Green Valley residents...Any thoughts or concerns on the new Copper mine going in near you? (community, present)

[bkolodzi]

Originally Posted by wildflowers27

An article by Dan Shearer on October 1, 2021 in the Green Valley News had a lot of information on what's happening with the mines in the Santa Ritas. I'll try to summarize.

Canadian-based Hudbay Minerals owns Rosemont Mine and it has been stalled in courts since July 2019. They want to put their mine tailings on federal land. There is another big, shallower mine area near to it which Hudbay calls Copper World. They own the land around it, so not on federal land and easier to start doing open-pit mining. It will be visible from Green Valley and Sahuarita.

"The decision — not yet official — is based on exploration work in 2020 and 2021 that has now identified seven deposits as potential viable open-pit operations. Hudbay had announced in March that it discovered the potential for four open-pit mines within view of Green Valley and Sahuarita. Quail Creek is about eight miles west of the nearest edge of Copper World."

"Copper World’s deposits are near or at the surface, higher grade than Rosemont and are on 4,500 acres owned by Hudbay. Launching the project on private land means Hudbay would need three state permits and would not require the federal NEPA process, the National Environmental Protection Act."

"Rosemont would require “90 million tonnes (metric tons) of pre-strip” — waste rock — before reaching copper. Copper World would require minimal waste rock removal. In terms of time, it could take a year before reaching copper at Rosemont, where Copper World would be almost immediate in some locations."

A Hudbay COO in Toronto called Copper World, “probably one of our in-house development projects most likely to move forward.”

Hudbay said they have also "identified five new drill-ready exploration targets north and south of Copper World."

Link to the Green Valley News article which includes photos and map of mining sites (not sure if it requires subscription to read):

https://www.gvnews.com/news/huge-dep...97afa487a.html

Excellent update wildflowers27!

[wildflowers27]

Originally Posted by bkolodzi

Excellent update wildflowers27!

Thank you! If I were a gazillionaire, I would offer to buy the whole mountain range from them to keep it as it is. The whole area is a treasure.

[Greenvalleyfan]

I don't get it. I cannot take my private land and do things that pollute the environment. Try building a home in Arizona and see what it takes to put in a septic system? Very strict rules involved. And, the water issues in Arizona? Someone in state government needs to explain. Who can I call?

[wildflowers27]

Originally Posted by Greenvalleyfan

I don't get it. I cannot take my private land and do things that pollute the environment. Try building a home in Arizona and see what it takes to put in a septic system? Very strict rules involved. And, the water issues in Arizona? Someone in state government needs to explain. Who can I call?

Good point, Greenvalleyfan. I hadn't thought of it that way but you're right.

The local group that seems to be on it is Save the Scenic Santa Ritas:

https://www.scenicsantaritas.org/

There's an old phrase, "You don't miss the water 'til the well runs dry." To paraphrase that, We won't miss the mountains until they're torn away. Maybe the Robson developer at Quail Creek will step up and try to do something since all those homeowners are so close by.

[Greenvalleyfan]

Yep, those homeowners have to be livid. I'm in the process of building with the Santa Ritas as my focal point, but not in Quail Creek.

[wildflowers27]

For anyone interested in water, the Oct 20th Green Valley News (pages A10-A11) covered the 2nd installment of the Green Valley Council's Water Series. Very informative with presentations about water policy, management, usage, and future development.
Some of it focused on the mines, so am adding a brief summary to this thread.

A board member of the Green Valley water district, Mr. Heddon, said Hudbay said they were going to use 6,000 to 7,000 acre feet of water a year (1 acre-foot is 326,000 gallons of water). He said Freeport-McMoran (owns the mine behind Green Valley to the west) is taking out 25,000 acre-feet of water a year. And the pecan groves are taking out 20,000 to 22,000 acre-feet of water a year. They talked about the CAP pipeline and if there would be cuts. There is no gray water use in Green Valley or Quail Creek (most of the golf courses in Tucson are pumping gray water). FICO (pecan groves) is going to be converting some of their agricultural fields to residential. Mr. Gabaldon said one tree uses more water than one house; there are 16 parcels of state land on Sahuarita Road and whoever builds has to bring water. Discussed ways for aquifer replenishment.

The slide decks from all three of the forum presentations are available here:

https://gvcouncil.org/meet-our-local...great-success/

[Greenvalleyfan]

Just saw in the news today they are starting on their project. How can we fight this? We need to collectively join together and stop this. WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR WATER?

[recycled]

I recently drove 10 miles south of I-19 on Houghton Rd, past Sahuarita Rd and up to the base of the Santa Rita Mtns where Houghton comes to a dead end. This is the upper part of what is called Corona de Tucson (Crown of Tucson). The view is spectacular, in all directions from Green Valley in the southeast to Marana and then across the entire Catalina range and all of Tucson. Not surprising, there are some very upscale homes that have been built in recent years. It is one of the quietest places you can imagine (end of the road, literally), no highways, trains or airplanes.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.8921...!3m1!1e3?hl=en

The proposed new copper mines are about 3 miles due south of this location in Corona de Tucson. There are ridges that would hide the view of the mines from here, but the explosions that are used to blast hard rock loose for open pit mining would likely be heard (and the concussion wave felt!) within 3 miles. Rattling windows in a previously dead-quiet area would stir up a lot of controversy, even without the water issue!

Copper prices are at very high levels, so it is not surprising the mining plans are being pushed forward. In some ways, the Russia-Ukraine war is tied to this, because with Russia "out" as a source of imported copper for the US, that means fewer choices on the global metals market are available. Chile, Peru, China, Canada, Mexico and Zambia are about the only other places to buy copper if it doesn't come from the US (mostly Arizona).

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by Greenvalleyfan

Just saw in the news today they are starting on their project. How can we fight this? We need to collectively join together and stop this. WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR WATER?

Anyone found out what politico's are responsible for this?

[Greenvalleyfan]

No, I'm not in AZ full time yet. If I was there and registered politically I would know who to call. I may have to change my political affiliation or register as an independent. Destroying the environment and a treasure such as the Santa Rita Mts in the name of money should be a no brainer for a conservative or a liberal. There shouldn't be a side but simply what is right and what is wrong. And, to add insult to injury this is a Canadian company.