FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2024
SOUTH32 SELECTS NOGALES AS LOCATION OF REMOTE OPERATIONS CENTER
South32’s Hermosa project announced today that it would construct its remote operations center in Nogales, Arizona. Hermosa is currently the only advanced mining project in the United States capable of producing two federally designated critical minerals – zinc and manganese.
The decision follows two years of extensive analysis and careful consideration of Hermosa’s county-wide planning and employment goals to retain the economic benefits of the project in the Santa Cruz County area.
As part of the location announcement, the Hermosa project is also debuting a new name for the remote operating facility: Centro, a name chosen by the community in an online vote that took place earlier this year.
“Locating Centro in Nogales enables us to help transform the Santa Cruz County economy, by creating and training local residents without prior mining experience to fill high-skilled, good-paying jobs so the next generation has more opportunities right here at home,” said Hermosa project President Pat Risner.
The selected location, just off Interstate 19 near the Mariposa Industrial Park, is approximately 70 miles south of Tucson and approximately 28 miles to the Hermosa mine site. The building location will reduce commuter traffic to and from our mine site, as well as help build out local roads and infrastructure in the surrounding area.
“We are thrilled that the Hermosa project has decided to locate their remote operating center in Nogales,” Nogales Mayor Jorge Maldonado said in a statement. “This building represents a multi-generational investment in the city of Nogales that will help to transform and grow the local economy for all of us. The future for our Community has just begun, now we’ll have a great reason for many of our local students from all the city and county to come back to great paying jobs.”
Designed as a commercial building with an office-like setting, Centro will accommodate employees and the automation technology needed to remotely monitor and operate some of the underground and surface equipment located at the mine site. Centro will host around 200 full-time employees over several shifts in a 24-hour period.
Centro will be part of a nine-acre complex that will also include an employee parking lot, a park & ride service area to take employees and contractors to our other sites, and a garden.
Construction will begin by the end of 2024.
In addition to Centro in Nogales, the Hermosa project is assessing the potential to site additional buildings, operational and/or job training infrastructure throughout Santa Cruz County.
As the first mining project added to the federal government’s FAST-41 permitting process, the Hermosa project aims to put southern Arizona in the driver’s seat of the clean energy race, supplying two critical minerals needed for the expansion of clean energy technologies and associated infrastructure.
As part of the project’s goal of hiring 80 percent of Hermosa’s workforce from the surrounding community, South32 is partnering with local education institutions on STEM and robotics programs. The company is also partnering with state universities to strengthen internship opportunities. The Hermosa Workforce Development Task Force, featuring key community partners, launched earlier this year to help advise and boost local training and business development opportunities.
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About the South32 Hermosa project
Located in a historic mining district in the Patagonia Mountains of Southern Arizona, South32’s Hermosa project is currently the only advanced mine development project in the United States that could produce two federally designated critical minerals—manganese and zinc—both of which are essential minerals for powering the nation’s clean energy future. Learn more at www.south32hermosa.com.
Media Relations
Lina Betancourt
T +1 514-210-1822
E Lina.Betancourt@south32.net