Deteriorating storefronts speak to the hard economic times Superior has faced since mining fell off in the area. Many leaders and residents say they are hoping Resolution Copper Co.’s plan to open a mine in the mountains east of town will make Superior thrive again. / Cronkite News Service Photo by Jennifer A. Johnson
By Rebekah L. Sanders | The Arizona Republic
Arizona’s U.S. senators and two House members are renewing efforts to create the largest copper mine in North America 70 miles east of Phoenix, just two months after the mine’s foreign owners blamed congressional gridlock for their decision to lay off more than 400 workers and halt development of the project.
Republican U.S. Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain joined U.S. Reps. Paul Gosar, a Republican, and Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat, in touting the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act as a major job creator for Arizona.
The lawmakers introduced identical versions of the bill in the Senate and House on Thursday, hoping to capitalize on momentum from last fall, when a similar bill for the first time made it through the House but failed in the Senate.
For eight years, Arizona Congress members have tried to secure its passage.
If the legislation succeeds, it will allow Resolution Copper Mining Co. to exchange more than 5,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land it owns throughout Arizona for about 2,400 acres of federal land near Superior. The company would develop a 7,000-foot-deep mine there, opening the third-largest undeveloped copper resource in the world.
