Arizona’s unrefined copper concentrate exports are soaring at the same time two foreign-owned, multinational mining companies are planning to construct the Rosemont and Resolution copper mines. The mines would be among the largest in the country, raising questions of whether most, if not all, of the copper would be exported.
Arizona has long been the nation’s leading copper-producing state. And for decades most of the copper concentrate extracted from sulfide ore bodies such as those found at the proposed Rosemont and Resolution mines was processed at giant furnaces called smelters. The smelters transformed copper concentrate into metal that could be further refined into products such as wire and tubing.
The smelters also were notorious for emitting high levels of air pollution and heavy metals including arsenic and lead. One by one, the smelters closed leaving the state today with only two located in the communities of Hayden and Miami.
At the same time, foreign investment in Arizona copper mines sharply increased with Grupo Mexico taking control of three Arizona mines through its Asarco subsidiary and the Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Corp. purchasing a 28 percent share in Phoenix-based Freeport McMoRan’s Morenci mine, the largest copper mine in the United States.
The combination of fewer smelters, steady production, and foreign investment in Arizona copper mines has resulted in skyrocketing exports. Arizona copper concentrate exports have risen sharply from $4.2 million in 2002 to a high of $1.6 billion in 2019, a staggering 38,000 percent increase.
Copper concentrate is now the state’s second-largest export commodity, according to a March 2020 report by the University of Arizona’s Economic and Business Research Center and federal trade reports. Arizona’s 10 copper mines, which account for 74 percent of U.S. copper concentrate production, helped drive overall U.S. copper concentrate exports to $2.5 billion last year.
The companies operating Rosemont (Hudbay Minerals Inc.) and Resolution (Rio Tinto and BHP) have promoted their mines by claiming the copper concentrate will be used to supply U.S. industry with domestic copper to advance a clean energy economy. But the mining companies have not made definitive commitments to send their concentrate to U.S. smelters. Neither Resolution nor Rosemont plans to build copper smelters
There are only three smelters in the U.S. Freeport operates the Miami smelter for its Arizona and New Mexico mines. Asarco operates the Hayden smelter for its three Arizona mines. Kennecott Corp. operates the Garfield, UT smelter which is used to process concentrate from the Bingham Canyon Mine. Bingham is the nation’s second-largest copper mine and is projected to operate at least through 2032.
The lack of domestic smelting capacity along with surging demand from China, Japan and other countries makes it likely that most, if not all, of the copper concentrate produced by Rosemont and Resolution, will be exported, analysts and research reports indicate.
Domestic mines produced 1.2 million metric tons of copper concentrate in 2020 worth $7.5 billion. But rather than staying in the United States, 390,000 tons of copper concentrate was exported, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s annual copper production report.
Arizona’s mines produced 888,000 tons of copper concentrate worth about $5.5 billion last year. Arizona exported 213,000 tons of copper concentrate worth $1.3 billion, or about 24 percent of what was produced in the state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau export data for Arizona. Arizona copper concentrate exports rank second behind civilian aircraft engines and parts.
Virtually all of Arizona’s copper concentrate exports are shipped through Nogales to the Port of Guaymas in southern Sonora. Copper concentrate is then loaded onto ships for transport to Asian countries including China and Japan.
Freeport, one of the largest copper-producing companies in the world, is shipping “significant amounts” of copper concentrate from its Arizona mines to Guaymas, according to a 2015 Arizona Department of Transportation freight plan. The report also states that Vancouver, B.C.-based Capstone Mining Corporation exports copper concentrate from its Pinto Valley Mine near Globe through Guaymas.
“While comprehensive data are not available to assess what portion of Arizona’s copper [concentrate] might be exported to Asian markets via Guaymas, the available data indicate that copper [concentrate] is one of the top exported commodities through the port,” Vera Pavlakovich-Kochi, Senior Regional Scientist and Associate Professor at the University of Arizona states in the 2020 Economic and Business Center research report.
“For example, in January 2019, the top export commodity was copper (concentrate) … worth $35 million and the shipments were destined for China,” she wrote.
Arizona Public Media reported in 2017 that 75% of the cargo that moves through the Guaymas port was copper concentrate and that China was a leading destination. Mexico is also a major copper concentrate exporter.
