Kennecott provides metals for medals

The mining community shared in the glory at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, last month. That’s because the medals distributed were made of metals from the Kennecott Utah Copper mine in Salt Lake Valley and the Kennecott Minerals-Greens Creek mine in Alaska.

Each medal contains a mixture of metals: the gold ones also contain silver and copper; the silver ones also contain copper; and the bronze medals consist of zinc and copper.

All the copper, gold and silver came from Kennecott Utah Copper. Opened in 1906, it is currently the world’s largest open-pit copper mine, turning out more than 300,000 tons annually. The mine also produces nearly 450,000 oz. gold, 4 million oz. silver, and 22 million lbs. molybdenum.

The zinc used in the medals was mined at the Kennecott Minerals Greens-Creek mine, which also produces gold, silver and lead.

The medals used for the Winter Olympics are designed to reflect the host city and country. In Lillehammer, in 1994, Norwegian crystal was used; for the games in Nagano, in 1998, the design included Japanese enamel work; and in Sydney, Australia, in 2000, the medals featured the city’s famous opera house.

The 2002 medals were designed to resemble Utah River rock, and so the perfectly circular shape was abandoned in favour of a smooth irregular edge, similar to a skipping stone found on a river bank.

Salt Lake City-based O.C. Tanner Recognition Company was commissioned to produce each of the 477 medals that were awarded.

— The preceding is from the Nevada Miner, published by the Northwest Mining Association.