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Vol. 87 No. 9 Periodicals Postage Paid at Superior, Arizona 85173
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Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Florence Copper Project holds open house to explain planned mine
Mother Nature’s cold shoulder? Folks from across the Copper Corridor - from Superior to SaddleBrooke - woke Sunday morning to a confectioner’s sugar dusting of white snow. It was cold and wet ... but it was sure pretty! Some kids headed out for some snowman making while photographers from the Miner-Sun-Basin headed out for some photos. We took photos in Kearny of Teapot Mountain and in Superior of Picket Post; downtown Superior and some wonderful photos of Devil’s Canyon; San Manuel got some snow and the Galiuro Mountains were just glistening with all the snow left on those peaks. Oracle, of course, got covered in snow, as it usually does. So, was this winter’s last gasp? Go to www.copperarea.com to see a slideshow. The photos are beautiful and will make you glad you were warm and cozy in your homes while our photographers braved the elements. (Taylor Sheaffer Ritter photo)
Expansion of LOST trail to Final begin with caboose as hub planning By Cindy Tracy With music playing, flags flying and much ceremony, the long-awaited vision of the grand opening of the Legends of Superior Trail took place at the trailhead near the town airport February 12. But that ribbon cutting was only the beginning of the story. The journey of the LOST (Legends of Superior Trail) project has only just begun,
according to Mila Lira of the trail committee. “Well, we are post about two weeks of the grand opening of the Legends of Superior Trail, which we are considering the desert or the gateway of the trail that connects to the Arizona Trail,” she said recently at U.S. 60 Park where the Caboose Visitors Center is being readied for its own See LOST on P. 4
Link the LOST … Mila Lira of the LOST trail committee explains how the Caboose Visitors Center in U.S. 60 Park, scheduled to officially open March 12, is really the connecting link between the Legends of Superior trail segment just opened (the ‘gateway’) and the expansion through town and to the east (the ‘canyon’). Cindy Tracy photo
retreat held by council covers a number of topics
By Cindy Tracy Roosevelt School is in good shape but needs roof repairs and some other work, Jed Lant of the Public Works Department reported to Superior Town Council at the third and final in a series of council “retreats.” At the retreats, the council heard reports from town staff members and also heard input from the public on a variety of topics. The information they gathered was for their use in prioritizing and budget planning. Items needing further study were moved to a work session. Matters discussed in the session included wastewater treatment funding and improvements, cemetery rules and regulations review, economic development and land acquisition, council vice mayor nominations, use of Resolution Copper urgent need funding and See RETREAT on P. 4
Curis CEO Michael McPhie explains Florence Copper Project mining plans to an open house attendee. Michael McPhie, Curis president and CEO, spoke with attendees at the Florence Copper Project open house about the planned mining process and explained what the company plans to do with the land once mining is completed. (Lana Jones photo) By Lana Jones The Florence Copper Project held an open house on Feb. 24 at the Florence Gardens Clubhouse. The open house officially ran from 6 to 8 p.m. although the public was touring the posters and speaking with company representatives even before 6 p.m. rolled around. A total of 74 people attended the open house. Florence Copper Project is Curis Resources (Arizona) Ltd.’s main project. The Arizona company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Curis Resources Ltd. of Canada. Curis is affiliated with Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI). The Project is located near Florence, south of Poston Butte, between Hunt Highway and the Gila River. The property was previously owned by BHP. Low copper prices caused BHP to delay the project and then sell the property to Merrill Ranch Investments in 2000. HDI acquired the property in 2009. Michael McPhie, Curis president and CEO, was on hand at the open house to answer questions and explain the planned mining and reclamation processes. Florence Copper Project plans to use a mining process called ISCR (in-situ copper recovery). In ISCR, an acid solution is pumped into the ore body using injection wells. The copper solution is then pumped out through recovery wells and processed.
