The WSJ reports,"Augusta Resource Corp., a Vancouver based junior mining company traded in Toronto and New York, wants to build a quarter-billion-pound-per-year copper mine here, next to a beautiful valley favored by retirees seeking golf courses, young couples who need yards and one very big pecan farm. Augusta, which recently rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from Hudbay Minerals Inc., paid $20.9 million for 2,000 acres here in 2005 for its Rosemont project, and says it seeks to start construction later this year and production of copper around the end of 2017.
But delays in receiving permits have been triggered by concerns over water use and quality. This bush country of bear grass, mesquite, oak and prickly pear cactuses gets a mere eight inches of rain a year.
Opponents to Augusta’s project argue the mine will take away water needed by local residents, driving up prices, and poses a danger of pollution. “Our concern is that we are taking groundwater that’s drinking quality water that took millions of years to create geologically, and using it for something that’s potentially polluting,” says Nan Walden, vice president of Green Valley Pecan Co., which farms pecans on an 8,000-acre strip, a 14-mile stretch of hefty trees harvested with a machine that shakes the nuts lose with a giant claw. “We’re saying it’s inappropriate to license a new mining operation that brings in a new requirement for water.” Green Valley is a leading opponent to the proposed mine.
Augusta counters that it will employ the world’s most advanced water conservation techniques in its mine. “Everything we’re doing is designed to minimize water impact,” says Augusta senior geologist Jeff Cornoyer. “From showers to truck washes to the tailings, we’ll save at least 50% more water than any other mine.”
The tailings waste pile, where excess rock is dumped, will contain a thicker than usual slurry—16% water instead of 50%. Additionally, Augusta will save water by planting grass and letting ranchers graze 300 head of cattle there. “Cattle compacts soil and slows erosion,” which preserves water, says Mr. Cornoyer.
Augusta is also building a $22 million pipeline into the mine from 9 miles away. “We want zero net impact on the aquifer,” says spokesman Dan Ryan. He argues that a copper mine is environmentally beneficial: “Copper pipes provide society with clean drinking water.”
All in all, Augusta plans to use 5,500 acre-feet of water per year. “It takes eight gallons of water to produce a pound of copper here, compared to 15 or 20 at other mines, and 800 gallons to make a pound of pecans,” says Mr. Ryan. “We hope to get all our permits by August.”
Green Valley, established in 1948, uses 26,000 acre-feet of water per year, almost five times what the proposed mine will consume.
But Green Valley says it poses much less of a threat to water supplies and the environment. A quarter of the water it uses goes back, cleanly, into the groundwater table, it says, and unlike a mine, the farm can go on producing pecans forever. “And there’s a difference between farming and creating a toxic pit that seeps into groundwater that is polluted forever,” says Mrs. Walden. “Why not go into an area that’s already been disturbed? People don’t want these huge trucks coming down the highway.” In addition, Green Valley says it has also launched conservation efforts of its own, such as installing water-efficient sprinklers to replace irrigation ditches
