Morenci is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) and

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

in Greenlee County,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, United States, and was founded by the Detroit Copper Mining Company of Arizona. The population was 2,000 at the 2000 census and 1,489 at the 2010 census. The biggest employer in Morenci (and in nearby Clifton) and the owner of the town is Freeport-McMoRan, the owner of the Morenci Mine, the largest

copper mining Copper extraction is the multi-stage process of obtaining copper from list of copper ores, its ores. The conversion of copper ores consists of a series of physical, chemical, and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with coun ...

operation in North America, and one of the largest copper mines in the world. The town was a site of the

Arizona Copper Mine Strike of 1983 The 1983 Arizona copper mine strike began as a labour dispute between the Phelps Dodge Corporation and a group of trade union, union copper mining, copper miners and mill workers, led by the United Steelworkers. The subsequent strike action, stri ...

. The large open-pit mine is north of the town.

Geography

Morenci is located in central Greenlee County on the northeastern border of the town of Clifton, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. U.S. Route 191 (the Coronado Trail) passes through the northern part of the community, leading east and downhill into Clifton and north through the Apache National Forest to Eagar. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the Morenci CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.23%, is water.

Climate

This region experiences hot and dry summers, with average monthly high temperatures above 80 °F for seven months a year. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Morenci has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,879 people, 672 households, and 454 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 754 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 68.0%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.5%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 2.1% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 25.0% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races. 44.5% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 672 households, out of which 45.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 0.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.55. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 35.6% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 34.4% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 0.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 119.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 128.7 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $46,010, and the median income for a family was $54,583. Males had a median income of $41,875 versus $26,063 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $18,695. About 2.7% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 2.9% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The economy of Morenci as well as that of the surrounding area is almost completely dependent on the Morenci Mine.Rudolf, John Collin. "Copper's Every Dip Is Felt in Arizona." ''New York Times.'' November 27, 2008. Between 2003 and 2008, the worldwide rise in copper prices led the mine to double its work force to 4,000 employees and increase production by 55 percent to an average of one million tons of ore per day. Several hundred new homes were built, leading to a boom in the construction industry. All the homes in Morenci, new and old, remain owned by Freeport-McMoRan. Image:Morenci_Mine.jpg, One of the active pits at the Morenci Mine. The horizontal shelves are the mining benches. The fan-like slopes are leached material, dumped into mined-out portions of the pit. File: Glendale-Sahuaro Central Railroad Museum-Porter 0-4-0-1887.jpg , This ''Porter 0-4-0'' is an 18" gauge locomotive that was once used as a copper mining locomotive in Morenci. The locomotive is currently on exhibit in the Sahuaro Central Railroad Museum in Glendale, Az. Image:MorenciConc1942.jpg, Old Morenci Concentrator, 1942 File:Azurite-Malachite-27233.jpg,

Malachite Malachite () is a copper Carbonate mineral, carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the chemical formula, formula Basic copper carbonate, Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often for ...

and

Azurite Azurite or '' Azure spar'Krivovichev V. G.'' Mineralogical glossary. Scientific editor A. G. Bulakh. — St.Petersburg: St.Petersburg Univ. Publ. House. 2009. — 556 p. — ISBN 978-5-288-04863-0. ''(in Russian)'' is a soft, deep-blue copp ...

from the Morenci Mine, which produces many fine specimens for

mineral collector Mineral collecting is the hobby of systematically collecting, identifying and displaying mineral specimens. Mineral collecting can also be a part of the profession of mineralogy and allied geologic specialties. Individual collectors often spe ...

s. File:Azurite-284714.jpg,

from Morenci

Education

It is in the Morenci Unified School District.

Notable people

* Ettore DeGrazia, Southwestern Impressionist painter * Christine Nofchissey McHorse, Diné ceramic artist and sculptor

References

External links

* {{authority control Census-designated places in Greenlee County, Arizona Census-designated places in Arizona Mining communities in Arizona Safford, Arizona micropolitan area Company towns in Arizona