The following article first appeared in the Arizona Daily Independent and is being reprinted with permission here. The U.S. Forest Service has released the final Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed Rosemont Mine. The final EIS documents the analysis of six alternatives (including a “no action” alternative) that was developed for the Rosemont Copper Project analysis. Alternative 4 – Barrel Alternative is the U.S. Forest Service preferred alternative.
According to the report, the Barrel Alternative was developed to respond to significant issues regarding potential impacts on biological resources, cultural resources, and the surface water component of water resources.
The report reads:
Since the release of the EIS, there have been refinements to the Barrel Alternative in response to public comments and agency efforts toward geomorphic reclamation. Geomorphic reclamation involves the incorporation of postclosure landforms that replicate natural drainages, both functionally and visually. Through the refinement process for this alternative, Rosemont Copper committed to work within the project footprint developed by the Coronado interdisciplinary team. After further construction planning by Rosemont Copper, it became clear that this alternative could not be constructed according to the necessary phasing and still retain the heap leach facility with enough surface area to make the oxide ore processing economically feasible. In response to both public and other agency concerns about the heap leach facility and economic feasibility concerns, Rosemont Copper proposed to remove and the Forest Supervisor decided to remove oxide ore processing from the Barrel Alternative. Additional refinements to this alternative include the following:
• Inclusion of rock cover as part of reclamation on the east slope of tailings and waste rock facilities to promote long-term stability;
• Stormwater redesign, including removing the underdrains, eliminating storage on the top and benches of the tailings and waste rock facilities, and incorporating more stormwater routing downstream;
• Relocation of the Arizona National Scenic Trail to the east side of SR 83. To view the report click here.
Road decommissioning and construction of connector roads and turnarounds would be similar to the proposed action, although there are some differences, based on the location of the perimeter fence for the Barrel Alternative.
Rosemont officials said in a statement on Wednesday, "The publication of the Final EIS is the culmination of over six years of comprehensive environmental and technical studies and analyses," said Gil Clausen, Augusta's President and CEO.
"This is an exciting and significant achievement for the Company. We are pleased that the U.S. Forest Service has completed the document and sincerely thank the team and all parties involved for their diligence and efforts. With the EIS process concluded, we can move forward and finalize the last remaining steps of permitting."
Arizona State University researchers found that the proposed project would bring a significant boost to local, state and national economies. According to Rosemont Copper, the project create jobs for more than 400 direct employees and create more than 1,700 indirect jobs per year. ASU’s economic analysis found that the Rosemont project would support an average of 2,900 new jobs throughout Arizona.
Rick Grinnell of the Southern Arizona Business Coalition, a staunch advocate of jobs in Southern Arizona commended Jim Upchurch of the U.S. Forest Service for his hard work and dedication to the region and its people. "Now we proceed to a 45 day public comment period and the vast majority of the people in Southern Arizona support the mine and need the jobs it will bring," said Grinnell. Grinnell said he expected many people to speak out in support of the mine in the next 45 days.
Opponents to the mine have frequently raised the issue of water usage, however the farmers in the Rosemont Mine desert area of Southern Arizona use 800 gallons of water to grow one pound of pecans, while Rosemont Mine's process uses only 8 gallons of water to produce one pound of copper. Copper is recycled so effectively that 80% of copper is continuously reused, whereas pecans are consumed and become part of the waste problem.