To the editor,
As a former Gilbert Town Councilman, I know how important your local elected officials are in making the many decisions that affect their residents and most importantly, the economic well-being of your city. I have also spent over 45 years in Arizona mining and truly understand how important this industry is to many of Arizona’s towns and cities.
Today, there are two major copper mines being developed less than a 30 minute’s drive from Maricopa, along with Casa Grande, Eloy and Coolidge. Arizona Sonoran Copper is developing an open pit copper operation and Ivanhoe Electric’s project that will be an underground copper mine. These new copper mines are long-term projects, with estimated lives of well over 25 years and probably more like 30 or 40 years.
In my position as Arizona’s State Mine Inspector, I am visiting existing mines and the projects that are developing new mines. These mines represent tremendous opportunities for those cities close enough to support these mines. I want to do everything I can to promote responsible mining projects to the general public. Both of these projects represent state of the art technologies and commitments to safety, the environment, and the well-being of their employees. Ivanhoe Electric is planning to utilize robotic and autonomous equipment (think Waymo on a much larger scale) for production, thereby removing humans from some of the more arduous and strenuous underground jobs.
These mines represent tremendous opportunities for employment for all of the trades, computer technicians, engineers and accountants, to name a few occupations. Of equal importance they provide significant opportunities for many of Maricopa’s businesses and even new businesses. Both of the mining companies are already working with local businesses and business groups, and are very interested in hiring locally and working with Maricopa’s businesses.
A few weeks ago I met with Mayor Smith, and her husband Tony. My goal was to meet her, get acquainted with her and learn about Maricopa. I remember stopping in Maricopa decades ago when there were just a few thousand residents. While I was aware of the growth in your area, I was not prepared for seeing a vibrant city of 80,000. I am also well aware of the dynamics that kind of growth brings since we added about this many residents in Gilbert in the 12 years I was on Town Council.
A main focus of your Council and local Chamber of Commerce is to develop and promote the businesses in your city. This is certainly one of the main goals of Mayor Smith and we spent a fair amount of time talking about this. I knew I was going to be at the Ivanhoe Electric’s project a few weeks after this meeting and committed to talking to them about supporting local businesses. Ivanhoe Electric has a community working group in Maricopa that includes one of your councilmembers. Now is the time to take advantage of these conversations to learn more about what businesses are needed to support the mine.
Les Presmyk
Arizona State Mine Inspector