China is the world’s leading importer of copper concentrate importing $32.7 billion worth in 2018 followed by Japan with $9.8 billion, according to the World Bank. China’s smelters and refineries also produced the most refined copper in the world in 2020 at 9.8 million metric tons, according to the USGS report. China was also the world’s top importer of refined copper at $20.5 billion in 2019.
The U of A report states that Freeport’s five Arizona mines (Morenci, Bagdad, Sierrita, Safford and Miami) produce about 80 percent of the state’s copper. The ADOT report states that it takes seven to nine days to ship copper concentrate from the Morenci mine in southeastern Arizona by rail to Guaymas where it is exported, most likely to Japan.
Asarco produces 13 percent of Arizona production from its Ray, Silver and Mission Complex mines. The ADOT report states that Asarco ships copper concentrate that can’t be processed at the Hayden smelter, where operations were slowed in 2020 by strikes, to northern Sonora where Grupo Mexico operates a smelter in Nacozari.
The addition of two more foreign-based mining companies developing the Rosemont and Resolution mines is expected to continue the two-decade-long trend of increasing copper concentrate exports.
Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals is seeking permits to construct the Rosemont Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains on the Coronado National Forest about 35 miles southeast of Tucson. A Tucson federal court halted the construction of the mine in July 2019 ruling the Coronado National Forest violated federal law when it approved the mine. Hudbay appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and a ruling is expected later this year.
Hudbay is also considering developing mines on private land on the west side of the Santa Ritas that would be visible from parts of Green Valley and Sahuarita. Hudbay estimates there are at least 5.9 billion pounds of recoverable copper at the Rosemont Mine. The company has not provided an estimate of what could be recoverable from possible open pit mining at its Copper World claim on the western slope of the mountain.
Anglo-Australian mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP want to develop the Resolution Mine east of Superior where they plan to extract 40 billion pounds of copper. The underground mine would cause subsidence that would destroy Oak Flat, a popular recreation area on Tonto National Forest, which is also considered by Apache tribes as sacred ground. The House Natural Resources Committee last month approved the Save Oak Flat Act, which would prevent the mine project from moving forward as planned.
The Resolution and Rosemont mines would be among the largest copper mines in the United States in terms of daily ore production behind Freeport’s Morenci Mine and Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon Mine outside of Salt Lake City.
The 2015 ADOT report determined that the “majority” of Resolution’s copper concentrate “is expected to take place outside the State and likely outside of the U.S.” Rio Tinto’s single largest investor is Chinalco, a Chinese state-owned mining company. The ADOT report noted that Resolution was considering building a bulk export terminal in the San Francisco area.
Prior to Hudbay’s acquisition of Rosemont in 2014, the previous owners were planning to develop a copper concentrate export hub in Topolobampo, Mexico. But Hudbay, according to the ADOT report, “backed away due to the potentially high cost.”
“Guaymas still remains the only viable and cost-effective option for shipping metal bearing concentrate[s] from Arizona overseas,” the ADOT report states.
But Guaymas is not without its drawbacks, including “theft of concentrate from rail cars and criticism by some resident groups over dust and discharge,” the ADOT report states. “Guaymas is also becoming risky due to an increase in environmental regulations.”
Please keep fighting to preserve our precious environment.
I was a Past president, Vice president and Treasurer of the Empire Ranch Foundation and so was my Husband, Ron Martin.
We can’t express what that precious area thar area of Arizona means to us. We will continue to contribute what we can to this cause monetarily. Please contact us if we can assist you in any other way.
I do not see information about the water that Rosemont will need to strip the land and use an open pit type mining operation, nor the permanent and irreparable damage that will occur, the least of which are no water for human and animal inhabitants of an area already in a draught and that once the land is stripped off the top and undermined, there is not way to reverse the damage nor reconstruct to its original beauty.
Since other mines are supplying enough copper for the USA, why should the USA allow the ruin of its beauty and health of its citizens in order to export copper to other countries?
PROGRESS AND ECONOMIC SUCCESS COME AT A PRICE !!!
