Asarco Mineral Discovery

Came here as part of my MSHA certification and it was so much fun. Learned a lot about the history of mining and got to see a lot of what goes on in an open pit mine.

A real live open pit copper mining operation. Meet up in the museum/gift shop for a comfortable bus ride up to the processing plant with stops on the way to view the pit that is miles long, all in full operation. Tour gives enough time to see everything and plenty of information and answers for all questions.The museum/gift shop has plenty of explanations and artifacts on display. Outside the museum are a number of old pieces of equipment used on the mine site.A very worthwhile visit.

Cynthia is the best tour guide ever! You will be on board a bus for most of the tour with a little level walking and lots of photo opps! So much fun and very educational--with a fabulous gift shop.

The mine tour was a great experience and the tour guide explained to us in detail about the mining process for copper at Asarco. The tour consists of the open pit view point with the binoculars for close up view, the thickening pond with the unique(for the lack of better word) pine oil smell, the mill to break down the ore into smaller pieces, the cathode and anode bars. We finished of the tour with yet another visit to the gift shop and they have an amazing collection of stones, ores and silver and copper samples in cute little corked bottles. They have a short movie explaining mining, and display of various objects used in the mining process. Outside the museum, they have a huge collection of haul trucks, coal cart used from 1930s to mind 1970s, original head-frame used in 1900s and many more. The tour is an hour long and the price is reasonable too. If you are curious about mining, this is a perfect way to get started.

If you are interested in mining, copper, Arizona, or are just looking for something to do one afternoon while visiting Tucson, this is worth stopping by. But, if you want to take the tour, you definitely want to make a reservation since the tours fill up completely. Without the tour, you can browse the gift shop, watch the video and look at some exhibits in the visitor's center. The tour involves getting on a bus with a guide and going into the mine. The mine is HUGE, so you get to go to the edge and look down to watch the trucks get filled by the shovels, maybe the drills boring blast holes, and, if you're lucky and come during the week, they blast M-F around 3pm. There is no guarantee that you'll see that, and the guide says it is pretty anticlimactic, but that is time to come if you want a chance. Once you've seen the mine, you move on to the processing plant where they take the blasted chunks, break them down, and concentrate the copper for further harvesting. The tour takes about an hour and is interesting, especially if you have questions about the process. Most of the big equipment (shovels, trucks, drills) that you see is in the distance because the mine works 24x7x365, but there are some older trucks near the visitor's center that you can take a look at and get some pictures. Those things cost millions of dollars each, so I can understand why they're not just sitting around looking pretty! Overall, it was a good visit for us. Even my teenager seemed to enjoy learning something new.If you are looking for more to do in the area, San Xavier del Bac mission is back up I-19 on the way to Tucson, Tubac is a little further south on I-19 (art, some restaurants and shopping), and the Santa Cruz Chili company is a few more minutes south on I-19 in Tumacacori. They have a nice spice shop -- I love the smell of that shop!

The landscape took us out of this world and literally took us into a hole so grand. But the whole operation is so interesting and so profound- who could have thought the lowly copper have so much impact in this world. Anyways, it's a very interesting tour and well worth the visit.

Definitely a highlight of our trip to Tucson for me!Really enjoyed the experience - the museum is very interesting, and the guide was extremely informative. We took the tour, which is a short bus ride to the mine site, where you get to see an active mine. The guide answered all of our questions, and you have ample time to take photos. Definitely an educational experience that people of all ages can enjoy. Cool photo ops with the giant tires and some of the old equipment as well. Highly recommend if you're in the area.

The Discovery Center is a small building with a one-room museum that is nevertheless worth seeing, principally for some very good videos of the mining and smelting process. The mine tour is the main attraction, an hour-long ride around the open pit mine with stops at an overlook and a tour inside a refining building. There is some informative patter from the guide, but mostly it's a chance to observe the immense scale of an open pit mine and the complexity of getting minerals out of the ground.The staff is friendly and reasonabily informative.Hints: Go early and avoid the crowds. This is mainly for adults although young children may enjoy the ride in the company bus. A little.

This was a nice stop to get out of the car. We stumbled upon it not knowof it before. Its free! We did not do the mine tour but still enjoyed it. The gift shop had nice items. Staff was friendly.

A fun and informative tour. Highly recommend. You ride a bus through the mine site so it is a perfect tour for anyone.