The Bagdad Mine is a large

copper mine Copper extraction is the multi-stage process of obtaining copper from its ores. The conversion of copper ores consists of a series of physical, chemical, and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ...

located in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, in the southwestern part of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Bagdad represents one of the largest copper reserves in the

and in the world, having estimated reserves of 873.6 million tonnes of ore grading 0.36% copper. It is located in

Yavapai County, Arizona Yavapai County ( ) is a County (United States), county near the center of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 236,209, making it the fourth-most populous county in Arizona. The county s ...

, just west of the company town of Bagdad. It is currently owned by

Freeport-McMoRan Freeport-McMoRan Inc., often called Freeport, is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, a major copper producer and operates the world's la ...

. Copper is produced from

chalcopyrite Chalcopyrite ( ) is a copper iron sulfide mineral and the most abundant copper ore mineral. It has the chemical formula CuFeS2 and crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a Mohs scale, hardness of 3.5 to 4 ...

and molybdenum from

molybdenite Molybdenite is a mineral of molybdenum disulfide, Mo S2. Similar in appearance and feel to graphite, molybdenite has a lubricating effect that is a consequence of its layered structure. The atomic structure consists of a sheet of molybdenum at ...

. Copper oxides include

chrysocolla Chrysocolla ( ) is a hydrous copper phyllosilicate mineral and mineraloid with the formula (''x'' < 1) or . The structure of the mineral has been questioned, as a 2006 spectrographic study suggest ma ...

malachite Malachite () is a copper Carbonate mineral, carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the chemical formula, formula Basic copper carbonate, Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often for ...

and

azurite Azurite or '' Azure spar'Krivovichev V. G.'' Mineralogical glossary. Scientific editor A. G. Bulakh. — St.Petersburg: St.Petersburg Univ. Publ. House. 2009. — 556 p. — ISBN 978-5-288-04863-0. ''(in Russian)'' is a soft, deep-blue copp ...

. The mine's concentrator has a capacity of 75,000 metric tons per day using stockpile leaching, with pressure leaching for molybdenum. Copper was first mined at the site in 1882. The town of

Bagdad, Arizona Bagdad is a copper mining community and census-designated place (CDP) in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States, in the western part of the state. It is one of only two remaining company towns in Arizona. The population was 1,876 at the 2010 ce ...

was built as a

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

to house mine workers. Malachite-Quartz-Chrysocolla-22819

Copper production at Bagdad was 177 million pounds in 2016 and 173 million pounds in 2017, when nearly 900 people were employed there.Bagdad mine
at Freeport McMoRan. Accessed 6/23/2018

References

External links

at Freeport McMoRan website Copper mines in Arizona Geography of Yavapai County, Arizona Freeport-McMoRan mines 1882 establishments in Arizona Territory {{US-mine-stub