http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/
Town manager calls Florence Copper’s filing ‘grandstanding’
FLORENCE — A claim for $403 million by Florence Copper, the company that wants to build an in-situ copper mine on 1,182 acres it owns off Hunt Highway, was termed “grandstanding” by Assistant Town Manager Jess Knudson in a Tuesday press release.
“The only reason to file a $403 million notice of claim to say you have a right to compensation in that amount is to grab a headline,” Knudson said in the statement.
In October, Florence filed a lawsuit in Pinal County Superior Court seeking a declaratory judgment that Florence Copper has no historic right to mine the land. Florence Copper responded to the town’s action by filing a compensation claim for the fair market value of the land based on an appraisal by Deloitte LLP, a third-party accounting and financial firm.
If the court rules that a historic right to mine does exist on the land, the town plans to condemn the land and take it by eminent domain. However, should that occur the town would have to pay just compensation for the land as determined in court.