Hobbs won't stop state land sale for Copper World south of Tucson

Gov. Katie Hobbs won't intervene to block a planned state land sale in the Santa Rita Mountains that likely will open up 160 acres for tailings disposal for the Copper World mining project, a spokeswoman for the governor said.

The governor turned down a request to stop the sale from 15 elected officials in Pima County, including Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and all six City Council members, three Pima County supervisors, four state legislators and two top Tohono O'odham Nation officials. They had placed a full-page ad in Friday's Arizona Capitol Times asking the governor to halt the sale.

Responding to a request for comment from the Arizona Daily Star, Liliana Soto, Hobbs' press secretary, noted that blocking the land sale won't stop the mine.

Holding the sale will allow the state to raise funds for public schools, Soto said in a written statement Friday. The Land Department holds state lands in trust and is obligated under the state constitution to generate revenue from them for public schools and universities by leasing or selling the land.

Soto said the sale will also allow Hudbay Minerals Inc., Copper World's developer, to leave untouched another parcel to the north of the tailings site, lying close to the neighboring Corona de Tucson development, that it had planned for tailings disposal. The state has an obligation, which it is keeping, to protect surrounding communities from mine impacts even as the mine goes forward, she said.

"Governor Hobbs understands this is an incredibly complex issue and values constituent input. The reality is that this mine was going to move forward with or without this state land auction," Soto said. 

The Land Department has set a date for auctioning the parcel for April 29. It's holding the sale at Hudbay's request. 

Opponents of the mine, including Pima County's government and eight environmental groups, have argued the land sale would encourage more mining and give Toronto-based Hudbay additional profits at the expense of the environment through the tailings disposal.

John Dougherty, director of the Copper World opposition group Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, which paid for the Capitol Times ad, said the group now plans to first file a formal legal protest against the state and then file suit if the protest is also turned down.

"This is the first discretionary decision Gov. Hobbs herself has made regarding the mine," Dougherty said. "Now, she clearly is throwing her cards down on behalf of the copper company and against the political leadership of Southern Arizona that clearly is against development of this project."

Soto, however, said Friday, "This project has been in motion for decades and, because it is primarily on private land, will proceed with or without the state’s involvement — but we are committed to ensuring the mine is a responsible neighbor and invests in surrounding communities.

"Arizona has a long history of mining, and copper is critical to our clean energy future and national security — but we have a responsibility to protect Arizona communities," the governor's spokeswoman said.

Hudbay didn't immediately respond to the Star's request for comment Friday on the opponents asking Hobbs to stop the sale or on the governor's denial of that request. 

Allowing the sale to proceed ensures tailings are located farther from homes and schools while generating funding for Arizona schools and other state land trust beneficiaries, Soto said. 

"This is our best opportunity to protect nearby communities while fulfilling the State Land Department’s fiduciary duty," she said.

Opponents of the mine, however, have said the Land Department's appraisal of the 160 acres grossly undervalued it by assessing it as a rural residential parcel rather than as one slated for industrial use, even while saying mining would be the "highest and best use" for the land.

County officials and environmentalists have been trying since last fall to persuade Hobbs to block the sale. Until now, the governor had made no comment.

Hobbs' administration has issued two state permits for the mine that were essential for it to go forward. They were an aquifer protection permit and an air quality permit, both issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Soto said her statement about the mine going forward with or without the state's involvement was referring only to the land sale.

Copper World will mine copper from five planned open pits on 4,500 acres on its privately owned land on the Santa Ritas' west slope, south of Tucson. Hudbay has pledged to create 400 permanent jobs and another 3,000 jobs indirectly through the purchase and contracting of other goods and services for the mine.

The 160 acres of state land lies directly north of the mine site. Another Hudbay parcel to its north had been slated for tailings disposal in the company's preliminary feasibility study, released in 2023.

But Hudbay has told county officials it won't develop that parcel if the land sale goes through. Purchase of the 160 acres will allow the company to leave alone land to the north as a "buffer" protecting Corona de Tucson residents, Hudbay has said. It has said its primary purpose for wanting to buy this land is mitigation of environmental impacts, not increased profits.

It has said it intends to use the 160 acres as part of an overall tailings management facility "that will be designed and built to the highest engineering and environmental standards to ensure public health, safety and environmental protection."

Opponents have said Hudbay's pledge to leave its land north of the 160 acres intact is meaningless unless the company places a formal deed restriction on the property requiring it be left undeveloped. Friday's full-page ad also said the mine tailings will be toxic. 

Separate efforts by Pima County officials to block the land sale have also been rejected by the Land Department. Land Commissioner Robyn Sahid has determined it's in the trust's best interest to sell the land.

The county had also separately asked Hobbs not to hold the sale until Hudbay releases its final feasibility study for the mine later this year, which will lay out the company's most updated and detailed plans for mine operations.