FAQs
This section is devoted to answering questions of interest about our company and the Resolution Project. For easy reference, we have divided these questions and answers by topic area as follows:
Our Business
The Land Exchange
Our Mining Approach and Environmental Considerations
Our Approach to Water Management
The NEPA Process and Other Environmental Reporting:
Sustainable Development Reporting:
Who can I contact if I have further questions?
To learn more, email info@resolutioncopper.com or call our Project Information hotline at 520.689.3409. You can expect a response from the Resolution Copper team within 72 hours.
Our Business:
What is the Resolution Project?
The Resolution Project, managed by Resolution Copper Company (RCC), is located east of Superior, Arizona, in the area known as the Copper Triangle. Exploration indicates what may be one of the largest copper resources ever found in North America and possibly worldwide.
Currently the project is in the pre-feasibility or evaluation phase. This phase allows us to better define and test the ore body, evaluate how to proceed in reaching the deposit, and estimate the cost and resources required to move forward.
What is the size and content of the ore body?
Exploration indicates that the ore body rests more than a mile below the surface. In May 2008, Rio Tinto, Resolution Copper's parent company, announced that Resolution Copper had completed sufficient drilling on the deposit to report an Inferred Resource* of 1.34 billion tons containing 1.51 percent copper and 0.040 percent molybdenum. In practical terms, this ore body would be capable of producing 20 percent of expected future US copper demand over several decades.
(*An Inferred Resource assumes there is a continuous mineralized body present based on geological evidence; however, the actual mass of the mineralization is still unproven.)
Who is Resolution Copper Mining, and how is the Resolution Project structured and managed?
Resolution Copper Mining (RCM) is a limited liability company owned by Resolution Copper Company (55 percent), a Rio Tinto plc subsidiary, and BHP Copper, Inc. (45 percent), a BHP Billiton Ltd. subsidiary. Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are ranked among the largest mining companies in the world. Resolution Copper Company is manager of Resolution Copper Mining.
More information about Rio Tinto is available at www.riotinto.com. Additional information on BHP Billiton may be obtained from www.bhpbilliton.com.
How much will be invested in the Resolution Project?
As of February 2009, $290 million has been invested in the Resolution Project. If the mine is developed, that figure will grow to several billion dollars over time. If evaluation and feasibility studies are successful, and the land exchange is completed, production will likely begin by 2020.
Please visit the Project Profile section of our website to learn more about our timeframe and the potential impact on employment and other economic drivers.
What are the anticipated economic and fiscal impacts of the project?
Total economic impact of the multi-decade project on the state of Arizona is estimated to be $46.4 billion. During the peak years of mine production, projected peak annual economic impact on the state of Arizona is expected to be $798.2 million. In terms of fiscal impacts, the project is estimated to generate total federal, state, county and local tax revenue in excess of $10.7 billion.
What impact will Resolution Copper have as an employer?
If our mine is developed, the size of the ore body indicates that we will be in active production mode for over five decades. During this time, we expect to employ a peak of 1,200 mine employees and 200 contract workers on-site during normal operations. Including indirect and induced jobs, the annual mine operations are initially expected to account for 2,603 total jobs and $178.7 million in wages.*
Mine workforce levels vary greatly with the stage of the mining process. We're currently conducting pre-feasibility studies, when major fact-finding and investigative fieldwork occurs. During this phase, we employ an average of 70 full-time employees and several hundred contractors. Provided pre-feasibility and feasibility studies are successful, the construction development stage will begin in 2014 and will require an average of 200 employees annually.
*Estimates are based on a 2008 third-party report commissioned by Resolution Copper and conducted by Elliott D. Pollack & Company.
How is Resolution Copper supporting and interacting with the local community?
Resolution Copper's approach is to provide support to the Town of Superior and surrounding areas that is in line with the community's vision for economic development and social stability. Our goal is to work with the community now on specific activities that will help jump start economic resurgence and over the long term to act as a partner in ensuring the area's long-term sustainability.
Activities include interacting with community committees that advise us on important issues surrounding mine development; making strategic philanthropic contributions; and partnering with environmental, educational, regional and state organizations on programs that benefit the local community, the Copper Triangle region and the state of Arizona.
The Land Exchange:
Why does the company need to conduct a land exchange?
Before the mine can be developed, our company needs to study the size and quality of the copper ore body, assess the safest and most efficient mining approach, and evaluate all associated costs. We will invest more than $1 billion to complete these studies. To justify this investment, we need to own and manage the surface lands above the mine and in the immediate surrounding area. Passage of the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act will accomplish this goal, and will also directly benefit the Town of Superior, the region and the state of Arizona. You can learn more about the land exchange, including an overview of the exchange parcels, here.
