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Consultant finds no major objections to copper project, but recommends more study

By MARK COWLING
Editor

Published: Thursday, September 29, 2011 4:14 AM MST

A third-party review of the Florence Copper Project concluded if it is conducted properly in all respects, it “could be implemented in a manner that is consistent with the goals of the town of Florence General Plan.”

The town of Florence hired independent water resource consultants Montgomery & Associates (www.elmontgomery.net) of Tucson to review the FCP’s compatibility with the “Environmental Planning” and ‘“Water and Wastewater” elements of the General Plan.

“Montgomery and Associates is recognized around the world for its work in hydraulic and hydro-geologic groundwater modeling,” Dan Johnson, Curis manager of environment and technical services, said in a prepared statement from Curis Resources, owner of the FCP.

“The fact that they conducted a thorough review of our groundwater flow modeling and found no substantial problems confirms that the FCP can be operated safely without impacts to groundwater quality or availability in Florence or the region.”

But FCP critic Justin Merritt said to say the FCP “could be consistent with” General Plan goals is too simplistic a conclusion:

“We feel the statement ... is taken out of context, does not match the detailed findings of the report, and frankly on the discussion related to land use compatibility is outside the expertise of Montgomery & Associates.

“Hydrologists do not have the expertise to make any evaluation on whether this heavy industrial project is compatible with the family communities that town voters approved in the General Plan,” Merritt wrote in response to an email request for comment. Merritt is a manager with major neighboring landowner Southwest Value Partners and the FCP opposition group Protect Our Water Our Future.

Montgomery’s report says the FCP could affect Florence’s future plans for a “Merrill Ranch Water Reclamation Facility” with recharge wells and groundwater recovery wells.

“For example, production wells operated at locations west of the Curis property could affect post-mining movement of elevated sulfate concentrations from the FCP,” according to the report.

The town was considering at one time installing recharge wells around the boundary of the State Trust Land parcel within the FCP. But “If ISCR (in-situ copper recovery) operations proceed, recharge in this area would not be appropriate and the recharge wells would need to be relocated,” the Montgomery report says.

The report recommends further study to learn “1) if these changes in groundwater pumping and recharge substantially change hydraulic gradients in the FCP area; and 2) if the FCP mining and post-mining operations pose any concerns to the town of Florence’s operations.”

Other findings from the Montgomery report include:

• “Reports for the two groundwater flow models prepared for the (Florence Copper project) site were reviewed. No substantive problems were found that would invalidate results presented in the Curis report.”

• “Surface impacts (at the Florence Copper project) are anticipated to be minimal and limited to the actual infrastructure elements needed. Surface processes can be monitored directly and problems identified can be mitigated.”

• “The FCP should have no impact on the ability of Florence to maintain compliance with the Safe Drinking Water program.”

• “The proposed FCP operations should have no impact on the town of Florence’s development or implementation of a wellhead protection program.”

• “All Curis surface facilities are located outside the 100-year floodplain of the Gila River.”

• “The leach solution (from the in-situ mining process) would be reconditioned and recycled numerous times, which could result in concentration of dissolved constituents” including “sulfate, total dissolved solids, metals and radiochemicals.”

The report notes that historically, the FCP property was outside the town’s corporate boundary, and as a mining property greater than five acres it was exempt from zoning requirements per state law.

“In 2003, the town annexed the Curis property under a Planned Unit Development (PUD) with a mining overlay for the property. In 2007, the Merrill Ranch PUD was amended to remove the industrial use (mining overlay). ....

“In 2009 the property was purchased for the purposes of mining operations. However, the property is presently within an area designated for Master Planned Community land use. Curis is proposing a new PUD entitled ‘Florence Copper Project at Merrill Ranch PUD.’

“In conjunction with the change in proposed land use for the Second Life (post mining), remaining infrastructural elements of the First Life (copper recovery) would need to be mitigated. These elements could include, for example, surface expressions of plugged and abandoned wells, buried liners, pipelines and trenches,” the report says.

