Mine Tales: Copper was — and is — a huge economic factor here

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/mine-tales-copper-was-and-is-a-huge-economic-factor/article_f288b86c-71b0-5690-a1f5-06c51e449f55.html

Arizona produces an average of 65 percent of the copper in the United States. One of the greatest-producing mines in Arizona is Morenci, which produced 514 million pounds of copper — more than a third of the state total — in 2010.

Other large mining operations are Ray, Bagdad, Mission, Sierrita and Safford.

Demand for copper is projected to increase during the 21st century with the industrialization of China and India. Today the leading country in the world’s copper-mine production is Chile, with an output of nearly 5.3 million tons of copper in 2011.