Fly the controversial Rosemont Copper Mine with experts, conservationists, members of the media, and organizations working to reform mining in Arizona.

The proposed Rosemont Copper Mine in the beautiful Santa Rita Mountains has been entangled in legal battles for years. The mine, with a planned footprint of over one and a half square miles, and a depth of more than three thousand feet, would pose a severe environmental risk to wildlife and human communities. Copper mining requires a chemical process to extract the critical mineral from surrounding rock - that process results in tons of toxic liquid and solid waste that must be precariously dumped near the mining site.

For these reasons, EcoFlight’s partners including Arizona Mining Reform, Patagonia Area Resource Alliance, and Center for Biological Diversity have been fighting the Rosemont Mine, as well as other mines operated by South 32, an Australian company, near the community of Patagonia, AZ for years. The summer of 2022 brought a legal rollercoaster. The Rosemont mining company, Hudbay, has begun development at the site, and has revised its technical language, seemingly in order to avoid the court rulings so that it can continue its operations. Our overflight of the mines allowed critical visuals of the impact of current and proposed mining operations.