Overall, Curis President & CEO Michael McPhie was pleased with the Montgomery & Associates report:

“The town of Florence commissioned one of the top water resource consultants in the country to consider this matter,” McPhie said in a prepared statement. “We firmly believe their expert review and testimony will help inform both the Planning and Zoning Commission hearings on Curis’ applications, as well as the Town Council as they move toward a vote on our applications later this fall.

“The conclusions of their analysis clearly validate our position that development of the Florence Copper project can be done in an environmentally sound and socially responsible manner, consistent with the goals of the town of Florence’s 2020 General Plan,” McPhie said.

Areas of concern

But Merritt said a closer look at the report reveals incomplete information and areas of concern:

“As noted in the body report, there were a number of issues identified, along with numerous requests for additional information and testing before the project could be evaluated in its entirety. Namely, no documentation on potential future pumping of adjacent property is provided in the Curis report or model, which in our opinion is the most crucial part of the analysis as the adjacent land to the north and west is proposed to provide groundwater to the region in the future.

“Curis’ model essentially assumes the same conditions that were present in the 1990s when development was nonexistent in this area, and BHP controlled thousands of acres and many miles of down-gradient land. As we all know, much has changed since this time in terms of development in the area and plans for drinking water uses in the area, as well as Curis now controlling only a small fraction of the land that BHP once controlled.”

Merritt specifically noted the following passages in the Montgomery report, which he said should further qualify the report’s conclusion statement:

• “The town of Florence’s future recharge and recovery operations need to be better defined before potential effects of the FCP on these operations can be assessed. Once the proximity of the town of Florence’s future recharge and recovery operations to the FCP are determined, we recommend simulating these operations using the Curis Model to evaluate: 1) if the town of Florence’s groundwater pumping and recharge substantially change hydraulic gradients in the FCP area; and 2) if the FCP mining and post-mining operations pose any concerns to the town of Florence’s operations.”

• “For the 22-year predictive mining period, injection and extraction pumping were not explicitly simulated in the ore body. Instead, only the excess extraction pumping rate of 1,100 gallons per minute (gpm) was simulated, based on assumed rates of 11,000 gpm for injection and 12,100 gpm for extraction. Therefore, the Curis Model did not directly simulate the proposed injection and extraction operation to assess hydraulic capture of the leach solution during mining.”

In conclusion, “Based on these detailed explanations, we do not believe the conclusion stated by Montgomery is consistent with their findings, and that any statement regarding land use compatibility is outside their area of expertise,” Merritt said.

Curis Resources

Curis Resources (Arizona) Inc. is wholly-owned subsidiary of Curis Resources Ltd., a public mineral development company associated with the Hunter Dickinson (HDI) group of companies. For more than 25 years, HDI has been among the most successful and progressive independent mine developers and operators, with producing mines

and late-stage development projects around the world.

Florence Copper is an initiative of Curis Resources (Arizona) Inc. to develop a world-class in-situ copper recovery (ISCR) operation in Florence.

Second public hearing

The Florence Planning and Zoning Commission will conduct the second of two public hearings for the consideration of three Major Amendment applications to the town’s 2020 General Plan.

The hearings consider two applications submitted by Pew and Lake, PLC on behalf of Curis Resources (Arizona) Inc. The town also has an application under consideration related to the proposed north-south ADOT freeway corridor.

The second special meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6 in the Town Hall Council Chambers, 775 N. Main St.

After listening to the details of each of the proposed Major Amendments, the Planning and Zoning Commission will make recommendations for approval or disapproval and forward their recommendations to the Florence Town Council.

The Florence Town Council will hold a public hearing and determine final actions at their meeting held on Monday, November 7, 2011 at 6 p.m. in the Florence Town Hall Council Chambers.

The Town’s 2020 General Plan is a critical planning and policy tool used to encourage smart growth and sustainable development practices.

The public is encouraged to attend these hearings to learn more about the applications and provide feedback on each Major General Plan Amendment application.

The chambers at Town Hall can only hold 100 people and those who wish to attend the Oct. 6 meeting are encouraged to show up early. The town will amplify the meeting in the lobby and outside to handle an expected overflow crowd.

The meeting will be shown live on Channel 11 and online on the town’s website, florenceaz.gov. The meeting will continue to be available for viewing online for a few days afterward.

For more information, contact the town Community Development Department at 868-7575.

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