That's one big hole!

Did you know there is a really big hole out west of the Salt Lake Valley? There is! Shane and I wanted to see the hole for ourselves so we loaded up the trusty Carolla last week and headed out west. If you are wondering about this hole, it is actually the biggest open pit mine in the world and it is known as the Kennecott Copper Mine. It is one HUGE hole and there are all sorts of cool things to learn about it.

(Approaching the hole)

Some interesting facts:

• Kennecott's Bingham Canyon Mine has produced more copper than any mine in history - About 18.1 million tons.
• The mine is 2-3/4 miles across at the top and 3/4 mile deep. You could stack two Sears Towers (Willis Building) on top of each other and still not reach the top of the mine.
• The mine is so big it can be seen by the space shuttle astronauts as they pass over the United States.
• If you stretched out all the roads in the open pit mine, you'd have 500 miles of roadway - enough to reach from Salt Lake City to Denver.
  

Drumroll please...introducing the Kennecott Copper Mine!

(That is one HUGE hole! It's ginormous!)

(This is one tooth from an electric shovel which can pick up 98 tons in a single bite - that's equal to 50 cars!)

(These trucks are 23 ft. tall. The pic sure doesn't show their size.)

(There, this shows how big the trucks are a little better.)

(This is a tire from one of the trucks. HOLY SMOKES!)

(I was floored that a tire only lasts a year and costs $25,000 - SHEESH!)

I'm so glad my friend Rachel told me about this huge hole so we could go have a fun afternoon adventure!