EPA denies objections to Copperstone Gold Mine permit in La Paz County
EPA’s denial leaves Bonanza Explorations’ Copperstone Gold Mine permit in place, clearing a key federal hurdle for the La Paz County operation after a June 2025 petition.
EPA has denied a petition that sought to stop renewal of the air permit for the Copperstone Gold Mine in La Paz County, leaving Bonanza Explorations, Inc. with its Title V operating permit in place at one of western Arizona’s underground mines.
The agency’s June 23, 2026 order rejected the Center for Biological Diversity’s bid to force an objection under Clean Air Act section 505(b)(2) and 40 C.F.R. § 70.8(d). EPA said its own 45-day review period for Title V Permit No. 99365 ended April 7, 2025 without an objection, and the petition that followed was filed June 6, 2025.
The ruling clears a key federal air-quality checkpoint for the Copperstone operation, which EPA documents describe as an underground mining project in western Arizona. The permit itself was issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, which now remains the primary agency overseeing the mine’s air permit unless another challenge is brought through a separate legal channel.
For La Paz County, the practical impact is that the mine can move ahead under the current renewed permit while staying within the air rules attached to Title V. That matters in communities that live with mining traffic, dust, and industrial activity tied to the project, because Title V permits are the federal framework used for major air-emitting sources and are often the main point of public challenge when a mine seeks to keep operating.
The Copperstone decision also fits into a larger run of Arizona mine-permitting fights. EPA rejected an air pollution permit for a mine in the Patagonia Mountains on June 2, 2025, and in the South32 Hermosa matter, the agency issued a 2025 order that granted a petition in part and denied it in part. Environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Patagonia Area Resource Alliance, the Sierra Club and the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, have kept pressure on mine permits across the state.
For residents near the Copperstone site, the next things to watch are simple and concrete: whether the mine continues under Permit No. 99365 without further delay, whether any new permit fight is filed, and how ADEQ enforces the air limits that govern the operation in western Arizona.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
