New Mine Waste Coming to Jerome, Arizona

The history of mining in Jerome Arizona has a checkered past.  Millions of dollars were earned by the mining companies and some of the towns (at least in Arizona) received a public building or two.  But the destruction of people and the environment carried a horrible toll.  

An open pit with a head frame half hidden behind shrubbery.
 Head frames were used to lower and raise miners from the
 88 miles of below-ground tunnels.

Myths, legends and a few factual stories have survived about the brothels, legendary madams, some of the saloons and epic fist and gun fights.  What is never questioned is why nothing has grown for sixty years on these piles of waste.

Mines in Jerome ceased operation in 1953.  The scale of these
 waste "layers" can be determined by the apparent size of
the 2-story houses at the lower right of the photograph above.

Despite airborne pollution (toxic dust) and ground water toxicity due to 60 years of rainfall percolating through these piles, mining may begin again in West Jerome .

NOTHING has grown on this waste material in 60 years.

If Cornerstone Metals, Inc. indeed comes to Jerome it may well find a mixed reception.

Arizona Mine Threatens North America’s Only Jaguar

from Wildlife Promise
0 1/3/2013 // Nic Callero// Clean Water Act, endangered species, endangered species act,Endangered Species Coalition, Global Warming, jaguars, mining, Pacific Northwest, Pebble Mine, pollution, rosemont mine, water pollution,Wildlife, Wildlife Watch

There is only one Jaguar in the entire United States, which explains why it took sportsman Jack Childs five years using ten different motion sensor trail cameras to get a single picture of one of the most powerful cats in the entire world. Jack initially spotted the cat on a hunting trip.




Flickr photo by Jerry Oldenettel.Jaguars are the third largest species of cat after lions and tigers and are the largest species of cat in the western hemisphere. They used to call the western Unites States home, but as human development encroached on their habitat they migrated primarily to the uninhabited deserts of South America. That is until now, as Jack Child’s photo proves that one brave young male Jaguar adorned with black rosettes is back to re-claim his American territory.

The return of this Jaguar to its previous U.S. habitat is somewhat of perfect timing. After years of lawsuits, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently issued a plan to recover the endangered species to its native North American terrain. FWS proposed designating 838,232 acres as critical jaguar habitat—covering four stretches of mountains in southeastern Arizona, a section of the Peloncillo Mountains on the Arizona–New Mexico border, and a tiny piece of New Mexico’s San Luis Mountains.

Despite this critically important step forward there still exists a potentially frightening roadblock to the Jaguar recovery. Not too far from where Jack Childs photo was taken and smack dab in the middle of the recently designated “critical Jaguar habitat” is a pending proposal to develop a large scale copper mine.

Rosemont, the local subsidiary of a Canadian mining corporation, is requesting permits to dig a mile-wide, half-mile deep pit and dump waste rock and tailings on more than 3,000 acres of National Forest land.

In addition to threatening the recovery of the Jaguar other issues with the mine proposal already highlighted by EPA, DEQ and the Forest Service include: Serious impacts to drinking water to local residents, potential violations to Arizona aquifer water quality standards and the mine is expected to damage historic and cultural sites from the massive pits dug to extract the minerals.



Utah mine similar to Rosemont Mine proposed in Arizona- photo EarthworksToday’s industrial-strength mines involve the blasting, excavating, and crushing of thousands of acres of land and the use of huge quantities of toxic chemicals such as cyanide and sulfuric acid. Moreover, hardrock mines are notorious for polluting adjacent streams, wetlands, and groundwater.

In this dry arid environment where water is arguably more precious than any metal, Rosemont Copper is proposing to dump untreated mining waste on 10–15 miles of streams and desert springs.

If you care about clean water and responsible energy development, and if you care about helping the endangered jaguar recover to its native North American range, please speak up today and ask the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to prevent mining companies such as Rosemont Copper from endangering our fish, wildlife, and communities with industrial pollution.

Let’s give this magnificent jaguar a fighting chance!