Local opinion: Copper World would hurt economy, study shows

A just-released economic report by Power Consulting commissioned by Save the Scenic Santa Ritas shows that Hudbay’s rosy talk of community benefits from their Copper World Project is bunk. Really, the Canadian mining company would harm the Pima County economy by destroying the northern Santa Rita Mountains.

The report summarizes studies showing that areas with mining fail to keep up economically with areas without mining. For example, Greenlee County, home of the Morenci mine, lags behind Pima County and the U.S. overall.

Hudbay makes a big deal out of the 430 mining jobs the mine would provide and the taxes the company would pay, but these benefits would be dwarfed by losses in home values and damage to major economic drivers like tourism and outdoor recreation. The report estimates that home values just in the small community of Corona de Tucson, adjacent to the mine site, could drop more than $100 million.

The mine would replace the beautiful northern Santa Ritas with several massive pits up to 1.5 miles wide. Hudbay will build piles of mine tailings hundreds of feet high and miles long near homes and schools. Tailings often contain toxic chemicals like lead and can blow long distances in dry, windy environments, as happened between 2009 and 2013 when dust from ASARCO piles blew onto houses in Sahuarita.

Moreover, the mine would pump somewhere between 2 and 4 billion gallons of water per year from the same aquifer used by nearby communities, enough water to supply some 20,000 to 40,000 households.

What drives a robust economy like Pima County’s? It’s not mining. In 2021 mining contributed only 0.6% of Pima county jobs, and the possible Copper World jobs would only add an additional 0.08%, less than one-tenth of a percent. Compare this to the recreation industry’s 14,000 jobs, which generate $1.4 billion per year. And, at the end of the mine’s life, its jobs will disappear forever, leaving behind permanent damage to recreation and housing.

An economic engine much bigger than mining is the more than 6,000 people on average who move to Pima County every year for its weather, beauty, culture, and outdoor recreation. Many are people who live off savings and investments, with such non-labor sources making up about half the county’s income.

So, what happens if Pima County is no longer a desirable place to live? What happens if Hudbay destroys the northern Santa Rita Mountains and people have to worry about dust and toxins in the water? Will people who have the economic means to live anywhere in the country still move to Pima County? According to the Power Consulting report, if the number of people who move to the county every year drops by only 2.7% during the life of the mine, this would offset all the jobs Hudbay claims it would create.

Hudbay also trumpets that it is doing an essential service to the US by supplying what it calls “Made in America” copper for green energy. But, in fact, the United States Geological Survey, which has the legal responsibility to designate critical minerals, has declined to designate copper because the U.S. has sources to obtain all it needs. The transition to green energy does not need Copper World.

To sum up, a foreign mining company wants to destroy the northern Santa Rita Mountains and damage the quality of life and the Pima County economy to mine a mineral that is not in short supply. It would take the profits and leave our community to deal with the aftermath: threats to health and the water supply and damage to the economy. We call on public policymakers at risk of being hoodwinked by Hudbay to put the well-being of Pima County citizens above that of foreign mining companies.