Army Corps and Forest Service deliver setbacks to Augusta Resource’s Rosemont copper project on eve of annual meeting

Posted on May 1, 2014 by admin

Augusta Resource Corporation on Thursday suffered two major setbacks in its effort to construct the proposed Rosemont copper mine southeast of Tucson.

On the eve of Augusta’s annual meeting with a $500 million hostile takeover bid set to expire Monday, the U.S. Forest Service announced it will not meet an April 30 deadline for responding to the hundreds of objections filed against the agency’s Final Environmental Impact Statement. Southwest Regional Forester Cal Joyner must respond to the objections before the Forest Service can sign the Final Record of Decision (FROD).

In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) informed Augusta that the company’s application for a Section 404 Clean Water Act permit still falls short of regulatory standards.

The setbacks come at a critical time for Augusta.

Augusta needs the FROD and the Section 404 permit before its Rosemont Copper Company subsidiary can begin construction on the $1.2 billion mine planned for the Santa Rita Mountains on the Coronado National Forest southeast of Tucson. Cash-strapped Augusta is attempting to fend off a hostile takeover bid from Toronto-based HudBay Mineral Resources, whose $500 million offer expires May 5. Continue reading →

Posted in EIS, Investors | 3 Comments

Future ownership of Rosemont copper project to be determined as Augusta shareholders meet with HudBay bid set to expire

Posted on April 30, 2014 by admin

Two starkly different scenarios over the future ownership of the proposed Rosemont copper project have emerged in the days leading up to Augusta Resource Corporation’s annual meeting this Friday in Vancouver, B.C.

The focus of the meeting will be whether Augusta’s shareholders will take steps that will clear the way to accept HudBay Mineral Resources $500 million hostile takeover bid. Toronto-based HudBay, which already has a 16 percent stake in Augusta with 23 million shares, has stated its bid will expire at 5 p.m., May 5.

Augusta shareholders will be asked whether to continue a shareholders’ rights poison pill strategy adopted by the Augusta board last year in anticipation of possible hostile takeover from HudBay. According to the Arizona Daily Star, the vote may not be necessary, because the British Columbia Security Commission is expected to issue a ruling Thursday on HudBay’s request to void the poison pill. Continue reading →

Posted in Clean Water Act, EIS, Investors | 1 Comment

EPA and Pima County ask Arizona environmental agency to deny Rosemont’s application for clean water certification

Posted on April 28, 2014 by admin

Pima County, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Arizona Department of Game and Fish have all raised serious concerns that could jeopardize a critical state water quality protection certification that is needed before the Rosemont Copper Company can begin construction of its proposed open-pit copper mine near Tucson.

The four agencies were responding to a draft Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) proposal certifying that Rosemont’s operations would not violate the Clean Water Act. ADEQ is required to provide that certification of Rosemont’s Section 404 Clean Water Act permit application before the Army Corps can approve the 404 permit and construction can begin on the mine.

Several of the agencies said additional studies and analyses would have to be conducted prior to ADEQ’s certification, which could cause significant delays in issuance of both the state’s certification and the Corps’ 404 permit.

ADEQ’s draft certification and supporting documentation acknowledges that the mile-wide, half-mile deep open pit, along with the mine tailings and waste rock that will bury more than 3,000 acres of Coronado National Forest, will reduce stream flows by 17 percent into Davidson Canyon and Cienega Creek. Continue reading →

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Arizona Game & Fish Department warns Rosemont mine could pollute protected “Outstanding Arizona Waters”

Posted on April 23, 2014 by admin

SSSR14_1014_Pages from rosemont-feis-vol-1The Arizona Game & Fish Department (AGFD) is sharply criticizing the Coronado National Forest’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed Rosemont copper mine stating the Forest Service failed to adequately disclose that the mine may pollute two sensitive waterways that are protected by state law from any degradation.

The AGFD is also raising concerns over seepage from Rosemont’s proposed Dry Stack Tailings Facility polluting downstream waterways, the Forest Service’s failure to require a detailed assessment of the current water quality to serve as a baseline to measure against future potential contamination and “inconsistent and contradictory statements” throughout the FEIS.

The department’s concerns are included in 18 written objections to the FEIS filed with the Forest Service on Feb. 14. The Forest Service must respond to the objections in writing by the end of April. Continue reading →

Posted in EIS, The closer you look, the worse it gets, water, Wildlife | 1 Comment

Hudbay increases pressure in hostile takeover bid claiming “Augusta continues to mislead shareholders”

Posted on April 17, 2014 by admin

Hudbay Mineral Resources is stating in U.S. and Canadian regulatory filings that Augusta Resource Corporation is misleading its shareholders in its financial statements concerning the financing, permitting and construction timeline for Augusta’s proposed Rosemont copper project.

“Augusta continues to mislead shareholders,” Hudbay states in an April 14 filing with Canadian regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. There is “no reasonable prospect of Augusta being fully-financed and commencing construction in mid-2014.”

HudBay’s filing comes at the some time the Toronto-based mining company filed a request with the British Columbia Securities Commission to terminate Augusta’s “poison pill” shareholders protection plan designed to thwart Hudbay’s hostile takeover that was launched on February 9. Continue reading →

Posted in Investors | 2 Comments