The mining company seeking to acquire a copper deposit just outside Superior wants to help the town prepare for life after the ore body is depleted and the mine shuts down.
“We want to help them be sustainable and self-sustaining,” said Vicky Peacey, Resolution Copper Mining’s senior manager for environment, permitting and community. She notes that the mine has contributed to the town’s efforts to revitalize and has supported the chamber of commerce, local schools and recreation groups. “It’s not just about mining. It’s about diversifying.”
Leaders in the mining town of Superior — who voted last year to revoke the town’s written support for the Resolution mine — agree with the company on that point, at least.
Town attorney Steve Cooper said Superior could become a tourist destination, based in part on the outdoor recreation and natural beauty surrounding the mining town.
“The area in and around Superior is beautiful,” he said, describing a plan to build a trail along Queen Creek from the Oak Flat campground to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum to the west. “We want to basically try to make the town a multi-business community, versus having a one-employer town.”
But outdoor enthusiasts contend that the current mine proposal — which will result in a massive crater on the surface of Oak Flat, a site currently protected from mining by a federal land order — is not compatible with promoting outdoor recreation. They say Resolution has not made assurances that the town will benefit from the mine, nor that its valuable natural resources will be protected.
Opponents cite Resolution’s acknowledgment on its website and in public meetings that the copper extracted from Superior likely will be shipped to copper smelters outside the U.S. for processing. The mining company is a subsidiary of mining giants Rio Tinto Group, based in the U.K., and BHP Billiton Ltd., based in Australia.
“Most of the economic benefits of this mine will be going overseas. The profits will be going to two foreign companies. The copper will be going to China,” said Curt Shannon, Arizona policy analyst for the Access Fund, a national advocacy group that tries to keep U.S. climbing areas open and pristine. “We get this huge crater at Oak Flat and a toxic (waste) tailings pile. On balance, it doesn’t sound like a very good deal to the United States.”
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