Our Rosemont copper project’s relatively close proximity to Tucson, Arizona, provides a number of benefits – including access to a large pool of skilled workers, leading universities and research institutions – as well as challenges, such as numerous stakeholder groups with diverse, and at times conflicting, interests. Our goal is to ensure all viewpoints are heard and understood, and that our decision-making process is fair and in the best interest of as many stakeholders as possible. Once developed, the Rosemont project is expected to be the third-largest copper producer in the US, contributing significantly to the local economy through hundreds of jobs, tax payments and support for community programs.

Reaching an Important Milestone

For more than 10 years, federal, state and local officials and several stakeholders have been involved in Rosemont’s planning and permitting process. After more than 1,000 studies, 16 days of public hearings and 245 days of public comment for the US Forest Service process alone, in 2017 the Forest Service issued the Final Record of Decision (ROD) for Rosemont. With receipt of the final ROD, we are one milestone closer to developing the project, with just one federal permit outstanding – the Section 404 Permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). We continue to engage with the USACE to address any concerns and questions about our plans to build a state-of-the-art mine.

Preparing for the Construction Phase

At Rosemont, we have a community relations plan in place that guides our efforts to build constructive relationships by communicating with stakeholders in a timely, accurate and consistent manner.

In addition to engaging with relevant agencies about the permitting process, during the year we continued to meet with elected officials and attend community events. We also updated our procurement website so we could pre-qualify local suppliers before the construction phase begins.

The Native American tribes nearest to the planned operation – including the Tohono O’odham, Pascua Yaqui, Hopi and various Apache tribes – are another key group. Through recognition of their rights within the regulatory frameworks, the Forest Service led consultation starting in 2005, meeting with the tribes, developing a Traditional Cultural Property designation for the Santa Rita Mountains, directing the development of ethnohistory reviews and cultural evaluations at the site as well as including them in the EIS process. In addition to supporting the consultation in the permitting process (including participating in meetings and tours, and providing project information when we have been invited to do so), we have conducted outreach and worked to engage with the tribes to build trust, which we hope will develop into mutually beneficial working relationships. Rosemont signed a Memorandum of Agreement associated with the consultation that specified commitments for performance of work and treatment of artifacts and other historic articles, as well as training and reporting. Rosemont also worked with the tribes to develop agreements that included such items as grant availability, scholarships and travel funds for plant collection and blessing activities, which were ultimately signed by one of the tribes.

Once the construction phase of the project is initiated, we will establish and maintain a public website that includes quarterly and annual reports of the findings from our environmental monitoring efforts.

In addition, when we commence production we will contribute $500,000 per year during operations toward conservation and other community needs. In addition, contributions will be made to an endowment fund that will establish a stable funding source ($25 million) for community projects after operations cease. A Board of Trustees will manage the fund.

2017 Performance

Our total payments to local suppliers were $3.7 million, and in Arizona the total is over $10 million. We invested $177,000 to support a wide range of community programs. Important contributions during the year included:

• $5,000 to the University of Arizona Natural Resources Users Law and Policy Center
• Over $16,000 in scholarships to the 4-H clubs in Pima and Santa Cruz counties
• Through our school grants program, which awards between $500 and $5,000 to local public schools, we granted a total of nearly $10,000, including a $5,000 grant to the Joint Technical Education District, which will help ensure that non–college bound students are given an opportunity to learn a trade and have careers

There were three complaints registered in 2017. All of them were the same complaint, which one person filed in three places: Hudbay’s Toronto office, the Pima County Environment Department and the Forest Service. The concern was about unauthorized blasting at the Rosemont site. However, the noise was due to the Air Force completing training runs in the area, causing sonic booms that were mistaken for blasting.