According to HudBay, the US Forest Service has been notified of the drill program. The drill program components were designed to ensure compliance with existing environmental plans, permits and other constraints, such as dark skies concerns and water recycling, according to the company.
Archeological sites and wildlife locations are being avoided in the program. The Forest Service has made a determination that the use of approximately 1.5 miles of existing Forest Service roads would not cause a significant disturbance of surface resources and therefore would not require a plan of operations.
The company’s hopes the drilling program will improve its understanding of the geology and mineralization and to collect rock characteristic information to validate the current mine plan. The drilling program does not include any areas outside of the currently proposed mining zones within the Rosemont Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The program is using six diamond drilling rigs at the site, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to complete the core sampling of approximately 85,000 linear feet. HudBay expects the drilling program to be completed by the end of 2014.
The company reports that it is not anticipating that the drilling program will modify the current mine plan that was analyzed in the Rosemont FEIS that was recently completed. If such a modification were to be required, then HudBay would be required to submit an updated plan for consideration by the US Forest Service.
Water for the drilling program will be provided by wells on private property that are located at the Rosemont Junction and Rosemont Camp areas. Well cleaning, development, and drilling has been ongoing and will continue through September to ensure adequate supply of water for the drilling program.
The Rosemont Copper Mine project’s copper/molybdenum/silver deposit is located in an existing mining district. Rosemont is expected to provide about 10 percent of the U.S. copper supply while requiring less than half the land area of other Pima County mines, according to HudBay. An Arizona State University study shows the Rosemont project, when open, will add 406 direct and 1700 indirect jobs, $3 billion in increased personal income, $404 million in local taxes and $15 billion in local economic revenue.