U.S. environmentalists file lawsuit to overturn approval of Canadian copper mine – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – November 27, 2017)

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Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition and the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter have filed a lawsuit in federal court in the hope that it rescinds the U.S. Forest Service’s approval of Hudbay Minerals’ (TSX, NYSE:HBM) Rosemont Project in southern Arizona.

The $1.5-billion Rosemont Project is an open-pit copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains, about 50 km southeast of Tucson. It is expected to be the third-largest copper mine in the United States, accounting for approximately 10% of the country’s total copper production, and it received a Final Record of Decision from the Forest Service back in June, 2017.

But before Hudbay reaches such big production goals, it has to deal with environmentalists’ concerns and legal actions. In the case of the recent lawsuit, the four organizations involved allege that the mine would violate nearly a dozen state and federal laws, threaten water resources and destroy Coronado National Forest land.

In a press release, the activists explain that their claim is based on the fact that the company would “pile potentially toxic mine tailings and waste rock hundreds of feet high in the Cienega Creek watershed, which replenishes Tucson’s groundwater basin.”

They also say that more than 5,000 acres would be harmed, including nearly 4,000 acres of public land that would be covered by the mine’s waste dumps, open pit, processing plant and infrastructure. “The pit and waste dumps would remain as a permanent scar and environmental hazard on public land.

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