26-Nov-2004 -- Southbound from Tucson, my brother-in-law and I discovered that the mile markers are really kilometer markers on Interstate 19. We took Exit 80 to Pima Mine road. You can stop after about a quarter of a mile in a pull off on the north side of the road just past the four tanks and building on your left. At that point, you are less than 150 meters away. This was a very easy confluence and is located on the property of the ASARCO Copper Mine. You could be off and back on the interstate in less than 5 minutes.

After I took my pictures we went around the corner to the ASARCO Mineral Discovery Center. Both of these are visible on some relatively recent color imagery from TerraServer.

The confluence is located just west of the two buildings southwest of the four tanks along a diagonal from the northwest corner to the southeast corner of the image. The ASARCO Mineral Discovery Center and parking lot are visible in the lower right quadrant of this image. We spent a long time walking around the absolutely *huge* dump trucks (you can zoom in on it from the link above) – the bigger dump truck is the same size as the *smallest* truck currently operating in the mine today. Truly a monster machine!

It would have been a longer walk, but you could also walk to the confluence from the parking lot.

We then took the very informative tour of this huge copper mine. Check out their website for a lot more information and pictures.

Picture #1 looks to the north and shows the distinctive Catalina mountains. Picture #2 looks east and shows those 2 buildings visible in the imagery on the other side of the railroad spur. Picture #3 looks to the south and shows the tailings from the copper mine. Picture #4 looks west and shows typical desert cactus in the Tucson area. Picture #5 shows a perfect GPS confluence. Picture #6 is a view north from on top of the mine across the crater. Tucson can be seen in the distance.

Following our mine adventure, we proceeded south a few more kilometers to Exit 69 and spent the next few hours at the Titan Missile Museum. Picture #7 looks down at the Titan Missile through a very large window at the top. The tour takes a little over an hour and then you can wander about on top of the site after the tour for as long as you want. Definitely a must see, worth the price of admission and a great historical lesson! Unfortunately TerraServer’s color imagery does not extend south to the museum but the black and white imagery of the missile site is available.

Another successful confluence adventure!