New Rosemont study rebuts pro-mine data
By Tim Steller
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Did you know . . .
Augusta Resource Corp. has proposed building a mine at the former Rosemont Ranch in the Santa Rita Mountains, about 30 miles southeast of Tucson. The mine would produce copper, molybdenum and silver over a period of about 20 years. Shares of Augusta Resource, which is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AZC.
More online
• Find the Sonoran Institute's new study online at Sonoran.org.
• Find the Western Economic Analysis Center's study at www.rosemont copper.com/economic.asp.
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A new study of the proposed Rosemont mine's economic impacts finds there are significant costs to the mine's construction, and that the benefits are relatively small.
The study, by economist Joe Marlow of the Sonoran Institute, follows by about six months an economic-impact study by economist George Leaming of the Western Economic Analysis Center, commissioned by Augusta Resource Corp., the company aiming to build the mine. That study pointed out significant economic benefits, including about 500 jobs per year.
Marlow's study was commissioned by Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, a group trying to block the mine.
Marlow acknowledged the direct benefits that Leaming found in his study.
"There's no doubt that mining jobs are high-paid jobs," he said.
But he added that those jobs come with overlooked costs, and the benefits are relatively small in the context of the local economy. He said most of the benefits would go to the Tucson area, while most of the costs, such as decreased tourism revenue, would be borne by communities near the mine, such as Patagonia, Elgin and Sonoita.
Leaming said in response to the new study: "If you want to make anything look small, all you do is compare it to a big universe."
Here's a look at some of the findings of both studies:
Jobs
● 500 jobs per year directly created by the mine, Leaming found.
● That represents 0.08 percent to 0.3 percent of total jobs in Pima and Santa Cruz counties, Marlow's study found.
Wages
● $29 million per year in direct wages from the mine, Leaming found.
● The proportion of all wages in Pima and Santa Cruz counties that these mining jobs represent is 0.1 percent, Marlow found.
Business spending
● $120 million per year of direct spending at Pima County firms, Leaming found.
● 0.5 percent to 0.6 percent —the proportion of gross spending in the Tucson metropolitan statistical area that the mine's spending represents, Marlow found.
Tax revenue
● $6 million to local governments per year, Leaming found.
● 0.5 percent to 1.2 percent of local government revenues would come from the mine, Marlow found.
Did you know . . .
Augusta Resource Corp. has proposed building a mine at the former Rosemont Ranch in the Santa Rita Mountains, about 30 miles southeast of Tucson. The mine would produce copper, molybdenum and silver over a period of about 20 years. Shares of Augusta Resource, which is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AZC.
More online
• Find the Sonoran Institute's new study online at Sonoran.org.
• Find the Western Economic Analysis Center's study at www.rosemont copper.com/economic.asp.
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