The Miami Mine has an open pit, a smelter, and an electrolytic refinery that produces the final product: copper rod. The facilities are operated by Phelps Dodge, the largest copper company in the United States. The Miami/Globe area is an old mining district, and a heavily industrialized remote area in Arizona. There are several active and inactive mines, slag piles, and tailings piles in the area, some of which are mined by BHP and other copper companies. Operations start and stop according to fluctuations in the market for copper.