A planned new mining facility in the Patagonian Mountains has sparked outrage, appeals and lawsuits from local residents. That frustration has now spilled over into neighboring Rio Rico, where some suspect the recent rezoning plan will lay the groundwork for mining company South 32 to build a processing plant.

Landowner Andrew Jackson and Santa Cruz County have refused to acknowledge the accusation that the rezoning was proposed with South32 in mind.

But a letter from Jackson to county officials provided to the Tucson Supervisory Office shows that prominent landowners have petitioned the county’s planning and zoning commission to “save” Patagonia and the county, specifically by having South 32’s Hermosa Project, a mining complex of the South 32 Company, build on their land.

Last March, Mr. Jackson first proposed a land readjustment of 3,500 acres owned by his company, Baka Float #3. The original plan explicitly mentioned mining facilities, but that reference was removed from the revised version of his proposal, which was resubmitted in May.

At a heated neighborhood rally a month ago, Mr. Jackson acknowledged that conversations with “big employers” had sparked the land reordering request, but declined to name them. According to Nogales International.

At a meeting of the county oversight board on Tuesday morning, Hermosa Projects President Pat Lincer said South 32 has not yet selected Rio Rico as a plant or mining site, but the company hopes to have both a remote operations center and a 120- to 250-acre manganese processing plant in the county.

In a letter sent days after the neighborhood meeting, Mr. Jackson said, “South 32 was the first opportunity to improve living standards in Santa Cruz County.”

The proposed $1.7 billion investment is the largest in Santa Cruz history and will create more than 1,000 jobs, according to the company. Rizner’s “goal” is to hire at least 80 percent of the miners from within the county.

Locals opposing the plan are “extremely self-centered,” Jackson wrote in the letter.

“They have pensions and social security, so they don’t need career development or job opportunities, they don’t care about school. They have no roots, no business connections, no reason to support something that will bring a better future,” he said.

Residents who commented at the Oversight Board meeting seemed aware of this perception.

“We’ve been portrayed as a bunch of old men, but many of us are. We’re grumpy and don’t want to see this county grow. That’s just plain wrong. We want to see it grow in a way that doesn’t destroy why most of us came here.”

Ms. Jackson’s letter said local residents were a “cult” of “newcomers” to Rio Rico, based on the neighborhood association’s “inventory.” Most of them, he writes, are “old retirees and burglars” who “never change their minds… Judging by their demographics, they will never see[the mine]finished anyway.”

Jackson complained that “all the hostility” caused one potential buyer to decline, but assured the zoning board that concerns about mining were “no problem for the application at this time.”

“We agreed to remove all references to mining,” the letter concludes.

Jackson told The Sentinel Wednesday that the reference to mining was not removed from the zoning plan because it was not requested by the county or because residents were “against mining.”

Residents like Gary Levin believe the change and general lack of transparency were calculated to allow the rezoning to pass without resistance. Jackson “knows that mining is the third rail here,” Levine said. “You don’t talk about mining because people are adamantly against mining.”

Current plans still allow for the construction of a mining and processing facility, and the letter reveals that Jackson intends to sell at least part of the land to South32. Rizner said the company has yet to choose a location for its operations, but has narrowed down its options to Nogales and Liolico.

In a series of slides showing the selection process, Lissner eliminated options until only Rio Rico remained.

“There are advantages to having it in Rio Rico, but we haven’t made any decisions,” he said in his presentation. “This was not dependent on the rezoning proposal, nor did it drive the rezoning proposal.”

A day after last month’s Rio Rico neighborhood rally, Jackson and his lawyer were spotted meeting Santa Cruz County Planning and Zoning Director Frank Dillon at the Tuback Golf Resort, sources opposed to the mining project told Sentinel.

Hank Swiget, the restaurant manager, neither confirmed nor denied the reservation. Dillon initially did not respond to Sentinel’s request for comment, but after the report was released, he denied that the meeting had taken place.

“I assure you that I have no special relationship with the developers or their attorneys,” he wrote in an email.

For nearly 40 years, Mr. Jackson has run a series of real estate companies that buy land and turn it into mining interests. He founded Gravel Resources of America in 1986 “for the purpose of acquiring, owning and managing minable real estate,” according to court documents. In 1989 Jackson founded General Diversified Resources Inc. and Baca Float #3 was incorporated in his August 2013.

In Jackson’s letter, he describes his impressions of communities in the county and their values. Mr. Ahmad and Mr. Alibaka are said to have “no economic opportunity” and “Nogales is dying”. According to Jackson, Tubac residents are “absolutely unpromising and thus help no one,” while Sonoita “has the burden of multiple environmental easements.”

Jackson believes South32 will buy Patagonia, but if South32’s good parts don’t go along with the mining, there is a risk that the mine will do more harm than good.

Whether South32 will operate a mine in the Patagonian Mountains is subject to a federal permitting decision expected in 2026.

Meanwhile, environmental group Earthjustice filed two lawsuits over the South 32 pre-drilling permit granted in May, seeking an injunction to stop further exploration. A state water discharge permit granted by the Department of Environmental Quality earlier this year is also on appeal.

In his presentation, Lissner promised to conduct a baseline health assessment of the community and not locate processing plants near the Santa Cruz River or residential areas. He also announced plans to hold a public rally in the high school gymnasium in Rio Rico on August 17 at 5:00 pm. The Supervisory Board is scheduled to vote on the zoning proposal two days earlier, on August 15.

Like last month’s neighborhood rally with Mr. Jackson, residents expect emotions to run high.

“You guys are going to invade and rape the Patagonian Mountains,” Tom Williams said Tuesday. “You have plundered the citizens and we will fight you every step of the way.”