Save the Scenic Santa Ritas

Fighting to protect the Santa Rita and Patagonia Mountains from the devastating impacts of mining.

Federal Memo May Bolster Hudbay’s Position on Rosemont Mine Site

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By Tony Davis, Feb 26, Arizona Daily Star

Assistant Army Secretary Michael Connor wrote an August 2022 memo withdrawing a decision that had overruled an earlier decision freeing the Rosemont site’s washes from federal Clean Water Act protection. Connor’s latest decision appears to restore a 2021 Army Corps of Engineers decision that the washes at the Rosemont site aren’t covered by the Clean Water Act. Despite that, late Friday an Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman referred in an email to a possibility of enforcement action against Hudbay’s plans to grade washes inside an area of the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson that’s covered by a now-suspended Clean Water Act permit for the Rosemont Mine.

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Meet The Man Who Shoots At Birds All Day To Keep Them Off A Toxic Pit | World Wide Waste (video)

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A toxic lake in Montana resulting from an abandoned mine

A flooded open-pit copper mine outside of Butte attracts tens of thousands of migrating birds. Guns, drones, and cannons are used to scare birds from mining wastewater before they get fried in the acidic water.

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Annual pulses of copper-enriched sediment in a North American river downstream of a large lake following the catastrophic failure of a mine tailings storage facility

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Science of The Total Environment, Volume 856, Part 1, 2023, 158927, ISSN 0048-9697

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722060260?via%3Dihub#f0030

Highlights

  • A mine spill caused 18.6 Mm3 of material to be delivered to a large and deep lake.
  • Copper concentrations of sediment in the river below the lake are elevated each winter.
  • Annual peak copper concentrations are above national sediment quality guidelines.
  • The pulses are due to resuspension of unconsolidated tailings by lake processes.
  • Lakes may buffer aquatic systems from spills but could prolong environmental effects

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COPPER MINE TOXINS

In this video Dr. Hart describes how copper mines fail to prevent toxins concentrated in tailing piles and ponds from polluting our air and water. WATCH NOW video by John Grahame

Copper Mines and Aquifers

Dr. Stanley Hart describes the impact of copper mining on underground aquifers, both how much groundwater is used and where it ends up. WATCH NOW video by John Grahame

Why Mine the Santa Ritas? – Dr. Stanley Hart

Dr. Stanley R. Hart, Scientist Emeritus at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, talks with a group from Save the Scenic Santa Ritas about the factors that are causing HudBay Corporation to pursue development of a large open pit mine (“Copper World”) in the Santa Rita Mountains near Sahuarita in southern Arizona. WATCH NOW video by John Grahame

Geology of the Santa Ritas — Dr. Stanley Hart

Dr. Stanley R. Hart talks with a group from Save the Scenic Santa Ritas about the geology of this Sky Island mountain range near Sahuarita in southern Arizona. Dr. Hart is Scientist Emeritus at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. WATCH NOW video by John Grahame

Rosemont/ Copper World Mine Complex News

More Posts from this Category

Update on Lake Mead and Lake Powell water levels

Watch the April video update about Lake Mead, new water restrictions in Las Vegas, and news from Lake Powell.
WATCH NOW

Copper World Flyover January 6, 2023 by David Steele

Another shocking sight of the incredible destruction happening on our beautiful Santa Ritas.WATCH VIDEO NOW

Russ McSpadden’s recent fly-over showing mine activity

In Nov 2022 Russ captured recent bulldozing in the Santa Rita Mountains. His video starts over the Rosemont mine project on the east side and then swings over the Copper World project on the west side. WATCH VIDEO NOW

Explore the proposed Rosemont and Copper World projects virtually

Check out Pima County’s updated map of the proposed mine site. Click on any spot on the map for ownership/status information. Mapping details are based on Hudbay’s PEA dated May 1.

Proposed Rosemont/ Copper World Mine Complex

Image compilation of the area

LENS ON THE LAND

Sign the Petition

Please ask Commissioner Arizona State Land Department Ms. Robyn Sahid to deny request by Rosemont Copper Company for the department to sell at auction two noncontiguous parcels of State Trust land totaling 200 acres.

SIGN HERE

Recommended Reading List

Browse HERE over 30 titles of carefully selected books in various categories including: copper, water, mining, wilderness, exploration, and more. Your purchase supports the efforts of the SSSR

January 2023 Powerpoint Presentation

Click here to download (PDF)

Litigation Update

There have been two recent judicial rulings on the Rosemont Copper Company projects — one favorable and one unfavorable.

The latest on Hudbay’s Copper World project in the Santa Rita Mountains

Click here to download (PDF)

Where is the Rosemont/Copper World Mine Complex?

Click here for directions

HELP US PROTECT THE SANTA RITAS