UPDATE--AZ Gov. Brewer closes state department servicing world-class copper region
Arizona's Department of Mines and Mineral Resources shut its doors Friday, but a decision late Friday transferred resources and personnel to the Arizona Geological Survey.
Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Friday , 21 Jan 2011
RENO, NV -
mineweb.com
UPDATED 1/22/11--Despite running a state known as one of the world's richest copper mining regions, Arizona's governor eliminated the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources, which closed its doors Friday.
Gov. Jan Brewer's office estimates the budget deficit at about $1.15 billion as of Thursday. She has asked the state legislature to expand her executive-branch authority to get more control over Arizona's finances.
Mining organizations, mining companies and state officials contacted by Mineweb Thursday would not comment on the decision to eliminate the agency which serves an industry which provides 60% of U.S. copper and generates billions of dollars of annual revenue.
However, after Mineweb's story was published early Friday morning, state officials did respond and provide comment. At the end of the day Friday, a decision was made to transfer all records and personnel to the Arizona Geological Survey.
In 2009 the Arizona copper industry employed 9,100 people in the state and contributed $9.3 billion to the economy, according to the Arizona Mining Association. An association report estimated another 43,300 people were employed in Arizona indirectly because of mining.
Three new copper mines are proposed in the state and major mining companies have identified millions of tons of new copper deposits in the state. However, those same companies have discovered significant reserves of copper in offshore locations.
The Department of Mines and Mineral Resources was the state's advocate for new mines and assists companies wishing to explore and mine in Arizona.
However, Gov. Brewer moved the department's duties to the state's Geological Survey in order to save the state $200,000 a year. Two full-time employees including Director Madan Singh, who were originally fated to lose their jobs, will now be employed by the Arizona Geological Survey. Three contract workers may be transferred to the Geological Survey.
Prior to the decision to transfer him to the survey, Singh told the Arizona Republic, "I think we were doing the state and the mining industry a great service, especially the new (companies) coming in that would in the long run help the state. They create jobs and produce minerals, which we need."
The Governor's Office had not responded to Mineweb's request for comment as of deadline early Friday morning. However, Tasya C. Peterson, deputy press secretary for the governor, subsequently told Mineweb, "We are shifting it to the Geological Survey, not doing away with it. There will be the same strong leadership by the sate on this very important issue."
"Local industry has not opposed this reorganization," Peterson stressed.
A member of the board of Friends of the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum told the Arizona Republic, "We have the richest copper deposits, and we are hindering the development and furthering of mining in our state."
The chairman of Arizona's Mining Association, a Freeport-McMoRan employee, also had not responded to Mineweb's request for comment as of deadline early Friday.
As of deadline early Friday, Freeport had not responded to Mineweb's request for comment regarding the demise of the Department of Mines and Mineral Resources. However, later that day FCX spokesman Eric Kenneberg wrote in an e-mail, "Freeport-McMoRan does not have a comment regarding the anouncement on the Department of Mines and Mineral Resources."
Grupo Mexico, another major Arizona mining operator, has also not commented publicly on the governor's decision to close to agency.
A closure notice posted on the department's website declared, "Having four work days to put 70 years of collections to bed, terminate all department functions, as well as making personal arrangements-retirement or seeking other employment and removing our personal material-seems like unnecessary haste, but it is what we have been given."
"Our years at the department have been both rewarding and challenging," the website stated. "It has been a rollercoaster ride, complete with thrills and spills; but it has never been boring."
In an e-mail Friday to Mineweb, M. Lee Allison, state geologist and director of the Arizona Geological Survey, wrote, "We just came to agreement on keeping the dooors open to the mining department's resources and transfer of the staff to the Arizona Geological Survey. Rather than this being bad news for the industry, Gov. Brewer is taking steps to preserve and enhance the state's role in a healthy and robust mining industry."
Allison contends that the Arizona Geological Survey "is larger, more financially stable, has more external grants and contracts, and a bigger support structure, that will allow the State of Arizona to provide better service and attention to mining and mineral resource issues."
In a follow-up e-mail to Mineweb Saturday, Allison said the Arizona Department of Mines and Mines Board late Friday approvved the transfer of the department's files to the Geological Survey. All staff from the department also agreed to transfer to the state Geological Survey. |
