The Arizona Republic
This could finally be the year.
The long effort to create North America’s largest copper mine 70 miles east of Phoenix received a major boost last week. One-time rivals Reps. Paul Gosar, a Republican, and Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat, jointly introduced the job-creating Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act.
Republican Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake introduced identical legislation in their chamber.
The bill doesn’t seem that difficult. It would allow Resolution Copper Mining Co. to exchange more than 5,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land throughout Arizona for about 2,400 acres of federal land near Superior.
The company would develop a 7,000-foot-deep mine that would create 3,700 jobs and contribute $61.4billion in economic activity over 66 years.
