Did Augusta Resource Corporation buy a ranch for cattle--or for water rights and mine-tailings storage?

When it shelled out more than $20 million for the verdant Rosemont Ranch, folks figured that Augusta Resource Corporation planned to dig a mine. After all, that's what the Canadian company says it does, although it has yet to actually sink any pits--anywhere on the planet. So imagine the confusion of residents near the proposed mine when Augusta bought another ranch right next door, and started running cattle. This raised immediate questions. One: Are there actually Canadian cowpokes? And two: What the heck is Augusta really up to? The answer to the first question: Sure, why not? The answer to the second question is murkier. But according to skeptics who keep tabs on Augusta, the mining company likely purchased the Singing Valley Ranch for its water rights, and as a place to collect noxious runoff from the mine planned next door. Fueling suspicions is the fact that Augusta has been snatching up properties around Rosemont Valley in the Santa Rita Mountains, and currently owns 18 separate parcels--including leased government land--totaling about 30,000 acres...more