Open up a mountain, and you never know what you are going to find. In this case, miners found copper. The mine, Kennecott Copper mine, just outside of Salt Lake City, is a huge open pit copper mine, with an informative visitors center, and an impressive view, even from space!
We arrived just before a rain storm, and nearing evening. The colors of the pit were fantastic, with greenish tints on yellow and red rock. The mine was bustling with trucks...HUGE trucks....hauling the ore away. There were diggers removing rock and filling the big trucks.
Up in the visitor center, we saw a tire from one of the huge trucks on display. We also saw a bit of mining history--the old mining cars on pedestals. Inside, copper was king. Displays showed how copper is used in nearly everything, how it has been mined over the years, and how this particular mine has changed the landscape of an entire mountain. There was an interactive map showing the corporation's mining holdings across the world. And a film told us that the mine was environmentally friendly. It was an lovely piece of propaganda ;) .
Of course, there was a gift shop. The assortment of copper gifts was hypnotically shiny. There were earrings, bracelets, simple "native" bits of copper, books, and a variety of trinkets to numerous to enumerate.
Paul loves gift shops.
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