374  NEW MEXICO—1992average 1991 price of$1.05 and the 1990 average
of $1.19). 
 Phelps Dodge Corp. operated the State's two largest copper mines: Chino

and Tyrone. Cyprus Minerals Co. continued operating the Pinos Altos property,
but as a primary copper and not a primary zinc producer. Goldfield 
Corp. reported production from the St. Cloud and Lordsburg operations, and

MountRoyal Mining Corp. also produced 
copper as a byproduct of primary 
precious metal production at its Center 
Mine. 
 Phelps Dodge operated the Tyrone 
open pit mine, concentrator, and SX-EW 
plant; the Chino open pit, concentrator, SX-EW plant, and Hurley smelter;
and 
the Hidalgo smelter. SX-EW accounted for about 55% of the combined 1992 copper
production from Tyrone and Chino. 
 The Tyrone open pit and SX-EW plant near Silver City (Grant County) was
fully owned by Phelps Dodge and operated by its subsidiary Burro Chief Copper
Co. During 1992, the Tyrone operation fell from 5th to 10th place in U.S.
copper production. The Tyrone concentrator was retired in February as mill-grade
ore was exhausted. It produced only 7,700 metric tons (8,500 short tons)
of concentrate in 1992 compared with 56,800 metric tons (62,600 short tons)
during 1991, the last full year of mill operation. As the concentrator finished
its task, Phelps Dodge laid off about 500 workers, although the company retained
about 250 at the Tyrone leach operation and SX-EW facility. After the company
completed the fourth expansion of its SXEW facility, total 1992 SX-EW production
at Tyrone vaulted to a record 63,700 metric tons (70,200 short tons) of electrolytic
copper, up from 54,000 
metric tons (59,500 short tons). Phelps Dodge expected production from the
Burro Chief SX-EW plant to last about another 10 years. Borrowing an idea
from the company's Cochise project at Bisbee, AZ, the Tyrone leach operation
experimented with crushing to determine its effect on copper leachability
and recovery. If results prove favorable, the company anticipated that the
crushing 
plant (at the former Tyrone mill) could 
process 23,000 to 27,000 metric tons (25,000 to 30,000 short tons). 
 Phelps Dodge held a two-thirds interest in Chino Mines Co. ; Heisei 
Minerals, a Mitsubishi Materials Corp. 
subsidiary, owned the other one-third. Chino Mines Co. operated a large open
pit copper mine, concentrator, and SXEW plant at Santa Rita in addition to
a smelter at Hurley (Grant County). Chino Mines employed about 865 people
at its mine and mill. The Chino operation produced 138,000 metric tons (152,200

short tons) of copper, a record 52,000 
metric tons (57,300 short tons) of which 
was produced via SX-EW. In national 
standing for 1992, Chino dropped from fourth to fifth in copper production.

 The Hurley (or Chino) smelter was 
shut down for a 28-day "turnaround," a 
period scheduled for major repairs and 
modifications, for which the company ~ spent $12.5 million. Work on environmental
controls, particularly at the acid plant, comprised a significant portion

~ of smelter reconditioning. Among 
~ smelter improvements was installation of 
~ a new automated takeoff machine that could remove anodes and determine
their 
~ weight and quality. Pioneered in Canada, ~ the technology was first tested
at the company's El Paso refinery, which 
~ refined anodes cast by the two New 
~ Mexico smelters. Even with the turnaround, the Hurley smelter set a 1992
production record of 134,000 metric tons 
~ (147,900 short tons) of copper anode. 
 After 8 years of continuous operation, the Hidalgo smelter also paused for
a 60day turnaround. About $7.5 million was spent for maintenance and another
$5 million for equipment purchases. The 8year period without shutdown was
a record for Hidalgo's Outokumpu flash furnace, which originally came on-stream
in 1976. Although originally built to accommodate concentrates from Tyrone,
Hidalgo was the main outlet for Morenci concentrates. Despite the refurbishment,
Hidalgo achieved its third highest year of production: 164,500 metric tons
(181,300 short tons) of copper anode. 
 According to Cyprus Minerals Co.'s Form 10-K, 1992 production from Pinos

Altos Mine (Grant County) was curtailed because ofrepairs and modifications
to its 
Miami, AZ, smelter. Cyprus changed its 
emphasis from zinc to copper during 1992, and the company continued to drive
a decline to open a deeper copper-zinc 
ore body, about 1, 100 feet below the 
surface. Total copper recovered at the 
mine was 3, 100 metric tons (3,400 short tons), an amount that gave Pinos
Altos 
224 place in 1992 U.S. copper production. Normal mine production resumed
during the latter part of the year 
with an average output of about 180 metric tons (200 short tons) per day.
Run of mine ore graded 6.5 % copper, plus gold and silver smelter credits.17

 Several other companies reported 1992 production to the U.S. Bureau of Mines
from New Mexico properties. Goldfield Corp. , as its subsidiary St. Cloud
Mining Co. , reported copper production from sales of siliceous smelter flux
from the St. Cloud property (Sierra County). In addition, Lordsburg Mining
Co. (the name of the Goldfield-Hidalgo and Federal Resources Corp. partnership)
continued to supply siliceous smelter flux from its property near Lordsburg
(Hidalgo County). Cyprus' Miami smelter in Arizona was the principal consumer
of the flux from Lordsburg. According to Goldfield's annual report, St. Cloud
produced 5.4 metric tons (5.9 short tons) of copper and Lordsburg produced
81 metric tons (90 short tons) 
of copper during 1992. 
 At yearend, Cobre Mining Co., a subsidiary of Metallic Ventures Inc., purchased
part of Bayard Mining Corp.'s assets, including the Continental copper mine
near Hanover. The company began rehabilitating the No. 2 mill and planned
to begin mining in the Continental pit by spring 1993. 
 Champion Resources Ltd. of 
Vancouver and Western Mining Corp. of Australia submitted a plan to the U.S.

Forest Service in June to drill 16 holes to explore for copper-bearing massive
sulfide deposits near Pecos in Santa Fe National Forest. The New Mexico Department
of Game and Fish and the New Mexico Environment Department protested the
decision to allow drilling,