Editing Silver City, New Mexico (section)

==Economy==
Silver City was founded as a mining town. [[George Hearst]] built a [[smelter]] after the Silver City, Deming and Pacific [[narrow-gauge railway]] reached Silver City in 1883. The [[Santa Fe Railroad]] provided [[standard gauge]] rail service in 1886, and Commanche Mining and Smelting extended the two-foot narrow-gauge [[Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad]] to [[Pinos Altos, New Mexico|Pinos Altos]] in 1906 (none of which are still in existence).<ref>{{cite book |title=Silver City Narrow Gauge |author=Ericson, Duane |publisher=M2FQ Publications |year=2007}}</ref>

The nearby mining operations, formerly [[Phelps Dodge]], are still the basis for the local economy. In 2006, the [[El Chino Mine|Chino]] and Tyrone mines produced {{convert|125400|LT|MT}} of copper. Mine employment was 1,250, with wages and salaries totaling $73&nbsp;million. However, a Phelps-Dodge spokesman remarked in 2007 that "based on current economic projections, our properties in New Mexico will not be operating in 25&nbsp;years".<ref>New Mexico Business Journal, 9-07, p. 31</ref> Phelps Dodge was acquired by international mining firm [[Freeport-McMoRan]] in March 2007, and operations at the Chino and Tyrone operations are continuing under the Freeport name.

Tourism, retirement and trade are the other major components of Silver City's economy. In 2006, an average three-bedroom, {{convert|1500|sqft|m2|adj=on}} house sold for about $160,000.<ref>''New Mexico Business Journal'', 9-07, p. 33</ref>