Mining in the Santa Rita Mountains – Proposed Rosemont Copper Mine
Provide the aerial perspective to critical stakeholders working to stop the Rosemont Copper Mine, proposed in critical jaguar habitat and the gorgeous Santa Rita Mountains. Fly days prior to a federal court case dealing with the advancement of the proposed mine.
The proposed Rosemont Copper Mine in the beautiful Santa Rita Mountains has been entangled in legal battles for years. The mine, with a planned footprint of over one and a half square miles and a depth of more than three thousand feet, could be the third largest mine in the US and would pose a severe environmental risk to wildlife and human communities. Copper mining requires a chemical process to extract the critical mineral from surrounding rock - that process results in tons of toxic liquid and solid waste that must be precariously dumped near the mining site.
On May 17, 2023 a federal appeals court ruled that the Rosemont mine site is not a critical area to the preservation of endangered jaguars. This decision goes against a previous ruling from a lower court who sided with EcoFlight's flight partner, Center for Biological Diversity, who was working to protect the US Fish and Wildlife Service's designation of the area as critical jaguar habitat. This decision allows the mine to continue, threatening jaguars who inhabit the Santa Rita Mountains and have even been spotted at the Rosemont mine site, as well as posing risk to the water supply of nearby communities including Patagonia, Sonoita, and Green Valley.