The Mines and Minerals of the Clifton-Morenci (Copper Mountain) Mining District, Greenlee County, Arizona with Les Presmyk, Arizona State Mine Inspector
Free Online Program
The Mines and Minerals of the Clifton-Morenci (Copper Mountain) Mining District, Greenlee County, Arizona with Les Presmyk, Arizona State Mine Inspector
Saturday, September 19, 2026, 11:00 AM – MST
The Clifton-Morenci area is the second oldest copper mining area in the Arizona Territory. For the first 70 years, all of the copper production was accomplished from underground mines. Then, in the 1940s, Phelps-Dodge made the decision to go to an open-pit operation. Today, under the leadership of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold, Inc., the Morenci mine is one of the largest and most profitable copper mines in the world. The Morenci mines have also produced significant quantities of fine specimens of a number of copper minerals from the earliest underground mining to various areas of the open pit mine.
Les Presmyk is an Arizona native along with his wife, Paula. Both are proud graduates of the University of Arizona. Les spent his entire mining engineering career in Arizona mining, first with Magma Copper Company (9 years at the Magma Mine in Superior and two years in San Manuel) and then 30+ years with the Salt River Project dealing with all of the coal mines supplying fuel for the seven coal fired generating stations in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, along with serving on the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Stations Fuels Committee for six years. After eight years of retirement, he was appointed to fill the vacant position of Arizona’s State Mine Inspector, providing him the opportunity to ensure everyone who works at one of Arizona’s 650 operating mines does so as safely as possible.
To register or for more information, visit: https://tinyurl.com/BisbeeOnline09192026