Why does the company need the land exchange now rather than waiting until the feasibility study has been completed?
Resolution Copper needs access to the approximately 7,600-acre tract that includes the Oak Flat campground to complete our feasibility study and to make a final decision regarding how to develop the mine. Federal law precludes the company from drilling exploratory holes on or under the Oak Flat campground while it is under public ownership. Information collected from the drilling will provide the company with data necessary to make the decision on if and how the mine will be constructed.
What is the status of the land exchange bill?
The Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2009 is pending. The most recent version of the bill passed the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in December 2009. Details of mark-up are available here.
How were the exchange parcels selected?
We consulted with various nongovernment organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society, Sonoran Institute, Trust for Public Land, Superstition Area Land Trust and the United States Forest Service to identify properties that have recognized conservation values and important ecological benefits throughout the State. Using this input, we acquired over 5,400 acres of non-Federal lands that will benefit the region environmentally, recreationally and economically.
What land does Superior gain from the proposed exchange?
The Town of Superior will have access to more than 250 acres of land in and around the Town. The Town selected and prioritized land according to Superior's long-term development goals. Passage of the land exchange legislation will provide the Town the opportunity to receive these lands from the Federal government. Superior encompasses only four square miles and is almost completely surrounded by public lands. The lands Superior will acquire through the exchange are crucial to attracting new development and will provide significant opportunities for the community.
The Town of Superior will receive in addition to the 250 acres in several adjacent parcels, full title to the airport property. In addition, the Town will obtain ownership of the local cemetery property, which currently occupies a National Forest parcel within the Town limits.
Where will the Oak Flat campground be relocated?
After the land exchange is completed, a public process will be conducted to determine where the replacement campground will be located. The campground relocation process will include soliciting input from stakeholder groups made up of residents, environmental groups and other interested parties.
Will access to Oak Flat be discontinued as a result of the land exchange?
Oak Flat will continue to be available as long as it is safe to do so.
Resolution Copper continues to work closely with recreational parties to identify opportunities for longer-term use and to ensure that the Oak Flat area remains accessible as long as possible. At a minimum, our legislation will require that access continue for at least four years after the enactment of our land exchange.
Following are specific actions we are taking in support of the climbers and other recreational groups:
- As an outcome of our dialogue with the climber working group, Resolution Copper will convey its privately owned 95-acre "The Pond" parcel to the Forest Service to benefit the climbing community. View additional details on climbing opportunities here.
- We have also deleted the provision that called for the immediate closure of Magma Mine Road and the Eurodog Valley and Looner Land climbing areas upon enactment of the land exchange.
Will Resolution Copper protect Apache Leap?
Yes. We will do this not only through rigorous monitoring of our underground mining operations, but also by working collaboratively with the appropriate parties to ensure its long-term protection. Resolution Copper also has a practical business interest in protecting Apache Leap.
The infrastructure for our mine will be located between the ore body and Apache Leap. This means that our mining infrastructure would be impacted and our mining operations compromised well before any impacts to Apache Leap.
Our parent company, Rio Tinto, possesses the latest technology and leading expertise in the presumed method of mining this deposit known as underground block caving. We will employ that knowledge at Resolution Copper to monitor the progression of our underground block cave from the surface, allowing us to proactively control the progress of the cave. We have also publicly stated our pledge to abandon and not mine parts of the ore body if necessary in order to ensure Apache Leap is always protected.
Resolution Copper owns private lands around Apache Leap. The company has determined that adding its acreage to the exchange bill would best serve the public interest. The most recent versions of the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act combine public and private lands to ensure that all Apache Leap will remain under the ownership of the Federal government, managed by the US Forest Service.
What are you doing to address the concerns of Native Americans?
We are doing our best to respect the sovereignty and be sensitive to the needs of all Native American tribes. Certain tribes have made it clear that they would like to have discussions on a government-to-government basis. Our company remains hopeful they would be willing to have a direct dialogue with us in the near future.
Our Mining Approach and Environmental Considerations:
What kind of mine will you construct?
The project will be completely underground, with no open pits and limited piles of rock that do not contain valuable minerals. It will employ state-of-the-art technology and the mine will be developed using a method known as panel caving. Panel caving, a variation of the block caving technique, allows for the mining of very large ore bodies by dividing them into smaller strips or panels so that the ore can be removed in a safer and more efficient manner.
What is block caving?
Block caving is an efficient technique that uses gravity to extract ore. Below the ore body, a series of tunnels are developed to ensure that the rock in the ore body will fall by gravity to the bottom of the cave, into a series of collection points. Loaders then collect the mineral-bearing ore and transport it to an underground crusher. Large hoists located in shafts are used to raise the crushed ore to the surface for processing. To learn more, watch our video.
