Arizona Grants Revised Air Quality Permit to South 32’s Hermosa Project
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The South32 Hermosa Project southeast of Patagonia received an updated Class I Air Quality Permit after a review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The permit issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality came after a challenge to the proposed final air quality permit issued in August 2024 that allowed the mine to begin construction.
A month later, a coalition of environmental groups filed a legal petition claiming South32’s permit violated clean air laws and regulations. Those groups, which included the Center for Biological Diversity, petitioned for a review of the permit. In May 2025, the federal agency ordered ADEQ to reopen and revise the permit within a 90-day period and solicit public comment.
In May 2025, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin granted five of 20 claims that the groups described in the legal document, namely addressing ADEQ’s failure to establish enforceable provisions for South32.
The Center for Biological Diversity announced in June that the EPA had rejected the air pollution permit, but that wasn’t the case. But the agency did find the permit didn’t fully comply with the Clean Air Act.
Pat Risner, Hermosa’s president, told AZPM in Tucson that the permit was never denied.
“EPA asked ADEQ to supplement the permit, [to] put some additional language in…They wanted us to report on the effectiveness of some of the controls in the mine,” Risner said.
Five out of 20 claims were reviewed, followed by a public hearing that was held in Patagonia in September.
Some of the changes made to the revised permit included new monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, and compliance reassurances. The permit is valid for five years.
The mine could eventually produce five minerals deemed critical by federal officials, including manganese and zinc.
Source: Nogales International
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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