As the Florence Town Council contemplates whether to approve a controversial copper mine, the shadow of the Governor’s Office is looming over Town Hall.

A petition challenge claiming that Democratic Mine Inspector candidate Manuel Cruz did not meet the qualifications to hold the office was withdrawn June 15.

The Mine Inspector’s Office sealed 43 mine openings during an operation from Nov. 4 until Nov. 11 that was intended to make the area surrounding the Pearl Mine safer for all-terrain vehicles, hikers and horses.

A trio of environmental groups has followed through on a threat to sue the Bureau of Land Management for giving a green light to a uranium-mine north of the Grand Canyon.

A tribal government in Arizona has stepped up lobbying efforts against rules being proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency that threaten the closure of a power plant.

This time, the tribe is reaching out to state lawmakers.

A panel of lawmakers and experts has begun looking into the state of the mining industry in Arizona with the ultimate aim of helping the industry grow.
Among the topics discussed: streamlining the permitting process and making it more affordable for mining companies to operate. Missing from the debate was any mention of the negative impacts [...]

Now that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s federal authority to arrest illegal immigrants during crime-suppression sweeps has ended, any future sweeps and immigration enforcement he engages in will be under the authority of state law, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The forces of nature that blessed Arizona with the Grand Canyon also provided high-grade uranium, trapped in nearby layers of rock.

Whether the uranium is a blessing or a curse depends on whose side you take.

A federal appeals court ruled Sept. 14 that a proposed land exchange between the federal Bureau of Land Management and copper miner Asarco LLC violates environmental laws.

The ruling in the lawsuit filed by three environmental groups in 2001 overturns a lower court decision backing the exchange long sought by Asarco.

Compromise is possible on a proposed copper mine in southeastern Arizona that’s thought to contain the largest undeveloped deposit of high-grade copper in the world, Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar said after touring the site on Aug. 21.