Local opinion: Copper World will enrich Hudbay but hurt Pima County

Rob Peters, Thomas Nelson and Steve Brown Special to the Arizona Daily Star Sep 6, 2024 updated Sep 9, 2024

https://tucson.com/opinion/column/local-opinion-copper-world-will-enrich-hudbay-but-hurt-pima-county/article_ea09445c-6add-11ef-8194-af0acc16b90b.html 

The following is the opinion and analysis of the writers:

Re: the Aug. 14 article “Economic study on Copper World Project is flawed.”

Pictured from left to right: Thomas Nelson, Steve Brown, Rob Peters

The opinion by Hudbay’s Jerry Bustamante trumpets how the Copper World project would supposedly benefit the Pima County economy. However, he failed to acknowledge serious economic drawbacks identified in the new Power Consulting report commissioned by Save the Scenic Santa Ritas. (www.copperworldeconomics.com)

Bustamante twists reality by suggesting that Copper World will provide “green jobs” and “sustainable development.” On the contrary, Hudbay’s project will destroy a treasured natural ecosystem essential for truly sustainable recreation, tourism, and the housing industry. In 2022, Pima County passed a resolution opposing Copper World because it saw clearly that replacing precious “natural and cultural resources” with gigantic open pits and piles of toxic waste is a bad idea.

Bustamante suggests that Copper World’s copper is essential for green energy. Not so. First, the U.S. Geological Survey declined to list copper as a critical mineral because there’s plenty from recycling, existing U.S. mines, and friendly trading partners. Second, even if the country does need new mines in the future, the Santa Rita Mountains aren’t the right place. They are just too precious to mine.

Hudbay set out to undermine the Power Consulting report by arranging for it to be nit-picked by two consulting groups with close ties to the mining industry. The website of Graham Davis, for example, says he “consults in mine and project valuation for several large mining companies“ [authors’ italics].

Donovan Power, President of Power Consulting, says, “We absolutely stand by the conclusions of our report.” The report’s strongest conclusions are plain common sense that we can all understand:

1. Mining hurts local economies. Power Consulting’s review shows that U.S. counties across the country that depend on mining fare worse than those that don’t. This is because mining is boom and bust and because it hurts truly sustainable economic sectors, like tourism and outdoor recreation.

2. Life in the desert depends on water. Hudbay will pump between 2 and 4 billion gallons per year, drawing down the aquifer used by nearby agriculture and communities, particularly Sahuarita. Moreover, our expert hydrologists reviewed the Copper World aquifer protection permit just approved by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and concluded that the permit has serious deficiencies that may let Copper World contaminate groundwater.

3. Trucks could cause accidents and spill toxic chemicals. More than one hundred trucks per day will carry copper concentrate and sulfuric acid past Sahuarita Highlands and through the town of Sahuarita. And accidents do happen. A photo in the Power Consulting report shows a truck carrying copper concentrate overturned near a Hudbay mine in Peru. In 2023, Interstate 10 was closed near Tucson because a tanker spilled nitric acid.

4. The mine’s economic benefits will be trivial compared with damage to other economic sectors. The small number of mining jobs touted by Hudbay, 430, would be less than one-tenth of one percent of jobs in Pima County. And these jobs will come with great economic, health, and safety risks. Yes, some additional secondary jobs will be created to support miners, but Power Consulting provides evidence that Hudbay likely exaggerates how many.

5. Mining jobs could disappear in the future. Because copper prices soar and plunge, prices may not always be high enough to support Hudbay jobs. Contrary to Bustamante’s claim that “Mines cannot halt operations during low-price periods,” data in Power Consulting’s report shows that mines in Arizona have slowed production and lowered employment when copper prices drop. In the late 1990s, when world copper prices tanked, there were massive layoffs at San Manuel’s copper mine. Moreover, when Copper World’s ore eventually runs out, jobs will disappear, but economic and environmental damage will remain forever. So much for sustainability.

6. Property values will drop. Power Consulting concluded that decreases in home values could more than offset economic benefits from mining jobs. Although predicting future values based on other mines in other places is tricky, Power Consulting notes that one thing is certain, namely that Hudbay’s assumption that there will be no negative effects on home values is clearly wrong. Common sense would ask, “Who wants to buy a house next door to a toxic waste dump?” A partial answer is that some homeowners afraid of the mine have already moved away.

Hudbay is a mammoth multinational corporation with nearly limitless resources for public relations. They pretend to have the best interests of the community at heart, but their true agenda is to make money for their shareholders. Save the Scenic Santa Ritas is a group of neighbors fighting for our homes, health, and jobs. We run on community donations and volunteer time, while Hudbay makes millions by taking other countries’ raw materials. Who do you think has more financial incentive to spread misinformation?

The clearest picture of economic harm comes from basic facts. More than 6,000 people, many retirees, move to Pima County every year with savings and investments. Such “non-labor” sources make up nearly half the income in Pima County. Why do these people come to Pima County when they could choose to live anywhere? They come for quality of life, including scenic views of the mountains, access to nature, and opportunities for outdoor recreation. Will they still come to live next to monstrous mountains of toxic waste?

Jerry Bustamante asked us to withdraw the Power Consulting report. Instead, we’re asking Hudbay to withdraw its dangerous mining plan, go back to Canada, and leave Pima County alone.

Arizona Daily Star

Rob Peters, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, Thomas Nelson, Ph.D. is President of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, and Steve Brown is Vice President of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas.