WestLand Resources, Inc.

2016 Industry Partnership Award

WestLand Resources, Inc. (WestLand) was started in February 1997 with a small office space in Tucson, Arizona, and three young professionals who aspired to provide superior environmental and engineering consulting services. From the start, the company culture was one of scientific integrity, technical excellence, and passion for the work. By the end of 1997, the company had added nine additional employees, and counted several major Arizona mining entities among their earliest clients.  In 2001, WestLand merged with Whitman & Company, another local firm specializing in environmental permitting and compliance for the mining industry. Mining has been an integral component of WestLand from the earliest days of the business, and remains so today. Today, WestLand consists of over 120 employees and serves clients from offices in Tucson, Phoenix, and Flagstaff, and project offices in Globe and Ft. Defiance.

Several of WestLand’s Principals had longstanding experience in mining fields even prior to the existence of WestLand. President and CEO, Jim Tress received his first assignment for Phelps Dodge in 1986, and he obtained his first Clean Water Act Section 404 permit for the Asarco Ray Mine in 1991.  Jim’s career has spanned several decades and allowed him to spearhead the environmental permitting for numerous major expansion efforts at mining entities throughout the southwest.

WestLand’s beloved Kathy Whitman (August 24, 1959 – November 26, 2012), founder of Whitman & Company, began her career in the mining and environmental industry at Bridger Coal Company in Rock Springs, Wyoming in the 1980’s, before moving to Globe, AZ, to work for Magma Copper Company doing environment compliance and permitting - a field in which she became acknowledged for her expertise and understanding of government permitting processes. Kathy later worked for Carlota Copper Company on her first greenfields project, before eventually starting Whitman & Company in 1997. 

Kathy Whitman and several employees joined WestLand in 2001, including Brian Lindenlaub, who later became a WestLand Principal and Environmental Sector Vice President. Kathy was an important part of the senior leadership team at WestLand, and a well-respected environmental professional in the mining industry, until her passing in 2012.

WestLand has been responding to the engineering, environmental, and regulatory challenges facing mining entities and numerous other industries, including transportation, power, development and utilities, for nearly 20 years.  The company has worked with the majority of the major hard rock mining entities in Arizona and New Mexico, as well as sites in Utah, California, Colorado, Nevada and Ohio. The company’s design, engineering, and regulatory permitting professionals have a long history of providing support and solutions for the complex environmental and engineering challenges associated with mining projects.  WestLand brings technical expertise and value engineering principles to every project.

Just as WestLand has played an important role in assisting mining companies with environmental compliance and engineering challenges, the mining industry has played a vital role in WestLand’s growth and evolution. The owners and staff of WestLand are proud of their history working with mining operations in the Southwest and look forward to a long and beneficial continuing partnership.

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