TORONTO — A controversial mine being developed by a Canadian company in Arizona shows the lengths to which the industry will go to feed the world’s unrelenting demand for copper.
Hudbay Minerals Inc. and a previous owner have been pushing to get approval for the Rosemont mine for more than a decade amid local opposition and skepticism from regulators about water issues in the semi-arid region.
To secure approval for the nearly US$2-billion mine the company has proposed numerous measures to reduce impacts on the environment, including what it says is an “unprecedented” use of dry-stack tailings.
The company plans to squeeze water for reuse from about 528 million tonnes of processed ore, the equivalent weight of close to 5,000 CN Towers, to reduce water use by about half compared with its consumption if it were to use conventional tailings.
The plan, along with commitments to restock aquifer water and other steps, proved enough for regulators after the Army Corps of Engineers approved the final key water permit for Rosemont earlier this month and the U.S. Forest Service granted the final administrative approval Thursday.
For the rest of this article: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/hudbay-s-rosemont-mine-pushes-ahead-despite-concerns-on-water-impacts-1.1232645