Governor Katie Hobbs should withdraw the State Land Department’s April 29 auction of 160 acres of State Trust Land requested by Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals, which proposes to use the land as a mine tailings waste dump for the Copper World mine in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson.
RATIONALE: The state must act in the best interest of the State Land Trust. For the highest value, the State should hold the land at least another decade until it is needed, and then appraise the property as industrial land suitable for mine tailings, thus ensuring maximum value for the property. A Hudbay technical report reveals the company will have 41 million tons of stockpiled ore after 20 years of mining. Hudbay will continue to have strong financial incentive to purchase the Trust Land in the future to process this ore.
1. It’s too early to auction this property. In its 2023 Pre-Feasibility Study, Hudbay says it has tailings capacity at two other dump sites – Tailings Storage #1 & #2 – for at least the first 15 years of mining. [1]
2. Hudbay says the 160 acres may not be needed. Hudbay claims it wants to purchase the State Trust Land to allow it to shift a third tailings facility — Tailings Storage North — that it may begin using in the 15th year of mining to the south, away from the Corona de Tucson community. Hudbay, states in the Pre-Feasibility Study that it considers the northern waste site as ”optional” because “Hudbay believes that a preferable alternative location for tailings storage can be secured by that time.”[2]
3. Hudbay provides conflicting information. The company hedges on whether the northern site is optional by also stating in the Pre-Feasibility Study that even if it used all currently available dump sites, including the northern site, it still wouldn’t have enough land to dump tailings from all the ore it expects to mine in the first 20 years of operations. Hudbay states that if it could obtain additional land for tailings disposal it could process an additional 41 million tons of copper ore. “This material…remains an upside opportunity should Hudbay secure additional surface rights for tailings disposal.” [3]
The 160 acres would provide Hudbay the land needed to dump tailings created from processing the additional ore. Hudbay has not placed a conservation easement on land adjacent to Corona de Tucson so there is no legal restriction to prevent the company from using the entire northern waste dump.
4. The state-approved appraisal grossly undervalues the 160 acres at $993,000. The appraisal classifies the land as rural residential rather than as industrial land suitable for mine tailings. Acquiring the State Trust Land for less than $1 million would be a windfall for Hudbay, allowing it to process additional copper ore worth hundreds of millions of dollars while shortchanging the State Land Trust.
5. Depleting the groundwater in this area will negatively impact the value of thousands of acres of nearby State Trust Land. The ASLD has not yet determined the financial impact Hudbay’s groundwater pumping will have on the value of State Trust Land. Hudbay will pump more than 170 billion gallons of groundwater with no chance of meaningful replenishment of the Sahuarita/Green Valley aquifer with Central Arizona Project water.
References
[1] Copper World Pre-Feasibility Study, July 1, 2023, Pg. 18-5.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Copper World Pre-Feasibility Study, July 1, 2023, Pg. 1-10
This mine is extremely destructive to unique Southern Arizona environment, water supply , tourist industry and general well being of the Residents. We are not getting any royalties from this mine and local government and residents will be responsible for any cleanup. Please reject the sale of parcel of state land that Hudbay is desiring to purchase.
Hi Michael –
Thank you for your comment. Please be sure to email your thoughts to the Governor at engage@az.gov.