“Arizona Mining Inc” (AZ:Toronto Stock Exchange) is a junior mining company based in Vancouver, Canada, and formerly known as Wildcat Silver. It operates in Arizona under its subsidiary company Arizona Minerals.
The Arizona Mining Inc Hermosa Property is 450 acres of private property comprised of “patented” mine claims 6 miles southeast of the town of Patagonia, Arizona.
Arizona Mining Inc has claimed roughly 20,000 acres of public land in the Patagonia Mountains on the Coronado National Forest bordering their Hermosa property with plans for TWO mine projects, open pit mine and underground mine.
The Hermosa Central project is a proposed 4,000-foot wide and 1,500-foot deep open pit mine for silver and manganese.
The Taylor project is a proposed, underground mine for zinc, lead and silver.
Read Hermosa Pre-Feasibility Report or Taylor Preliminary Economic Assessment Report. See Hermosa open pit mine site plan and view map of mining claims.
The Patagonia Area Resource Alliance recognizes that the health and economic prosperity of our community of Patagonia is tied deeply to the well-being of the Patagonia Mountains and Harshaw/Sonoita Creek waterways. They are the source of our water, clean air and the biological wealth drives our local economy. The PARA mission is to stop new mining in the Patagonia Mountains.
Click for a list of Federally Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive Species in the Patagonia Mountains of the Coronado National Forest in southern Arizona.
Current Status of Arizona Mining Inc / Wildcat Silver Mining Activity in Patagonia, Arizona
UPDATE 4/13/2017 Arizona Mining Inc has released their Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the private Taylor property. They are also down to 6 drill rigs.
2/28/2017: Arizona Mining Inc is down from 14 drill rigs to 9 drill rigs operating on private property 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
1/10/2017: AMI is continuing to do exploratory drilling on private property with 14 drill rigs operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
11/14/2016: The Hermosa-Taylor Deposit Drilling Project has been CANCELLED. http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=50097&exp=detail
9/7/2016: The Forest Service has started the public scoping period for the Hermosa-Taylor Drilling Project. “The Forest proposes to approve a Plan of Operations that would authorize the proponent to drill eight exploratory holes to obtain characterization of mineralization.”
6/8/2016: Arizona Mining Inc continues to aggressively pursue mineral drilling on the Taylor/Trench Camp Mine private property. They have increased the number of drill rigs from 5 to 10 rigs, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
4/1/2016: EA CANCELLED for Hermosa Central. The release of the final Hermosa Environmental Assessment (EA) and Draft Decision is Cancelled.
10/30/2015: Arizona Mining Inc started new exploratory mineral drilling on their private land for the Taylor site. Destruction of the hillside and trees for drilling pads can be clearly viewed from Harshaw Road, past their entrance gate. The denuded slope is above Harshaw Creek and threatens to erode directly into the creek with the potential to smother downstream aquatic life with sediment.
Arizona Mining Inc drill rig above Harshaw Creek.
The exploratory mineral drilling occurs 7 days a week for 24 hours a day. A rock drill typically produces 98 decibels of noise at a distance of 50 feet which is 20 times louder than a chainsaw.
10/28/2014: Press Release: Hermosa mine proposal could deplete southeast Arizona town’s drinking water aquifer. Peer-reviewed report by PARA and EARTHWORKS outlines Hermosa mine’s risks of water consumption, perpetual water pollution to Patagonia area.
One site of Hermosa Mineral Exploration Drilling Proposal: Corral Canyon in the Patagonia Mountains.
Arizona Mining Inc / Wildcat Silver’s History in Patagonia, Arizona
Wildcat Silver / Arizona Mining Inc mineral drilling
Arizona Mining Inc has had mining explorations on their private land holdings for the Hermosa project intermittently since 2006. In March, 2011 they filed a Plan of Operations to extend their mining explorations from their private land onto their bordering claims on public land in the Coronado National Forest. Link to NEPA Scoping Notice from April 2011. The Forest Service granted approval of the drilling project through a Decision Memo dated 10/18/2011.
In response to the Forest Service’s unlawful approval, the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance joined together with Defenders of Wildlife and Sky Island Alliance and went to court in December 2011 to seek a timeout on construction of Arizona Mining Inc / Wildcat Silver’s Mining Exploration Project on the Coronado National Forest in southern Arizona. We challenged the U.S. Forest Service for approving the exploratory mining proposal without required studies of how it will impact endangered wildlife and the environment. View the press release regarding our lawsuit.
The Forest Service officially withdrew its approval of Arizona Mining Inc / Wildcat Silver’s 15-hole mining exploration plan on April 27th, 2012. That move sent Arizona Mining Inc back to the drawing board. View Forest Service Withdrawal of Decision Memo
At The Helm
Arizona Mining Inc was founded by Richard Warke, the same founder of Augusta Resource / Rosemont Copper in the nearby Santa Rita Mountains. In July 2014, Hudbay acquired control of Augusta Resource Corporation and its wholly owned Rosemont Copper mine proposal.
Warke and Augusta’s acceptance of HudBay’s takeover exposes the repeated promises that Augusta was committed to the region as nothing more than a deceptive public relations campaign.
With Warke at the helm, we can expect the same sort of tactics from Arizona Mining Inc / Wildcat Silver as witnessed from Augusta and his other mining companies. See: “A Sardinian gold mine unearths the deceptive business tactics of Rosemont Copper’s top executives,” by InvestigativeMEDIA.
We will keep you informed of any developments of this project on this page, in our News Section, and with our e-newsletter. Use the online Contact Form to subscribe to our e-newsletter. Also, keep an eye on our Events page.
What is a Plan of Operation and What’s a Scoping Notice?
Check out our NEPA Resources page here. NEPA is the National Environmental Policy Act and is the environmental review process by which all federal agencies must comply for federal actions that could have environmental effects.
Having your voice heard…
“The environmental review process under NEPA provides an opportunity for you to be involved in the Federal agency decisionmaking process. It will help you understand what the Federal agency is proposing, to offer your thoughts on alternative ways for the agency to accomplish what it is proposing, and to offer your comments on the agency’s analysis of the environmental effects of the proposed action and possible mitigation of potential harmful effects of such actions. NEPA requires Federal agencies to consider environmental effects that include, among others, impacts on social, cultural, and economic resources, as well as natural resources. Citizens often have valuable information about places and resources that they value and the potential environmental, social, and economic effects that proposed federal actions may have on those places and resources. NEPA’s requirements provide you the means to work with the agencies so they can take your information into account.” From the Citizens Guide to NEPA
What do all those acronyms mean??? Check out our handy Glossary of Terms!
