I get ‘http link not found’. Again if I try directly with https://www.googlesightseeing.com/gearth/lavender-pit-copper-mine.kml on the address bar I get ‘file not found’. I use Windows XP and IE. Could it be a firewall or antivirus issue?
No problems instead with the web map, but I’d like to use Google Earth.
Thanks for any help. I like this site.
Hmm, sorry guys, I don’t know what’s going on here – both of the issues listed are working fine for me? I’ll have a look on my pc at work tomorrow, thanks for letting us know.
Cookie Monster – I think I’ve fixed that one – can you check?
Andy – I think I’ve also fixed your one – can you also check?
Thanks for all your help guys.
Thanks James! The link works perfectly for me now.
Keep up the good work.
No problems here with the view or the navigation. I’m curious, however, as to why you refer to this “pit” as you do: [I wonder which bright spark will try to reopen ont of these ecological disasters first?]
By what other means could we extract this ever-so-useful substance?
I still think the Casa Grande Copper Mine is better
because i suggested it you know
giles, I wasn’t suggesting that we shouldn’t extract copper at all – rather that old mines (which have already had a significant ecological impact upon their surrounding areas) are better left alone to try allow the ecology to recover.
What I didn’t know until now was that some states in the US have policy to enforce this, for example:
“..to be reclaimed to a self-sustaining ecosystem after mining has been completed..”
that´s eazy, make a mess and then… do nothing! just leave the crap there, all for ecologic goodwill reazons ofcourse. I´m gonna try that with my living room, see if it recoveres itself 😀
oh, and the idea to make a giant metal concert vernue is GREAT!!
Most big mines are far enough away from people’s “normal” view that they can operate without raising alarms. If more people could take a look from above like this, perhaps there would be more impetus to ensure that reclamation policies were enforced.
I had driven past the large copper mine in BC many times over the years and was only vaguely aware that it was a mine. Fences and trees blocked some of the view; other views fromn the road didn’t give much of an impression about what was there . However, after I happened to see it from an airplane window, I checked it out on Google Earth where I could tilt and zoom to get views that were a pretty close match to the images on a site about the mine. Now I know that beyond the fence and trees is a huge mine — and a man-made “lake” used to settle the leftover water from processing the ore. (My placemark for it is at http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=260835)
I work in North America’s largest mine, Phelps Dodge Morenci. While the concert venue idea for the old Lav may seem appealing, that’s an old pit, with loose toes. Imagine an entire concert audience, plus band and support people buried under a couple million tons of oxidized rock. Rock and Roll to the extreme.
One day, with the appropriate technology, the Lavender Pit will rise again, as will they all. As for ecological disasters, I recommend an actual up close and personal tour, not closed minded internet gossip. Guess where the largest flock of ENDANGERED Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep is centered? Not in a wilderness area, not in some nature preserve, but North America’s largest open pit mine. See them by the dozens, day in, day out.
Give the Earth some credit, it, like these mines has been around a whole lot longer than any of us have, and will be around after we’ve become organic Miracle-Gro.
Peace
First of all MINING has alot of Pros & Cons just like everything else. But Im not gonna get into that debate…all i can say is “If It Cant Be Grown…Then It Must Be Mined”. In fact the house you live in and in fact the computer your using to read this has alot of Copper in it most likely mined right here in Arizona. Anyways im a miner whose family worked at the Lavender Pit back in the days…then left the area when it shut down. Since then I have worked in Copper Mines all over Arizona & New mexico. But one place im lookin forward to working at is…YUP the Lavender Pit. You heard right… Bisbee Mine is scheduled to open up 2010 & start producing copper by 2012. I wouldnt doubt it if theres activity happening there already. Gone are the Phelps Dodge days…the company that will re-open Bisbee mine is Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold. So to all of you haters of mining…TOO BAD! Guess what Bisbee Im coming home!