By Tony Davis
Arizona Daily Star
The federal government won’t make a decision on the Rosemont Mine as expected next month and it’s not clear when it will, the Coronado National Forest’s chief said Friday in announcing the latest of many delays for the $1.23 billion project.
Coronado Forest Supervisor Jim Upchurch also said he doesn’t know when he will decide whether to prepare a new or supplemental draft environmental impact statement on the proposed mine. That move is favored by mine opponents and the Environmental Protection Agency but opposed by Rosemont Copper and its supporters.
Upchurch’s stated reason is the same as he has given for past delays. He said he is still sorting through numerous complex issues and waiting for more studies relating to the mine’s impacts, including air quality, endangered species, cultural resources, lighting and Rosemont’s changed mining plans.
He said the process is 85 percent to 90 percent complete, however, and that most analysis that has been done shows either improvements in the project’s impacts or better information about them. But he also said some of the information he needs must come from Rosemont Copper.
