I met Hank Gutierrez at a blue gazebo on Main Street in Superior — a small town about an hour east of Phoenix. He yelled my name and startled me while I was recording traffic sound on the side of the street. Traffic being the two cars passing by and a delivery truck hauling who knows what.
After quick introductions, Gutierrez suddenly said with enthusiasm, “Just imagine, because we’re a small mining town here, if you look up and down the street, every building, every spot was occupied.” Gutierrez listed everything Superior once had: 22 bars, two pharmacies, multiple grocery stores, a hotel and a theater.
I couldn’t envision it. Now, Main Street is home to many vacant lots and buildings with faded paint and half-destroyed signs. The lettering on one storefront sign design dates back to the 50s or 60s.
In its heyday, Superior’s economy was fueled by the success of Magma Copper’s mining project. “Just like anything else, that was our basic economy,” said Gutierrez. But, he said, as the mine tapped out, the life started draining out of Superior, too. “People started moving out, especially our young people,” he added. The 1970 U.S. census counted almost 5,000 people in Superior. Today, the population is less than 3,000, according to the 2010-2014 American Community Survey.
Gutierrez mentioned he left the once “vibrant community” because the mine wouldn’t hire him right out of high school. He was one of the young people who left Superior to pursue a career in telecommunications. His father worked for the mine and didn’t want that for any of his kids. “It’s hard work and he felt we could always do better,” said Gutierrez.
But 30 years later, he moved backed to Superior. “In my heart, I knew I had something to offer,” he said. The telecommunications business owner said he is excited by the opportunity of bringing mining back to his hometown in a big way.
This is the plan for the mining project:
- The Resolution Copper Project proposes to extract copper 7,000 feet below the nearby Oak Flat campground.
- The Oak Flat campground is comprised of 2,400 acres of federally-owned land.
- In exchange, Resolution Copper says it has offered 5,300 acres of land to the United States Forest Service. The parcels are scattered throughout Southeast Arizona.
- According to Resolution Copper, the project will bring 3,700 direct and indirect jobs to the state of Arizona.
- However, the neighboring San Carlos Apache Nation claims the Oak Flat campground is sacred to them and has occupied a part of it for the past year to prevent the Project from moving forward.
Gutierrez said he looks at the Resolution Copper Project as “another opportunity to reinvent ourselves and build sustainability and relationships.” The 63-year old said the mining effort will expose Superior’s kids to more opportunities. “The mine of my father and the mine of the future is totally different,” he said referring to the mines today that include jobs in robotics, ventilation, geology, transportation, and technology. He said it’s up to the community to help the kids recognize these are real and obtainable opportunities. “It’s a way to expose them to other things,” he added, “other than just being a hard-rock miner.”
