History: Phelps Dodge & Company invested $50,000 in the property in 1881, marking the New York mercantile’s first venture into mining. Through acquisition, Phelps Dodge consolidated all mining operations in the district by 1921. Initially underground, Morenci transitioned to open-pit mining beginning in 1937. The operation nearly doubled its production capacity during World War II at the urging of the U.S. government to meet wartime needs. Morenci’s first SX/EW plant was commissioned in 1987. Once home to two smelters, the last smelter ceased operation in 1984. Both have been demolished and reclaimed. A merger in 2007 brought the Morenci mine into the Freeport-McMoRan family.
