Mining Foundation of the Southwest

AMERICAN MINING HALL OF FAME

2001 Medal of Merit Recipient

Warren E. Fenzi

Warren E. Fenzi was born in Santa Barbara, California in 1915 and joined Phelps Dodge in 1937 after earning a civil engineering degree from the California Institute of Technology. Other than the time spent as a Navy Seabee during World War II, he spent his entire career with Phelps Dodge.

Fenzi started at the Morenci Branch as an engineer when the company was beginning its massive open pit development. In 1947, he was appointed as General Superintendent at Morenci, moving to Douglas, Arizona ten years later to become Assistant to the General Manager of Western Operations. He relocated to New York in 1957 as assistant to Phelps Dodge President, Robert Page, but remained a westerner at heart and was known for wearing his trademark Stetson hat. In 1963, Warren Fenzi was appointed a vice president of Phelps Dodge, and became Executive Vice President in 1966. In 1975, he was named President of the compnay and retired from Phelps Dodge in September 1980 after 43 years with the company.

Fenzi's legacy with Phelps Dodge includes helping to bring the Tyrone, New Mexico and Mecalf (Morenci) open pit mining operations into production and the Hidalgo smelter online and guiding the company during the challenging operating environment of the 1970s when constantly changing environmental regulations coupled with escalating fuel costs and sharply rising interest rates made for difficult times in the copper industry.

Mining Foundation of the Southwest
P.O. Box 42317
Tucson, Arizona 85733
Tel: 520-577-7519
Fax: 520-577-7073
E-mail: admin@miningfoundationsw.org