Environmental Impact Assessment Study Completion Hinges on Land Exchange

In all we do, our goal is to maximize positive environmental impacts while minimizing negative ones. Resolution Copper is currently completing the Pre-feasibility Study environmental and social baseline work needed to identify all potential impacts of mining operations. The result will be an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and management plan for the entire life of our mining operations, including closure.

Why hasn’t an EIA been completed already? Because it is really a multi-year interdisciplinary process, and a critical part of that process is our pending land exchange.

Currently, we’re studying water and air quality, determining if endangered species inhabit the area, discovering if cultural artifacts are present and if so, determining how best to protect them. However, to complete the pre-feasibility phase of mine exploration and the related areas of the EIA, we must have access to surface lands above the mine and in the immediate surrounding area—lands that are part of the proposed exchange. Only then can we can proceed with shaft sinking and other activities that will allow us to explore areas involved in our deep underground mine and to develop the mine plan in sufficient detail to understand the environmental and social impacts.

Public review of our findings and mine operation plan
If this exploratory fieldwork yields positive results, we expect to make the proposed mine operations plan, including an EIA and management plan, available for public review in 2009. The draft EIA plans will be reviewed by agencies, environmental groups and the public, and will be integrated with all required Project permits.

We expect the public review process to take approximately three years. Because the mine is located primarily under Tonto National Forest, the Forest Service will act as the lead agency. They would typically hire consultants to investigate our EIA plan in detail, including public participation, and through the National Environment Protection Act (NEPA) process, would turn our plan into an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This independent review and subsequent approval from the Forest Service and other interested stakeholders will help ensure that our approach to the environment is as thorough and well-planned as possible.

Resolution Project Development Steps:
Pre-feasibility stage
Pre-feasibility studies set the stage for a viable project. This three- to four-year process involves major fact-finding fieldwork and investigative study. Mining approach alternatives and related challenges are evaluated. Based on findings, cost and resources required to proceed are estimated. Completing baseline environmental studies and integrating results into the mine plan is part of this project development stage.

What we’re finding now will affect mine planning
Our current baseline studies are helping to determine where important biological, cultural and environmental resources reside. For example, on lands surrounding the mine site, we recently completed studies on the Arizona hedgehog cactus, as well as bat, raptor, reptile and amphibian surveys, and we are determining ways to protect these species and their habitat. The 680-acre
conservation easement we’ve designated to protect Apache Leap is another important example of our willingness to work with stakeholders and develop a plan that honors sensitivity to the land and to cultural heritage.

Land Exchange— Environmental Riches
While we recognize that any exchange of land is by its nature an emotional issue, the approximately 5,000 acres Resolution Copper is offering in trade for 3,025 acres of lands above and around the proposed mine will bring environmental richness and biodiversity to Arizona. This private acreage being exchanged for federal lands includes six distinctive and environmentally important parcels. For example, 3,073 acres proposed for the exchange in the lower San Pedro River area host an extremely productive riparian ecosystem, including a varied bird population, deciduous forest, wetland areas, and mesquite bosque—an environmental rarity in Arizona. This parcel, as well as the others, was selected through a consultative process by leading environmental groups to be included in the land exchange.

As we proceed with our environmental assessment study, both before and after the land exchange is approved, we’ll report our progress to you. If you have questions about the study, or any other area of our project, visit our website www.resolutioncopper.com or call our Project Information Hotline at 520.689.3409.

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