Largest manmade excavation

The Bingham Canyon Copper Mine, operated by Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation, is the largest manmade excavation in the world. Since it began operations in 1906, more than 5.4 billion tonnes of rock have been excavated from it. It measures 4 km (2.5 miles) across and 1.2 km (0.75 miles) deep. It has been nicknamed 'the richest hole on Earth'. It is located near Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. The mine is visible from space. As of 2004 more than 15.4 million tonnes of copper have been produced from the mine. Additionally, 23 million ounces of gold and 190 million ounces of silver have been produced. 500,000 tons of material are removed from the mine every day.