The copper is then recovered from the solution at a solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/ EW) plant. ISCR was one of the mining processes used at the San Manuel Mine. Water use is a common concern associated with ISCR mining. Curis Resources estimates the 216acre Florence Copper Project will use about 1300 acre-feet of water per year (an acre foot is about 326,000 gallons of water). Curis estimates that if the same land were used for farming alfalfa it would use between 1700 and 2600 acre-feet of water. The estimate is higher than University of Arizona (UA) Coopera-
Four candidates take part in Chamber of Commerce forum
By Cindy Tracy Anyone wanting to know more about the views on issues of the day of candidates for Superior Town Council in the March 8 election had their chance to ask questions February 24. The opportunity was the 2011 Superior Town Council Candidate Forum presented by the Chamber of Commerce. A small live audience Search at http://www.pinalcountyaz. you should contact the Pinal County attended the forum itself. Questions gov/Departments/Assessor. If your Assessor’s office at 520-866-6361. were submitted by the public and/or address changed, please submit a If you feel your valuation or propmoderator. change of address form using the erty classification is erroneous, please Four candidates out of six attended Change of Address Form online. call 520-866-6361 or 888-431-1311 and participated. This included This form is also posted on http:// to request a Petition for Review of incumbents Olga Lopez and Lynn www.pinalcountyaz.gov/DepartValuation form. There is a 60 day Heglie and hopefuls John Tameron ments/Assessor. window to file a Petition for Review and Richard Green. Not able to atIf your address is correct and you of Valuation. The appeal deadline is tend, said moderator Peter Armenta, did not receive a Notice of Valuation April 29, 2011. were incumbent Soyla Peralta and hopeful Merlin Gindlesperger. The forum took place in an appropriate setting, the Superior Senior Center where council holds its regular meetings. The four participants American Cancer Society wig banks. American Cancer Society. took seats at the council dais and Each wig takes at least six ponytails Learn more about the program made their opening statements. (See and three to four months to create. As at Pantene’s website: http://www. of last summer, Pantene and HairUpantene.com/en-us/beautiful-lengths- www.copperarea.com for videos.) Questions and answers followed in Weave had donated 6,300 wigs to the cause/ the friendly and to-the-point session that seemed characterized by civility and thoughtful queries and responses. There was one 15-minute break and
Valuation notices to be mailed by Assessor on Feb. 28 FLORENCE, AZ – Valuations for the 2012 tax year will be mailed on Monday, February 28 to all individuals who own property in Pinal County. Valuations are set through formula prescribed by state statute. The formula has a lagging indicator meaning that the formula factors in sales of property in 2009 through June 2010. In general, the valuation most prop-
erty owners will receive will reflect a decline in value over prior years. It is not a reflection of what the value of your property is at this moment in time in 2011. If you do not receive a valuation notice, please check to see that the Pinal County Assessor’s Office has your current address. You can look up your property online using Parcel
More than 200,000 ponytails have been donated to Pantene Beautiful Lengths since the program began in 2006. This week, your local reporter, Lana Jones, added one more to the
total. Beautiful Lengths, working with HairUWeave, creates wigs from the donated ponytails. The wigs are then given to cancer patients through
Why not go to Beautiful Lengths?
Update: Hall of Fame sold out Five years in the making … The before picture. (Dean Jones photo)
Kathy ONeill, of The Coyote Wore Sideburns in Tucson, was happy to help measure out the ponytails before they are cut. Beautiful Lengths requires donated ponytails to be at least 8 inches long—they ended up being 11. (The Coyote Wore Sideburns photo)
Feeling light and breezy … The after picture. Let’s hope spring isn’t late this year. (Dean Jones photo)
tive Extension estimates of water use for alfalfa in Pinal County. Based on UA estimates, 216 acres of alfalfa would use 1400 acre-feet of water. Wheat or cotton, two other common Pinal County crops, would use about 570 or 1000 acrefeet of water. The UA estimates are over 10 years old, though, and based on the county as a whole. They may not accurately represent current water use by farmers near Florence. Curis Resources expects production on the Project to begin by 2012. Check back for updates on the progress of the Florence Copper Project in our semi-weekly column, The Mining Brief.
The Superior High School Hall of Fame 2011 Induction, set for March 12, is sold out as of Feb. 23. All honored guests, inductees and team members of the 1954 Football Team who haven’t responded are urged to call Manny Ruiz at 6895430 as soon as possible.
the forum ended approximately at its stated closing time of 8:20 p.m. It was stated that the Chamber of Commerce offered the forum as a service to voters and did not endorse any candidate. In their opening statements, the candidates shared biographical information and thoughts that touched on why they were running and other matters. Questions in the forum ran the gamut from specifically what the candidates would do if elected to downtown revitalization, economic development, vision for the town and more, including the candidates’ views on the possibility of a medical marijuana facility in Superior. To Armenta’s theoretical query as to whether they favored a medical marijuana dispensary in town and if so where, the candidates had various answers. They seemed in general agreement that they did not oppose the idea. “I have no problem with it,” Heglie said. He discussed his thoughts on possible sites and the decriminalization of medical marijuana by the state. “I’m neutral on the subject,” Green said. He felt that since Superior is to have a new clinic, that would be the best place to sell the medical marijuana if it were to be made available here. He concurred that if allowing See FORUM on P. 4
Weather
Date
Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb.
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
High
61 65 65 62 68 69 50
Low Pcp
31 35 34 38 35 41 31
.11 .57
Weather readings courtesy Boyce Thompson Arboretum.