Tucson urges Gov. Hobbs to halt land auction for proposed Copper World Mine

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - The City of Tucson joined county officials and local advocates in campaigning against a proposed mining site near the Santa Rita Mountains.

The move comes as 160 acres of Arizona State Trust Land is set to go up for auction Wednesday as requested by Hudbay Minerals, the company behind the proposed Copper World Mine.

At their meeting last week, the Tucson City Council voted to oppose the auction and directed Mayor Regina Romero to send a formal letter to Gov. Katie Hobbs asking her to postpone the land sale.

“The amount of water that it’s gonna impact is astounding, the habitat is irreplaceable, and the cultural resources are vital to, you know, a major portion of our community,” said John Dougherty of Save The Scenic Santa Ritas.

Dougherty said his group has been pushing against the building of Copper World in the Santa Rita Mountains for years.

“We are concerned about the quality of our water and the impacts that this would have,” said Lane Santa Cruz, Tucson City Council Ward 1 member.

The city council asked Hobbs to postpone the land sale until a feasibility study can be done to show the impact of a mining site in the Santa Rita Mountains.

Ward 2 Councilmember Paul Cunningham said in addition to possible negative environmental impacts, Arizona has more work to do before building a mine of that scale.

“We haven’t even started to have an honest conversation about how that would even work and unless we’re gonna do that, there is zero reason, there is zero net gain for the state of Arizona in authorizing any new copper mines,” Cunningham said.

Hudbay Minerals said the project will bring economic benefits to southern Arizona and that the land sale is necessary for the project to happen.

“Hudbay’s Copper World project is pursuing the 160-acre State Trust Land auction for mitigation purposes. Acquiring this parcel will allow us to significantly increase the buffer space between our operations and properties located at the southern edge of Corona de Tucson,” the company said in a statement.

Santa Cruz said the city council believes the pros don’t outweigh the cons.

“The temporary jobs that would come from the mining company, again they’re temporary, and the impacts they would have on our environment would be permanent,” Santa Cruz said.

Hobbs is allowed to postpone the auction until it is set to happen Wednesday at 11 a.m.

The Tucson City Council also approved preparing a city resolution that would formally oppose Copper World. That is expected to be considered at their next meeting on May 5.

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