Mining history — Bingham copper pit grows deeper, wider

From fluorspar in toothpaste to copper wiring found in electrical devices — mined products play an influential role in daily life.

That's one of the many messages that the Bingham Copper Mine's Visitors Center desires patrons to walk away with.

The center, which opened its doors in 1995, has welcomed more than 2 million visitors. Exhibits featuring how the mine operates, the mine's cultural influence on the state, society's daily reliance on mined products and land reclamation. Including a film that runs through the entire mining process— from blasting the mineral out of the rock to the finished product.

But when gazing out at the enormous mine, it's difficult to imagine what life used to be like — when it was known as "the hill" rather than "the pit." It hasn't always resembled what it looks like today. Half a century ago the canyon was bustling with more than 20,000 people hailing from more than 40 different nations. But as time moves on, memories of that life begin to fade with the yellowing photos of the towns that once littered the canyon — towns that now have been covered by waste rock.

There is one woman, Rosella Rauer, 89, a security guard at the visitors center, who remembers life at the mine like it was yesterday.

In 1941, Rauer's husband was offered a job as a geologist for the mine. It was a move that would completely alter her life — leaving behind a bustling college town in Iowa for mining towns in the West. She had never seen mountains, lived in a small town or met a Mormon.

But living in the cities of Bingham and Copperton exposed her to a different way of living, a way of life she enjoys reminiscing about — while daily welcoming visitors from all over the world to the mines visitors center. She is quick to express that life at the mine wasn't one of deprivation or hardship.

"We had everything everyone else had," Rauer said. "There were bowling alleys, wrestling matches, dances and trams to take people to work in."

But over the years, Kennecott bought the old mining towns that once bustled with miners and their families and covered them with waste rock. The only material remnants are the visitors center's collection of photos, fliers, newspapers, and letters among other trinkets of a lifestyle long expired.

But the history of the mine isn't the only information the visitors center has to offer.