Settlement reached to clean up 3 Asarco mines


Published on Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The State of Arizona has reached a $30 million settlement with Asarco to clean up three mining properties and to transfer four miles of the San Pedro River to the State Land Department. The deal is part of a $70 million, 11-state Superfund settlement with the Tucson-based copper miner.

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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• Salero silver-lead mine that operated from the 1850s to the 1920s in the Santa Rita Mountain foothills 15 miles east of Tumacacori.

• 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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