ARIZONA IS THE COPPER STATE . WITHOUT COPPER MINING AND A WEALTH OF COPPER RESOURCES STILL IN THE GROUND , ARIZONA WOULD HAVE A VERY BLEAK ECONOMIC FUTURE . UNFORTUNATELY , MINING AND SMELTING/PROCESSING ACTIVITIES HAVE NEVER BEEN AND WILL NEVER BE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY . THAT IS THE NATURE OF THE BEAST .
HUDBAY , A CANADIAN MINING COMPANY , IS BEARING THE BRUNT OF THE ENVIRONMENTALIST OPPOSITION . WHAT ABOUT THE OPPOSITION TO OTHER FOREIGN INVESTORS , I.E. MEXICO , AUSTRALIA , JAPAN , CHINA , ETC THAT ARE REAPING HUGE PROFITS FROM THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE EXPLOITATION OF ARIZONA’S COPPER RESOURCES .
BUILDING NEW COPPER SMELTERS IN ARIZONA WOULD BE A VERY COSTLY VENTURE WHEN COPPER CONCENTRATES ARE IN BIG DEMAND ON FOREIGN MARKETS AND PROVIDE INSTANT CASH BENEFITS . THE AUTHORITIES RESPONSIBLE FOR ISSUING EXPORT PERMITS SHOULD BE ADDING A SIGNIFICANT SURCHARGE TO EVERY UNIT OF COPPER CONCENTRATE EXPORTED FROM THE USA PARTICULARLY WHEN MINING COMPANIES PAY NO ROYALTIES ON THE COPPER ORE THAT THEY MINE .
AT THE END OF THE DAY , COPPER MINING IN ARIZONA IS GOVERNED BY AN ANCIENT MINING ACT THAT IS TOTALLY OUT OF DATE AND ALLOWS MINING COMPANIES THE OPPORTUNITY TO ESSENTIALLY OPERATE AS THEY WISH .
THANK YOU
DR. ALAN JOHNSON
We have to continue our efforts to stop the Rosemont Mine! This would jeopardize our air, our tourist industry, our water supply etc. Let’s get it done with an environmentally favorable administration!
EMOTIONS , FRUSTRATIONS AND OPTIMISM ARE RUNNING HIGH OVER THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ROSEMONT COPPER PROJECT THAT IS CURRENTLY IN THE HANDS OF A SUBSIDIARY OF CANADA’S HUDBAY MINERALS .
ARIZONA RELIES ON COPPER MINING TO FILL THE STATES FINANCIAL COFFERS . HOWEVER , THE STATE IS MISSING OUT BY NOT PRODUCING REFINED COPPER THAT CAN BE FABRICATED IN THE USA INTO A WIDE VARIETY OF FINISHED PRODUCTS . THE USA IMPORTS ALMOST ALL OF ITS COPPER/BRASS NEEDS WHEN THEY COULD BE FOLLOWING ” VALUE ADDED ” PRINCIPLES . SUCH POLICIES WOULD IMMEDIATELY REDUCE THE FOREIGN INTEREST IN MINING COPPER IN ARIZONA . HOWEVER , DOES ARIZONA WANT TO BECOME AN ” INDUSTRIAL ” STATE ?
THE COPPER CONCENTRATE CURRENTLY EXPORTED FROM ARIZONA AND THE USA IN GENERAL CONTAINS A WEALTH OF MINOR ELEMENTS(GOLD , SILVER , MOLYBDENUM , ANTIMONY , LEAD , ZINC , ETC) THAT ARE ONLY RECOVERED DURING THE SMELTING AND REFINING OF THE COPPER CONCENTRATE . ONCE THE CONCENTRATE LEAVES THE USA THERE ARE NO FURTHER FINANCIAL BENEFITS LEFT TO RECOVER .
ARIZONA NEEDS A POWERFUL GROUP TO LOBBY WASHINGTON IN ORDER TO FORCE MINING COMPANIES OPERATING IN ARIZONA TO FULLY INTEGRATE THEIR COPPER MINING ACTIVITIES INTO A SYSTEM WHEREBY THE COPPER IN THE GROUND ENDS UP AS DOMESTICALLY FINISHED PRODUCTS ON THE SHELF FOR CONSUMERS TO PURCHASE . WHAT IS THE VALUE OF COPPER PRODUCTS IMPORTED INTO THE USA ON AN ANNUAL BASIS ?