A Canadian company has floated a plan to reopen the San Manuel copper mine more than 20 years after it closed northeast of Tucson, the Arizona Daily Star reported Sunday.
Here are five takeaways from the news:
- The mine in San Manuel once ranked as one of the largest underground copper operations in the world before Australia mining giant BHP acquired it in 1996 and shut it down in 1999.
- Officials from British Columbia-based Faraday Copper said they hope to acquire the mine from BHP and “re-start mining activities on the property.”
- The two companies have signed a non-binding agreement to explore transferring ownership of San Manuel and reopening it as part of a larger effort to create a “multi-generational copper district” in southeastern Pinal County.
- Faraday is also hoping to develop the Copper Creek Project, a major new open-pit and underground mine in the Galiuro Mountains, about 15 miles from the San Manuel Mine.
- Conservationists and some nearby residents warn that the combined mining projects could drain the San Pedro River and Aravaipa Creek, destroying critical riparian habitats and natural areas previously set aside as mitigation for industrial development elsewhere in Arizona.
