In December of 2007, Freeport-McMoRan Safford Inc. (FMSI) (formerly Phelps Dodge Safford, Inc.) began production at the Safford Mine in southeastern Arizona, about 8 miles north of the town of Safford in Graham County. The long-term role of the USGS at the Safford Mine is to help ensure that the effects of mine-related pumpage on the regional aquifer are known and quantified.