Friday's announcement by Phelps Dodge that it plans to close the Sierrita
open-pit mine is yet another blow to the shrinking American copper
industry, following on the closure of the huge San Manuel underground mine
by BHP last year. Sierrita, acquired only last year from Cyprus AMAX, is
one of the most efficient mining operations in the world, producing 192
million pounds of copper, 22 million pounds of molybdenum (at ore grades
of only 0.2% Cu and 0.04% Mo)and 900,000 oz of silver annually with a
total work force of only 750! Low molybdenum prices and a sharp spike in
energy prices have however made the operation unprofitable.
Employment in the Arizona copper industry is now under 9000, the lowest
since WW2. At the same time Phelps Dodge (whose profits in 2000 were three
times as high as in 1999) announced plans to close the Chino and Tyrone
mines in New Mexico, citing high energy costs.
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David Killick
Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology,
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0030.
Phones: office (520)621-8685; laboratory 621-7986; fax 621-2088
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