ROSEMONT COPPER PROJECT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT

In July of 2007, Rosemont Copper Company submitted a mine plan of operations to the Coronado National Forest of Southeastern Arizona, for the mining and processing of 230 million pounds of copper, 5 million pounds of molybdenum and 3.5 million ounces of silver. The proposal calls for a 700 acre open pit, a 1200 acre tailings facility and a 1500 acre waste rock facility in the Santa Rita Mountains about 30 miles southeast of Tucson, AZ. The sulfide portion of the Rosemont deposit, occurring primarily in a Laramide skarn in Paleozoic carbonates and related sedimentary rocks, is overlain by a small oxide deposit. The use of dry stack tailings is proposed for the operation, reducing process water volume to about one quarter the water use of similar local operations using conventional tailings methodology.

The environmental impact statement analysis for the proposed project began in March, 2008, and resulted in over 11,000 public comments concerning impacts to visual resources, archeological sites, riparian vegetation, surface water, groundwater, and other surface resources. A preliminary groundwater model developed for the project indicates a 1’ to 100’ groundwater drawdown from pit dewatering extending as much as three miles from the pit center at the end of the 20 year mine life. Drawdown may result in the loss of springs and seeps in the project area and potential significant impact to riparian habitat. A draft environmental impact statement analyzing the effects of the proposed project is scheduled to be completed in December of 2010, guided by the General Mining Law of 1872, as amended, the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 and other pertinent statute, and Forest Service and Council of Environmental Quality regulation.