What are the benefits of an underground mine?
In an underground operation, there is no large open pit and limited piles of rock that do not contain valuable minerals. An underground mine, however, tends to be more expensive to develop and operate.
Where are you putting the smelter?
We are not planning to construct a smelter. However, there may be an opportunity to modernize an existing smelter somewhere in the region. If this were to occur, the smelter would conform to the highest environmental standards, as represented by Rio Tinto's Kennecott smelter in Salt Lake City.
How will you address environmental concerns?
Resolution Copper is a joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton – two of the largest mining companies in the world. Both companies have extensive internal policies and standards regarding care and concern for the environment.
We recognize that by its nature mining disturbs the land, and we are fully committed to minimizing negative impacts and sustaining the environment at every stage of mine development and operation. For example, we are planning now for closure of our mine before we even begin construction, so that we will have a well-defined course of action in place to return the land to a productive and/or properly rehabilitated and reclaimed state once our operations cease, and to help local communities develop sustainable economies.
To ensure that our ongoing activities hold to the highest standards of environmental excellence, the company has obtained ISO 14001:2004 certification of its Environmental Management System (EMS); in order to maintain this certification the company's EMS will need to be recertified on a three-year-basis. ISO 14001 is the recognized global standard for achieving environmental excellence. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) helps establish a set of common rules that support international trade and ensure that companies operate ethically and responsibly. We have established an ISO 14001-compliant management system to control and continually improve our work with respect to the environment over the entire course of our operations. ISO 14001 certification includes regular audits conducted both internally by trained auditors and externally by an independent third party, to ensure we are complying with company, legal and government obligations and requirements related to environmental care.
Resolution Copper also has a sustainable development reporting standard. We set environmental targets each year and publish the results of those efforts for stakeholders in our annual Sustainable Development Report.
Our environmental approach will undergo a public review process as detailed in the Openness and Accountability section of this Frequently Asked Questions document.
What impact will the block caving technique have on the Oak Flat campground?
We anticipate that there will be surface subsidence and cracking above the mine area, and it is likely there will be surface cracking in the campground tract, particularly the southwest part. It is difficult to say how much surface impact there will be until we have defined the limits for the mine under the campground by drilling and have also completed our feasibility studies.
Where are you going to put the tailings?
During the pre-feasibility phase of the project, we are exploring several options for disposal of our tailings. (Tailings are materials rejected from the mill once valuable minerals are removed.) Our current preferred option is to place tailings in one of the existing open mining pits near Superior. We have conducted engineering studies and continue to study the feasibility of using exhausted open pit mines for tailings deposition.
How is Resolution Copper going to mill the ore?
The Resolution Copper ore will be milled using a conventional copper concentrator process and design, similar to ASARCO Ray, Pinto Valley, Kennecott Utah Copper, Bagdad, and other copper concentrators. The process will include grinding the ore to a fine particle size to expose (liberate) the copper mineral, and then recovering the copper minerals using flotation. A copper concentrate will be produced that will be transported to smelters for producing a final copper metal.
Our Approach to Water Management
How much water is the project going to consume?
We estimate that our water use when mining is at full production will be around 20,000 acre-feet per year. Resolution Copper is highly sensitive to the importance of water as a scarce resource and is committed to the efficient use of water from sustainable sources. We are currently purchasing and banking Central Arizona Project (CAP) water with two irrigation districts, Hohokam Irrigation and Drainage District and New Magma Irrigation and Drainage District. Resolution Copper is exploring other options for longer-term water supply, and we plan to utilize water-saving devices and recycle water to minimize total fresh water consumption.
How will the water discharged from No. 9 shaft be put to use?
In order to prepare for shaft sinking and further exploration of the mining site, it is first necessary to remove the groundwater that has accumulated in the existing mine shaft since previous mining operations ceased. Resolution Copper has constructed a water treatment facility to prepare the water in the old mine workings before it is transported by pipeline for beneficial agricultural irrigation use. We have an agreement with the New Magma Irrigation and Drainage District for the district to blend our treated water with Central Arizona Project (CAP) water for irrigation purposes.
The water extracted from the mine will be treated and conveyed via a 27-mile pipeline from Superior to Magma Junction. The New Magma Irrigation and Drainage District will combine this water with Central Arizona Project (CAP) water for use by farmers in irrigating their crops. (CAP delivers renewable water from the Colorado River by canal to central and southern Arizona so that surface water can be used instead of depleting groundwater for agricultural, municipal and industrial uses.)
In parallel, we continue to look at other potential uses for the treated mine water.
