Hudbay approves $122 million spending plan for “early works” at Rosemont

Hudbay Minerals, Inc. yesterday announced that it approved a $122 million “early works” spending plan for the Rosemont Copper Mine.

Hudbay stated the funds would be used for the following projects:

• Funding the construction of a water pipeline and power transmission line to site, which are critical long-lead items that are necessary to initiate heavy civil works at site.
• Advancing critical path engineering and geotechnical work to support long-lead procurement and de-risk the project schedule and cost estimate.
• Archaeological site work to prepare key areas for construction.
• Spending on permit-related mitigation activities and owner’s costs.

Hudbay announced the spending plan one-day after a coalition of four conservation groups filed a federal lawsuit challenging a decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue a Clean Water Act permit to Rosemont that is the final major permit needed in the contentious regulatory process.

The receipt of Sec. 404 permit and the Coronado National Forest’s subsequent approval of Rosemont’s final Mine Plan of Operations, clears the way for Hudbay to construct the $1.9 billion mine. With the 404 permit and MPO in hand,  Hudbay immediately authorized spending for early construction.

“We are pleased to be moving forward at Rosemont and look forward to carrying out the early works in parallel with financing activities for the project,” said Alan Hair, Hudbay’s president and chief executive officer.

Hudbay’s decision to authorize funding for initial construction comes before the federal courts have issued rulings on pending lawsuits challenging the mine project.

The latest lawsuit challenging the mine project was filed by Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, The Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter and Arizona Mining Reform Coalition. The lawsuit challenges the Army Corps’ decision to reverse its 2016 recommendation to deny the Section 404 permit and instead on March 8 issued the final permit.

Gayle Hartmann, president of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, stated in a press release that mine opponents will continue to fight the Rosemont project to protect southern Arizona from the environmental devastation that would result for the mine.

The project would be the third largest open-pit copper mine in the United States. It would blast a mile-wide, half-mile deep pit in the Santa Rita Mountains and dump waste rock and mine tailings on more than 2,500 acres of Coronado National Forest.

“We have no choice but to seek justice in federal court in support of our community, our health and our environment,” she stated. “We will move forward and present our case, reiterating the extensive damage this project will do to our water resources and our beautiful Santa Rita Mountains.”

Three federal lawsuits already have been filed seeking to stop the project. The suits have been consolidated into one case.

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in September 2017 alleging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act when it issued a biological opinion approving the mine.

Two months later, four environmental and conservation groups filed a lawsuit alleging the U.S. Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act and various major federal environmental protection laws when it issued a Record of Decision (ROD) approving the mine.

Three Native American Tribes filed a similar lawsuit in April 2018 against the Forest Service.

In addition to legal challenges, the Rosemont project is coming under scrutiny in Congress.

Arizona Representative Raul Grijalva, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee along with Representative Ann Kirkpatrick in whose District the proposed mine is located warned in a Jan. 23 letter that Hudbay has failed to provide government regulators with a plan to “adequately mitigate the environmental impacts of the mine on the aquatic ecosystem.”