Major gold, silver and copper mine in Utah shutdown by landslide

[ThePythonicCow]

From 16% of US Annual Silver Supply Just Vaporized… (SilverDoctors.com) (http://silverdoctors.com/10-of-us-annual-silver-supply-just-vaporized/):




5 million ounces of annual silver supply and 500,000 ounces of annual gold supply have just been vaporized landslided.

Rio Tinto’s Kennecott mine in Utah- the US’ 2nd largest silver mine and world’s largest copper mine has just suffered a massive landslide which will likely shut down production at the mine for years as upwards of 1 billion tons of dirt and ore have collapsed into the basin.

16% of US annual silver production just vanished. Good thing there aren’t any physical supply issues in silver currently or anything…
(That last sentence above "Good thing ..." is sarcastic, in case that's not obvious.)

Follow the above link for some excellent pictures of the landslide, such as this one:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8523/8644406138_df91bc2c3a_z.jpg

[Mulder]

.......................

TqLy2PAOISk

[Sabrina]

Rio Tinto's press release on it:

http://www.riotinto.com/media/18435_media_releases_22665.asp


11 April 2013

Kennecott Utah Copper's Bingham Canyon Mine pit wall slide

At 9.30 pm local time on 10 April 2013, Kennecott Utah Copper's Bingham Canyon Mine experienced a slide along a geotechnical fault line of its north eastern wall. Movement on the north eastern wall had accelerated in recent weeks and pre-emptive measures were taken to relocate facilities and roads prior to the slide. All employees are safe and accounted for.

Mine operations are currently suspended while experts assess the extent of the slide and impact on operations.

About Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and New York Stock Exchange listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, thermal and metallurgical coal, uranium, gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide and salt) and iron ore. Activities span the world and are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America.

For further information, please contact:

Media Relations, EMEA / Americas

Illtud Harri
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1152
Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 503 600
David Outhwaite
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1623
Mobile: +44 (0) 7787 597 493
Christina Mills
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1154
Mobile: +44 (0) 7825 275 605

Investor Relations, London

Mark Shannon
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1178
Mobile: +44 (0) 7917 576597
David Ovington
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 2051
Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 010 978

Media Relations, Australia / Asia

David Luff
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3620
Mobile: +61 (0) 419 850 205
Bruce Tobin
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3612
Mobile: +61 (0) 419 103 454

Investor Relations, Australia

Christopher Maitland
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3063
Mobile: +61 (0) 459 800 131

Media Relations, Canada
Bryan Tucker
Office: +1 (0) 514 848 8151
Mobile: +1 (0) 514 825 8319

Investor Relations, North America

Jason Combes
Office: +1 (0) 801 204 2919
Mobile: +1 (0) 801 558 2645

Website: www.riotinto.com

Email: media.enquiries@riotinto.com

Twitter: Follow @riotinto on Twitter

High resolution photographs and media pack available at: www.riotinto.com/media

[Hervé]

The landslide:

http://standeyo.com/NEWS/13_Pics_of_Day/13_Pics_of_Day_pics/130412.UT.landslide.jpg

The Kennecott Copper Bingham Canyon Mine sits quiet after a landslide on April 11, 2013, in Bingham Canyon, Utah. Kennecott has suspended mining inside one of the world's deepest open pits as geologists assess a landslide the company says it anticipated for months. (Ravell Call / The Deseret News)

[ThePythonicCow]

Good to hear that they anticipated the slide and no one was hurt - thanks Amzer Zo.

Here's another report on this slide, from Reuters: Rio Tinto unit says Bingham Canyon slide worse than expected (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/12/rio-utah-slide-idUSL2N0CZ1EO20130412):




Fri Apr 12, 2013 4:44pm

Kennecott says experts not yet granted access to the mine
Refining, smelting continued as of early Friday
Impact on operations, time frame to resume still unknown

April 12 (Reuters) - A landslide at Rio Tinto's Bingham Canyon mine in Utah extended further into the pit than predicted, and there was greater damage to equipment than previously estimated, Rio's Kennecott unit said on Friday.

Kennecott Utah Copper, which operates the mine that is near Salt Lake City, said it had not yet determined the impact of the slide, which occurred late on Wednesday, or a time frame for resuming mining operations.

Photos published by Salt Lake City's Deseret News show debris extending from the top of the massive pit mine to its floor, slicing through terraced roads and burying trucks. []

"The size of the slide was significant," the company said in an emailed statement. "We don't have information yet regarding the magnitude or impact. We do know that the flow into the pit extended beyond the scenarios we forecasted, having a greater impact on equipment."

The company said on Thursday that all employees were accounted for and safe.

In its latest statement, Kennecott said there had been some damage to equipment and to a building structure in the mine. It said experts had not been granted access to the mine.

Landslides can seriously disrupt operations at open pit operations. Lundin Mining Corp resumed production at its Aguablanca nickel-copper mine in Spain nearly two years after heavy rains caused a slide there.

A note on Kennecott's website says the mine's visitor center will not reopen in 2013.

STILL SMELTING, REFINING

Justin Jones, a spokesman for Kennecott, said earlier on Friday that Bingham Canyon was still producing copper from stockpiled material. Jones could not say then how long the smelting and refining process could continue, and that was still being assessed.

"The mine itself is very large, and there are possibilities that we can begin starting portions of the mine, you know, within a few days, thus not interrupting the production of copper," he said.

Kennecott is the second-largest copper producer in the United States, and Bingham Canyon, one of the world's largest open pits, produced 163,200 tonnes of copper last year, as well as 200,000 ounces of gold.

In a note to clients, BMO Capital Markets analyst Tony Robson said that on a provisional basis, he expects between 80,000 and 160,000 tonnes of copper could be lost this year, and production could be affected in 2014 and 2015 as well.

[genevieve]

Mulder--

You get a gold star (should be silver?) for your prediction.

4/15/13 at 9:13 Pacific DST: $23.47
4/10/13 at 17:00 Pacific DST: $27.49

Grrrr.


Peace Love Joy & Harmony,
Genevieve

[TargeT]

Mulder--

You get a gold star (should be silver?) for your prediction.

4/15/13 at 9:13 Pacific DST: $23.47
4/10/13 at 17:00 Pacific DST: $27.49

Grrrr.


Peace Love Joy & Harmony,
Genevieve

This move makes absolutely no sense... well I guess it does make sense since no trees were killed, so the paper silver can still flow!

[Mulder]

...............................

[Mulder]

Mulder--

You get a gold star (should be silver?) for your prediction.

4/15/13 at 9:13 Pacific DST: $23.47
4/10/13 at 17:00 Pacific DST: $27.49

Grrrr.


Peace Love Joy & Harmony,
Genevieve

This move makes absolutely no sense... well I guess it does make sense since no trees were killed, so the paper silver can still flow!

Max Keiser said there's only 1 billion oz (160,000 tons) of Gold above ground in the world (Episode 347 of Keiser Report at 8min mark). So who is big enough to own the 500 tons that was dumped on the market last Friday (according to Paul Craig Roberts (http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2013/04/13/assault-on-gold-update-paul-craig-roberts/)) Answer: probably only the IMF or illuminati

This is evidence TPTB are manipulating the Gold price.

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