Word: open-pit
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...percent of the nation's uranium lies in the Mountain West, with New Mexico and Utah supplying most of the region's ore. From Arizona comes more than half of all the copper dug in the U.S. each year; the Kennecott Copper Corp.'s Bingham Canyon open-pit mine in Utah, at two miles wide and a half-mile deep, the largest excavation in the world, alone has produced copper-over 11 million tons-than any other mine in history. The Climax mine near Leadville, Colo., last year supplied 49 million lbs. worth of molybdenum, a blue...
...Brown Coal Triangle, it contains an estimated 50 billion tons of lignite, enough to meet West Germany's energy needs for 350 years. Unfortunately for the villagers who sit atop this fossil fuel bonanza, much of it lies just below the surface; it can only be recovered by open-pit or strip mining, which requires relocating the people and demolishing their houses before any coal is removed...
...safety of nuclear power. As a result, West Germany, like the U.S., has turned increasingly to coal as its ace in the hole. The nation now relies on brown coal for 30% of its electrical power and 25% of its home heating needs. Rheinbraun alone has already dug seven open-pit mines, including the world's largest: the Fortuna-Garsdorf pit, which measures roughly 1.2 miles across and about 820 ft. deep. In October it began preliminary excavation at the giant 32-sq.-mi. Hambach site, parts of which will be gouged more than a quarter of a mile...
...huge machines used in open-pit operations replaced many miners. Then the machines began digging into Butte itself. First opened just to the south of the city, the ever-growing Berkeley pit has swallowed neighborhoods with names like Dublin Gulch and Sin Town; since 1970, it has devoured most of the city's residential McQueen section. Currently, it is chewing away at downtown Butte. Meanwhile, a second pit, begun in 1973, has destroyed the Columbia Gardens amusement center and the city's only sizable park. With the remaining ore reserves due to run out in a decade...
...mine's encroachment continues to spread. Butte's population, which stood at 80,000 during the boom early in the century, has plummeted to 24,000 as many citizens fled in search of employment. More than 50 businesses have deserted the once-stylish uptown district since open-pit mining began. With the exception of one small bank building, no major construction has taken place in Butte since 1962. Arson has become common as people who are unable to sell their devalued buildings burn them for the insurance...