Tucson—Fifteen Southern Arizona elected leaders on Friday requested Governor Katie Hobbs to cancel the state’s April 29 scheduled auction of 160 acres in the Santa Rita Mountain foothills requested by Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals for its proposed Copper World mining complex.
The request was made in a full-page advertisement that appears on the back page of the Arizona Capitol Times. Save the Scenic Santa Ritas sponsored the advertisement.
Signers include Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and all six city council members; three members of the Pima County Board of Supervisors including Chairwoman Jennifer Allen; Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Verlon M. Jose and four members of the state legislature including Senate minority leader Priya Sundareshan (D-LD18) and House assistant minority leader Nancy Gutierrez (D-LD18).
The advertisement was in response to the state Land Department’s decision earlier this month to put the land up for auction after rejecting Pima County’s repeated requests not to sell the land. Selling the land is a discretionary decision by the Land Department, which reports directly to Hobbs.
“Southern Arizona political leaders sent a clear and unified message to Governor Hobbs that there is widespread and staunch opposition to this devastating mine,” said SSSR Executive Director John Dougherty. “We are thankful for their steadfast support and strongly urge the governor to respect local leaders and the communities they represent and withdraw the 160 acres from auction.”
Pima County has passed four resolutions over the last 20 years opposing open pit copper mining in the Santa Rita Mountains, with the most recent last October.
Hudbay is planning to construct four open pit mines on the east and west side of the range. The sprawling 44-year mining project will destroy the northern half of the Santa Ritas, deplete more than 170 billion gallons of groundwater that cannot be meaningfully replenished and threaten to destroy two Outstanding Arizona Waters that provide a renewable source of drinking water to Tucson.
Hudbay wants to use the 160 acres to dump mining waste called tailings. Hudbay states in a 2023 technical report that it doesn’t need the land for at least 15 years because there is sufficient space at two other mine tailings dumps to operate.
Hudbay says it needs the 160 acres now to move a planned third tailings dump away from the Corona de Tucson community. However, Hudbay’s technical report also states the third tailings dump is considered “optional” because the company expects to find a more suitable location for tailings in the future.
“Hudbay is browbeating the state to sell this land now on the promise it will expand a buffer zone between Corona de Tucson from a planned tailings dump the company also says it may never need,” Dougherty says. “The state should tell Hudbay to come back in 15 years once it knows if it actually needs the ‘optional’ dump. The 160 acres will be worth far more in the future than to sell it now.”
The state-approved appraisal values the land at $993,000 based on its current zoning for rural residential. The appraisal determined the highest and best use of the property was for mining operations but did not value the land for industrial use but instead as less valuable rural residential property.
Proceeds from the sale of State Trust Land goes into a state-controlled trust fund that generates revenue with public schools as the largest beneficiary.
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Please don’ sell this land for a dump site. Keep Arizona clean.
Hi Donna –
Please be sure to email your thoughts to the Governor at engage@az.gov.
Thank you!