Range Wars
A copper rush sparks last-ditch battles for Arizona’s soul

http://harpers.org/archive/2018/09/copper-mining-in-arizona-silver-bell-mine-morenci-bhp-ascaro-apache-land/
Date Written:  2020-09-18
Publisher:  Harper's Magazine
Resource Type:  Article

A new copper rush is threatening the environment in Arizona as companies seek to exploit new viens and move to deregulate protections. The biodiversity of the Sonoran desert is at risk, as is its ground water.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

But now a new Arizona copper rush, in the Santa Ritas and beyond, is menacing that natural wealth and sparking the passions of a nineteenth-century range war. Global companies are moving fast, spurred by various challenges to mining abroad and shifting regulatory priorities in Washington, as well as by the bright future of their product. (Copper is indispensable to almost anything electric or electronic.) Working mines like Silver Bell are increasing capacity. And two new projects, both massive and foreign-­owned, are pushing ahead as once-staunch opposition from regulators drops away.