TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A three-day mining conference hosted by the University of Arizona is drawing scrutiny and protest from some community members concerned about the long-term impacts of mining near their homes.
The Mining Social License Summit, currently underway at the Tucson Marriott University Park, aims to foster better relationships between mining companies and the communities where they operate. Organizers say the goal is to build trust, transparency, and cooperation.
“With all the critical minerals dialogue across the country, there’s no more important time to talk about how mining companies can be the best possible neighbors in the communities where they reside,” said Misael Cabrera, director of UA’s School of Mining and Mineral Resources. “If the community isn’t supportive of what you’re doing, everything becomes harder. A lot of times it becomes a lose-lose proposition.”
Cabrera mentions Australia-based mining company South32 as an exemplar. “They’re working very closely with their community partners,” he said. “They’ve changed their mine design, they’ve rerouted roads, they’re doing additional environmental monitoring, all because the community wants to work with them.”
But for critics, the summit is raising more questions than it answers.
“This whole thing going on in this building right now is propaganda of the highest order,” said Chimene Hawes, a resident of San Manuel, Arizona, where a new mining site has been proposed. “And on Earth Day, it’s criminal.”
Hawes says she moved to San Manuel after years of housing insecurity and now fears the potential environmental and health effects of a mine near her home.
“I hope I don’t have to fight for my life in the town that I was finally able to manage to buy a house in,” she said, adding that the San Manuel Copper Mine was once the world’s largest underground mine, and has impacted the structural integrity of the area. “I live there on social security disability income. If the mine opens up and depletes the aquifer, not only will my source of water go away, but so will the foundation I live in.”
Brian Cox, a former miner himself, also came from San Manuel to the protest with the goal of educating the community on the environmental and health impacts of mining. “Air and water quality are important,” he said. “Water quantity in the desert is very important.”
Cox echoed Hawes’ concerns over the water table in his hometown. “If the water level drops where I live due to increased demand, it will cause an opening that supports weight. An open hole will not support weight,” he said, referring to the San Manuel Copper Mine. “We’ve seen similar impacts of this process across Arizona, such as the town of Jerome, where the ground is shifting due to abandoned tunnels.”
He says the San Manuel community doesn’t want another mine located on their land. “I value my home, as do the people in my community,” he said. “We deserve to live healthily with the time we have left.”
Joni Stellar, chair of the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance, echoed those concerns, arguing that mining is fundamentally unsustainable and that affected communities need more of a say in where and how mines operate.
“There needs to be more forethought as to where mines are placed, and currently there is none,” Stellar said. “If I felt like there was a sincere effort to meet the needs of the community and address the concerns, I would feel better about it.”
Stellar questions the concept of social licensing, viewing it as impossible for the mining industry. “How does that happen when the water, air and wildlife are being poisoned?” she asked. “You’re taking material out of the Earth, and it’s never going back. There are no loops, it’s just extraction and use and waste. Sustainability relies on a circular process.”
She acknowledges that mining is necessary in a world awash in electronics, but has issues with the mining companies’ approach. “I recognize we all use phones, cars. We all use materials,” she said. “The problem is where these mines take place. The Sky Islands are a worldwide resource for biodiversity. That is not the place to be mining and wreaking havoc on the environment.”
Despite the criticism, summit organizers say the event was intended to be inclusive. Cabrera emphasized that the summit welcomed all voices, including dissenting ones.
“We have representatives from multiple countries, multiple universities, and multiple non-governmental organizations. It’s not a closed conversation,” Cabrera said. “If folks registered, they were welcome. We even offered a discount code for non-governmental organizations, so everybody was invited to attend.”
Stellar, who attended the first day of the summit, said she was there to represent her community, even if she remains skeptical about the outcomes. Early in the day, she told organizers that she would be a “fly on the wall” during the conference, with the goal of learning how mining organizations plan to engage with the community.
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Joel Foster is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9 who previously worked as an English teacher in both Boston and the Tucson area. Joel has experience working with web, print and video in the tech, finance, nonprofit and the public sectors. In his off-time, you might catch Joel taking part in Tucson's local comedy scene. Share your story ideas with Joel at joel.foster@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