What permits are required to support delivering the treated groundwater to the New Magma Irrigation District as part of the dewatering program? What members of the public have you engaged about this program?
We have several permits for pumping, conveying, and delivering the treated groundwater to the irrigation district. These include:
- A dewatering permit number 59-524492.0002.
- This is a permit to withdraw groundwater for dewatering purposes pursuant to A.R.S. 45-513 and issued by the Arizona Department of Water Resources. We can withdraw up to 5,000 acre feet per year.
- An Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) Type 3.02 (Inventory # 105727).
- The permit covers the sludge storage holding impoundments associated with the water treatment facility. The impoundments are designed not to discharge and are built on an impermeable barrier. The treatment system is an enhanced high density sludge process using hydrated lime and soda ash to remove dissolved metal from the groundwater influent from the mine and media filters to remove suspended solids. The treatment plant will be operated in a manner that results in effluent that will be of a quality that meets numeric Aquifer Water Quality Standards (AWQS).
- A Special Use Permit through the USDA Forest Service (Auth. ID MES549, Contact ID SYS0156632).
- The permit is for construction and operation of a portion of pipeline within our existing railroad right-of-way that passes through Tonto National Forest on the way to the irrigation district.
We have researched this matter extensively. Through correspondence and discussions with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality we have confirmed that permit requirements for the dewatering activity have been met. Because the water is treated groundwater there is no requirement for an APP nor is there a requirement for a Reclaimed Water Permit for the water delivered to the irrigation district. These permits apply to sewage and industrial wastewater.
Our outreach on the dewatering includes engagement with key stakeholders including community members, academic experts, government agencies, NGOs and local government personnel.
The NEPA Process and Other Environmental Reporting:
Is it compulsory for the company to complete a NEPA Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)?
In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) or Environmental Assessments are required for federal actions impacting federal lands, such as issuing various permits needed for operations. At this time, all the alternatives being considered for mining and support facilities would require such federal actions and the current land exchange bill before Congress specifically requires that a NEPA EIS be completed for the future mine.
Is Resolution Copper currently completing an EIS?
No, Resolution Copper is not currently completing an EIS; however, we are currently collecting information that will contribute to the NEPA EIS process. We are in the pre-feasibility stage of mining evaluation and are both collecting baseline data and studying alternatives even though the official NEPA EIS process has not yet begun. Under the NEPA process, Resolution Copper will submit a draft Plan of Operations to a federal agency, which we believe to be the United States Forest Service, designated by the United States government that would be responsible for completion of the EIS. Costs associated with this process are covered by Resolution Copper.
The NEPA EIS process will be required before mine operations can commence. At this point, Resolution Copper needs to complete the land exchange in order to continue exploration activities that will determine the extent of the ore body. Only when that data is available can we ensure that the mine and supporting facilities are properly located and designed with an emphasis on safety and environmental stewardship.
In addition to complying with the NEPA process, we are also committed to completing a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which is a Rio Tinto requirement and in many ways is a much more stringent process than the NEPA process, as part of our mine development. We are presently conducting the extensive baseline work needed to identify all potential environmental impacts of our mining operations, so that we can maximize positive impacts while minimizing negative effects.
Will there be opportunities for public comment on
Resolution Copper's environmental studies?
Yes. Resolution Copper has already established ongoing opportunities for public comment on our environmental studies through community committees, workshops, public opinion surveys, media outreach and other forums. These opportunities will continue throughout the life of the mining operation. These studies also form part of the EIS process, which is a public process.
Also, the hallmark of the Rio Tinto Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process is open communication and involvement of all those concerned with our environmental approach.
What is the difference between the various environmental reporting requirements?
The NEPA Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process is led by a federal agency. The US Forest Service will be in charge, and in our case, other agencies and stakeholders will participate. The government is likely to hire independent experts to carry out the EIS and identify the impacts and management plans of various alternatives for mining and support operations.
The World Bank Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process is more focused on international sustainable development issues and is carried out through an extensive public information and consultation effort.
The Rio Tinto/BHP EIA process is as extensive as the World Bank EIA; however, we begin our public information and consultation process earlier and factor in other large-scale environmental impacts such as global warming.
Sustainable Development Reporting:
What is the significance of Resolution Copper's Sustainable Development Report? Is it made available to the public?
As a company, we support and adhere to the principles of sustainable development. This means that we work to ensure our actions have social, environmental and economic value that will last well beyond the life of the modern, high-technology mine we seek to develop and operate.
We produce an annual Sustainable Development Report that summarizes Resolution Copper Mining's priorities, highlights the past year's performance and reveals specific goals and targets for the coming year. Our most recent Sustainable Development Report is available to the public via our website.
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