What is the largest metal mine in the world? The largest metal mine in the world is the Bingham Canyon Mine, located in Utah, USA. It is an open-pit copper mine owned by Rio Tinto Group. The mine is known for its massive scale, producing about 25% of the copper in the United States. It covers around 1,900 acres of land, reaches a depth of 1,200 meters, and has significant reserves of copper, estimated at 19 million tons. The mine has been in operation for over 100 years and continues to be one of the most productive in the world?
Here are some of the largest metal mines across different metal categories:
1. Copper Mines:
Escondida Copper Mine: Located in the Atacama Desert in the Antofagasta Region of Chile, Escondida started mining operations in 1990. It is one of the largest copper-producing mines globally and is well-known as a super-large copper mine. With abundant ore reserves and copper metal resources, Escondida has a significant impact on the global copper supply.
2. Iron Mines:
Carajás Iron Mine (Vale): Situated in Brazil, this is one of the world's largest iron ore production centers. The complex consists of three open-pit mines, named Carajás N4E, N4W, and N5. The rich and high-quality iron ore deposits here make it a major player in the global iron ore market.
3. Nickel Mines:
Sudbury Nickel Mine: Located in southeastern Ontario, Canada, near Lake Huron, Sudbury is one of the largest nickel mining regions in the world. The Sudbury area has identified 49 nickel-copper deposits, with confirmed ore reserves of 1.6 billion tons, containing 18.58 million tons of nickel, 17.03 million tons of copper, and 2.4 million tons of platinum group metals.
4. Gold Mines:
Grasberg Gold Mine: Located in Papua Province, Indonesia, near Puncak Jaya, Grasberg is one of the largest gold mines in the world and also the third-largest copper mine. It holds vast gold and copper resources and employs a large workforce for extraction activities.
5. Tungsten Mines:
Zhuxi Tungsten-Copper Mine: Located in Shou’an Town, Fuliang County, and Yongshan Town, Leping City, Jiangxi Province, China. In 2016, this mine became the world's largest tungsten-copper mine, with a total resource of 3.44 million tons of tungsten trioxide.
6. Beryllium Mines:
A super-large beryllium metal deposit was discovered in Xinjiang, China, with confirmed beryllium reserves of 41.83 million tons. The deposit has an average grade of 0.1391% and an average thickness of 4.58 meters, making it the largest beryllium mine in the world.