The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has issued the Aquifer Protection Permit to Augusta Resource Corporation for their Rosemont Copper project. The permit establishes the operating standards and controls for the protection of ground water.
According to the company, Rosemont has now received six permits required to commence construction. Other major permits include the Air Quality Permit and the Clean Water Act Section 404 Permit, which the Company expects to receive later in the second quarter or in the third quarter of 2012 as well as the Record of Decision (“ROD”) on the Plan of Operations from the U.S. Forest Service (“USFS”).
The USFS also provided a Rosemont Copper Project update stating that over 25,000 comments were submitted on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) and all substantive comments have been identified, coded and organized. The USFS is now drafting a document responding to the comments. The responses will also be reflected in the final EIS and appended to the document. Final impact mitigations are currently being determined according to Federal and State guidelines and will be included in the EIS. The Company has no change to its previous guidance with respect to the issuance of the final EIS and ROD from the USFS.