Daniel Cowan Jackling--Bingham Canyon Mine

Daniel Cowan Jackling
August 14th, 1869 to March 13th, 1956

Daniel Jackling was an American mining engineer and metallurgist who founded the Utah Copper Company and with an economical method to process low-grade porphyry copper ores, below 2% copper. As electricity use expanded in the early 20th century, so demand for copper rose, and the need to exploit even low-grade ore. Such ore was obtained by open-pit mining then loaded by steam shovels into railroad cars and transported to concentrating mills. Jackling developed improved extraction/flotation processes to produce a higher-grade concentrate for smelting. By the time Jackling died, over 60% of the world's copper production took advantage of his low-grade ore processing methods. His Bingham Canyon Mine, now a huge pit, still produces copper.


I thought the industry was dead but who produces approximately 300,000 tons of copper, along with 400,000 ounces of gold, 4 million ounces of silver, about 20 million pounds of molybdenum, and about 1 million tons of sulfuric acid as a by-product [2010]? Kennecott Utah Copper, of course.

Daniel Cowan Jackling [Wikipedia]

Bingham Canyon Mine [Wikipedia]