NEW YORK — An environmental group has filed a complaint with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) alleging that Rosemont Copper Co. owner Augusta Resource Corp. failed to disclose information about two directors’ prior involvement with another company placed into bankruptcy.

Donald B. Clark and Richard W. Warke, members of Augusta Resource’s board, allegedly failed to disclose to state regulators that they served as officials of West Coast Plywood Co. Ltd., a Vancouver, British Columbia-based company that filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada in July 1995.

Tucson, Ariz.-based Rosemont Copper’s alleged failure to disclose that information to the state "calls into question the existence of the company as a valid Arizona company," according to a complaint filed with the ACC by non-profit group Save the Scenic Santa Ritas Association.

"We did not disclose the bankruptcy because it was not required," an Augusta Resource spokeswoman told AMM in an e-mail. "Based on advice we received from our legal counsel at that time, which still holds, we complied with the disclosure laws in Canada and Arizona, which require different items to be disclosed. We are not trying to hide anything."

Vancouver-based Augusta Resource has estimated that the Rosemont Copper project in Pima County, Ariz., which has encountered several hurdles related to environmental permitting, will produce 221 million pounds of copper annually, with commercial production targeted for 2014. The company originally expected commercial production to start in 2012 (AMM, Jan. 24).