The Safford Mine is an open-pit copper mine located in Graham County, Arizona, eight miles (13 km) north of the city of Safford. The mine is owned and operated by Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold.
Construction on the Safford mine began in mid-2006. Production began December 26, 2007, with full production starting in 2008.[1] It is the first new large-scale copper mining project in Arizona in more than 30 years.[2] In September 2005, as part of the deal, Phelps Dodge (which was subsequently purchased by Freeport-McMoran) transferred 3867acres of "environmentally sensitive" land to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and purchased from the BLM 16297acres located next to the site of the mine.[3]
The mine composes two porphyry copper deposits (the San Juan and Dos Pobres copper ore bodies) that have leachable oxide and secondary sulfide mineralization. Freeport-McMoran estimates that it will remove 205 to 240 million pounds of copper from the deposits annually between 2008 and 2011.[4]
In 2016, copper production at Safford was 230 million pounds. In 2017, copper production was 150 million pounds, and approximately 830 people were employed there. [5]
The area where the mine is located is at an average elevation of 4186feet.
The mine is served by a branch of the Arizona Eastern Railway.