Economists duel over benefits of Arizona copper mine – by Mike Sunnucks (Phoenix Business Journal – September 25, 2013)

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/

A new economic study pours water on the projected benefits of a huge proposed copper mine 60 miles east of Phoenix.
But the authors of a previous study, commissioned by the multinational companies proposing the mine, are sticking by their more ambitious projections.

The competing studies look at the proposed Resolution Copper Mine in Superior. The mine would be one of the largest in the world and is proposed by U.K.-based Rio Tinto PLC and Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. The two companies are among the largest copper miners in the world.

The San Carlos Apache Tribe — which opposes the mine — commissioned a new study by University of Montana economist Thomas Power and his firm Power Consulting Inc. The study takes issue with a 2011 study commissioned by Resolution Copper Co. and conducted by Scottsdale-based Elliott D. Pollack & Co.

Resolution Copper is the company formed by BHP and Rio Tinto to develop the mine. The Pollack study projects the mine will create 3,719 jobs statewide worth $220.5 million in annual wages. That includes 1,429 direct mining jobs for the mine.

The Power study limits its focus to the local area around the Pinal County mine and estimates 893 jobs would be created if the mine is built, including 342 direct mining jobs. Power estimates the local payroll benefit will be $56.2 million. That’s a much more conservative take on the mine’s impact than Pollack’s figures.

Resolution mine hinges on a federal land exchange that swaps land to be used for the mine for other public sites. Congress is considering the land exchange bill again this year after failing to gain approval of both chambers in previous years.

Authors of the Pollack report — economists Elliott Pollack and Daniel Court — said their report looks at the statewide impact of the mine, while the Power numbers are localized to the Superior area.

“We stick to our numbers,” Court said, adding that it’s an apples-to-oranges comparaision between the two reports because of the different methodologies.

Pollack said the mining jobs directly related to the Resolution mine will result in a $100 million in wages that will help the local and regional economies. Superior is a small town with about 3,200 residents with a household median income of $27,000, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

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