Updated on at 1:21 p.m., Feb. 26 to include information from the Augusta Resource Corp. “Directors Circular” concerning HudBay Mineral Resources’ takeover offer.
Contrary to previous statements, Augusta Resource Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer Gil Clausen on Monday said the company plans to expand its Rosemont copper project beyond the proposed mile-wide, half-mile deep pit that is the basis for the Coronado National Forest’s (CNF) Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Draft Record of Decision (ROD).
The Coronado National Forest’s FEIS, which was released in December, did not evaluate the environmental impacts of a much larger mining operation, extending over a much longer time, that Clausen now confirms is actually a key part of Augusta’s plans for the site.
Augusta provided further details of Rosemont’s expansion and exploration potential in a “Directors Circular” filed late Monday with Canadian regulators.
The company stated that the existing mine plan of operations that was subject to the FEIS and Draft ROD “is premised on only proven and probable reserves of approximately 5.9 billion pounds of copper.” The Augusta circular states that an additional 3 billion pounds of copper may exist at the Rosemont site and if developed “could significantly increase annual production and mine life.”
The circular also states that there is additional exploration possibilities within the 20,100 acres of private lands, patented and unpatented mining claims that make up the Rosemont project area.
In the past, Clausen had repeatedly dismissed the possibility that Augusta would expand the Rosemont copper project to other mining claims it holds nearby.
When asked in early 2012 about developing Augusta’s three major mining claims close to the Rosemont pit, he told the Arizona Daily Star “we don’t intend to do any mining development there”.
