The three mines to be cleaned up are:
• Trench silver, gold and lead mine that operated from the late 1930s to the early 1960s along Harshaw Creek in the Patagonia Mountains.
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• Sacaton open pit copper mine northwest of Casa Grande that closed in the 1980s.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality said it will cost about $20 million to remediate Sacaton and $3 million for the cleanups at Trench and Salero, which Asarco has already started.
After the cleanups, the properties will be transferred to a court-appointed custodian who will put them up for sale, and the money will go to the state. Mineral rights will be included and both Salero and Trench could be mined again.
The San Pedro River land to be transferred is more than 1,000 acres both north and south of where Aravaipa Creek enters the river 10 miles south of Winkelman. It’s valued at $4 million. Another $4 million is included in the agreement to preserve the land under an agreement to be developed jointly by U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Arizona Fish and Game and the Arizona Land Commission.








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