The Copper World mine in the Santa Rita Mountains has won the last major state permit it needs to start construction, an air quality permit issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
ADEQ said its scientists and computer models concluded the mine’s air emissions would meet federal air quality standards, despite arguments to the contrary from mine opponents.
Plus, the state agency said it would provide communities near the mine with additional protection by requiring Hudbay Minerals Inc. to build additional air monitors for large and fine particulates beyond what was already planned, in areas where the state’s modeling showed the greatest areas of concern.
ADEQ’s decision Thursday awarded Hudbay its second major permit for the mine within six months.
But it doesn’t mean earth-movers and road-graders will be out anytime soon to begin construction of the $1.7 billion project, proposed for the west slope of the Santa Ritas, nearly 30 miles southeast of Tucson.
Before construction can begin, the company says it must complete a final feasibility study for the project, which it started work on in late 2024 and expects to finish by the first half of 2026.
Hudbay said it also is seeking a “joint venture partner” to participate in the feasibility study’s funding and in the costs of final design and construction of the project.
The company’s formal decision to build Copper World — which it terms “a project sanctioning decision” — will occur when Hudbay’s Board of Directors formally approves funding the construction of Phase I of the project, Hudbay says.
The Santa Rita Mountains site where the planned Copper World project by Hudbay Mineral Inc. would take shape.
That decision is due in 2026, the company said in a news release announcing the state’s approval of its air permit, which it hailed as a milestone.
Opponents responding to the state decision said they aren’t ruling out additional action, including possible litigation, to try to block the permit. They can file a formal administrative appeal seeking a review of the agency’s decision before going to court. They’ve already filed a separate lawsuit, seeking to overturn the State Land Department’s approval of a right-of-way to build a mine tailings pipeline across a small section of the Santa Rita Experimental Range at the foot of the mountains.
Still, while mine construction remains a ways off, the latest ADEQ decision is clearly a major win for Hudbay, particularly since mine opponents had rounded up 15 conservation groups, tribes and other entities to write highly critical comments of the state’s draft air quality permit back in September.
Hudbay had already received an aquifer protection permit from ADEQ and approval of its mine reclamation plan from the state mine inspector’s office.
“With the receipt of the Air Quality Permit for Copper World, we firmly believe Hudbay now has the best fully permitted copper development project in the Americas,” said Peter Kukielski, Hudbay’s president and chief executive officer, in a news release.
“Copper World is expected to increase Hudbay’s consolidated annual copper production by more than 50% from current levels, and the project will be a key contributor to the domestic U.S. supply chain.”
He also said, “Today, Hudbay is the fourth largest copper producer listed on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) and a majority of our institutional shareholders are based in the U.S. We look forward to continuing to grow our presence in the U.S. with our planned $1.7 billion capital investment to build Copper World.”
In its news release, Toronto-based Hudbay said that in Copper World’s first phase, which would last 20 years, it expects to contribute more than $850 million in U.S. taxes, including approximately $170 million in taxes to the state of Arizona. Hudbay also expects Copper World to create more than 400 direct jobs and up to 3,000 indirect jobs in Arizona.
The mine will produce about 94,000 tons of copper annually in its first 20 years. A second phase will rely much more heavily on mining copper on the mountains’ east slope, which has been blocked by a federal court order, and the company hasn’t detailed plans for that phase yet.
“Copper World will offer competitive wages and benefits, and the company intends to engage in partnerships with local apprenticeship readiness programs and community-based workforce training programs across the skilled and technical levels to fill and maintain all positions,” the company said.
The company has received support from several local unions, including the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Forgers and Helpers Local 627, The Laborers International Union of North America Local 1184, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 1912, the company said.
Rob Peters, director of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, the leading mine opposition group, said his group’s officials are outraged that ADEQ awarded Hudbay what is known as a Class 2 air quality permit. Opponents had unsuccessfully pushed the state to issue a Class 1 permit, which carries tougher requirements and requires more government oversight than a Class 2 permit.
“ADEQ’s mission is supposed to be to ‘protect and enhance public health and the environment,’ so what’s happened to their priorities? We’ll be looking at all options to get them back on track,” Peters said.
Russ McSpadden of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity added, “ADEQ issued a pollution permit on January 2 that will allow a foreign mining company to pollute air with a dangerous concoction of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, sulfuric acid; benzene, heavy metals, lead and arsenic. So happy New Year to Pima County residents.”
Others who signed off on written comments opposing the permit included the Tohono O’Odham and Pascua Yaqui tribes, the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, the Sky Island Alliance, Friends of Madera Canyon, the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance and the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition.
“They call it an air permit; but it’s truly a permit to pollute,” McSpadden said.
But in issuing the permit, ADEQ said its computer modeling had concluded that the mine’s emissions would be low enough as to not violate federal air quality standards for five major pollutants: carbon monoxide. two kinds of particulates, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide.
“Emissions from the Copper World Project will not cause or contribute to a violation of the (standards) under the operation limits/conditions as proposed in the draft (ADEQ) permit,” the state’s decision said.
By requiring Copper World to perform an air dispersion computer modeling analysis addressing both the maximum operating rate of ore processing and maximum out of pit hauling rate, “the department has verified that worst-case impacts … will not interfere with the attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality standards in areas accessible to the public,” ADEQ said.
Responding to opponents’ argument that a more restrictive Class 1 permit should have been issued, ADEQ said the amount of emissions expected from the mine won’t be large enough to justify requiring Copper World to obtain a Class 1 permit. The state and opponents disagreed, however, as to whether “fugitive” dust and other emissions from unspecified sources at the mine should have been counted towards the mine’s total emission load in deciding what kind of permit is needed.
ADEQ received comments on the draft air permit from approximately 2,475 individuals during a two-month public comment period ending in mid-September and at a public hearing in the Corona de Tucson area north of the Santa Ritas. The department provided 134 written responses to the public comments.
