The centerpiece of Augusta Resource Corporation’s public relations campaign for its proposed Rosemont copper mine is that mile-wide, half-mile deep open pit mine will be a “state-of-the-art, first-class mine”.
Augusta also likes to describe the Rosemont project as “21st Century mine”, a transparent gimmick meant to convince the public that Rosemont will be dramatically different from other open-pit copper mines that destroyed vast areas of Arizona’s landscape and polluted ground water over the last 100 years.
“The Rosemont Project is a 21st century operation using the latest technology to help reduce impacts to the environment,” says Rosemont Copper Company CEO Rod Pace. Rosemont Copper Co. is a subsidiary of Vancouver, B.C.-based Augusta.
Rosemont has spent millions of dollars in advertising and contributions to Southern Arizona community foundations, political campaigns and business leagues promoting the image of a “state-of-the-art” mine.
Augusta, however, abandons the glitzy line when it comes time to describe its mine plan to regulators.
Last November, a Rosemont Copper Company attorney cut to the chase in a letter requesting that the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality take over review of the company’s air quality permit application from Pima County.
“The (Rosemont Copper Project) is a typical open pit copper mine that is planned for construction in the area generally south, southeast of Tucson within Pima County,” Rosemont Copper counsel Eric Hiser stated in a Nov. 23, 2011 letter to the ADEQ.
Once again, Augusta/Rosemont continue their pattern of deceptive statements, telling the public one thing and regulators quite a different story.
The fact is, while Augusta says it will employ new mining technologies, which are required under state law, the Rosemont mine will destroy a vast area of the Coronado National Forest.
The mine will dump waste rock and dry-stack mine tailings more than 700 feet high across 3,000 acres. Augusta will also leave behind a huge mine pit that will fill with more than 1,000 feet of water, posing an environmental threat to groundwater forever.
As Rosemont’s attorney said quite clearly, the Rosemont mine is just another “typical open pit copper mine.”
All the regulators have to do is look at what happened to Butte, Montana (Superfund
Site) and the mine in Italy. Case closed!
IT APPEARS THAT AUGUSTA HAS SOME VERY STRONG AND INFLUENTIAL POLITICAL CONNECTIONS THAT WOULD BE WELL WORTH INVESTIGATING . HOW ELSE WOULD THEY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HAVE THE AIR QUALITY PERMITTING PROCESS REMOVED FROM THE PIMA COUNTY AUTHORITIES AND PUT IN THE HANDS OF THE ARIZONA STATE AUTHORITIES ? IN CANADA , THE HOME OF AUGUSTA RESOURCES , THIS WOULD BE CONSIDERED A CASE OF ” INFLUENCE PEDDLING ” , IN OTHER WORDS , ” POLITICAL MANIPULATION ” . ALL OF THE OPPOSITION TO AUGUSTA’S ROSEMONT PROJECT CAN BE ” TRUMPED ” BY A POLITICAL DECISION .
WHAT IS A ” TYPICAL OPEN PIT COPPER MINE ” AS REFERRED TO BY AUGUSTA’S LAWYERS ? ARIZONA IS HOME TO A NUMBER OF ” OPEN PIT COPPER MINES ” BOTH ACTIVE AND INACTIVE . ARE THEY ” TYPICAL ” AND IF SO , IN WHAT WAY ? THE GREEN VALLEY SCENE IS NOTHING TO BE PROUD OF AS IT IS AN EYESORE AND MAJOR POLLUTANT FOR ALL TO SEE , PARTICULARLY THOSE WHO HAPPEN TO LIVE IN THE AREA . ROSEMONT , AS JUST ANOTHER PROPOSED ” TYPICAL OPEN PIT COPPER MINE ” ACCORDING TO AUGUSTA , WOULD BE NO DIFFERENT . EVEN THE OLD OPEN PIT AT BISBEE CONTINUES TO POLLUTE THE AIR WITH SULPHUR FUMES FROM THE ACID WATERS IN THE BOTTOM OF THE PIT . YOU CAN TASTE IT IN THE AIR WHEN YOU STAND NEAR THE EDGE OF THE PIT . ALL OPEN PIT MINING , ” TYPICAL OR OTHERWISE ” , RESULTS IN PERMANENT DAMAGE TO THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT . OPEN PIT MINING IN ARIZONA IS ALREADY TESTIMONY TO THIS FACT . DO YOU WANT MORE OF THE SAME ?
WHY IS MY COMMENT STILL WITH THE MODERATOR AFTER 4 DAYS ?