Published: March 13, 2025 |

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A big new mining project is coming together near Patagonia — promising well-paying jobs.

Developers of the South32 Hermosa mine near Patagonia say it will be great for the economy, with plenty of jobs, plenty of materials critical for national defense and maybe to power an electric car if you choose.

South32 says it will be one of the biggest zinc mines in the world. Zinc is critical in steel making and a wide variety of manufacturing — and we depend on other countries for most of it.

The mine says manganese in the mine is so important for advanced batteries and other tech items that the Defense Department gave it a $20 million grant to explore extracting manganese.

“It will be eight to 900 long term jobs, $90,000 a year jobs, grow the economy by about a third,” said Pat Risner, president of the South32 Hermosa Project.

Many of those workers will operate mining equipment by remote control from a control center to be built in Nogales.

South32 says their plan for an underground mine is much better for the environment than a large open pit mine.

They say they will limit dust by crushing rock underground and sealing up what they extract. They plan to use much less processing water than other mines do, clean the water and recycle it into a creek.

Jodi Stellar of Patagonia Area Resource Alliance worries about the effect of dust when the mine is operating and says dust from construction is a problem right now.

“They’re taking water out of the mountain. We don’t know what that means for the environment long term, but in a dry environment, it’s not going to be good. They say they’re returning the water to the environment, but it’s not the same environment they’re taking it out of,” said Stellar.

Stellar’s group is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to deny the mine permits it would need to operate.

Source: KGUN 9

South32 operates as a diversified metals and mining company in Australia, India, China, Japan, the Middle East, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, the United States, and internationally. Located in a historic mining district in the Patagonia Mountains of Southern Arizona, South32’s Hermosa project is currently the only advanced mine development project in the United States that could produce two federally designated critical minerals — manganese and zinc — both of which are essential minerals for powering the nation’s clean energy future. It has a portfolio of assets producing bauxite, alumina, aluminum, copper, silver, lead, zinc, nickel, metallurgical coal, manganese, ferronickel, and other base metals.

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