AZL General Discussion, page-3653

Speaking of water, I’m surprised that no one has noticed the elephant in the room. Less than 70km east of the AZL mining claims is the Bagdad copper mine, one of the largest reserves in the world. It will be in operation 24/7 for the next 80 years or so. It also produces molybdenum and small amounts of silver and gold. The Bagdad Mine is owned by Freeport-McMoRan, one of the largest mining companies in the world. It’s traded on the NYSE as FCX.

If you look at the wells in the area around AZL’s Big Sandy, you will find some registered to “AZ Big Sandy LLC.” That company turns out to be owned by FCX. There are other wells owned by “Byner Cattle Company,” which may invoke visions of “Wild Bill” Byner, Arizona cattle baron, riding off into the sunset while driving the herd to Dodge City. But no, Byner Cattle is also owned by FCX.

Why is FCX so concerned about the area around Wikieup? Well, it turns out that much of the water used at its Bagdad Mine is pumped uphill, 500 meters in elevation, from the watershed to its west. There was an agreement five years ago concerning this water, but from what I can find it was never implemented. Part of it, though, involved the Hualapais getting $1 million for giving up some of their claims.

FCX clearly has an interest in the same water that AZL (or Bradda Head, or Ameriwest) would have to use for mining lithium. Do they also have an interest in diversifying into lithium? I think I will let FCX worry about the water supply for a neighboring mine. If they don’t see a problem with it, I won’t. If they do, they have more power to block it than ten tribes of Indians.

Meanwhile, the Arizona legislature is about to be back in session, and the state senator from Kingman is insisting her bill on water regulation in Mohave County (where AZL is located) be enacted. Since her vote is necessary to pass any other legislation that the thin-majority Republicans want, it’s likely to happen. The specifics of how it will affect new mines are not known.