A federal judge on Friday said he would not stop the US Forest Service from transferring government-owned land in Arizona to Rio Tinto for its Resolution Copper project, denying a request from Native Americans who said the land has religious and cultural import.
The judge’s decision is likely to escalate the clash between members of Arizona’s San Carlos Apache Tribe, who consider the land home to deities, and Rio and minority partner BHP Group Plc, who have spent more than $1bn on the project without producing any copper, the red metal used to make electric vehicles and other electronic devices.
A federal judge on Friday said he would not stop the U.S. Forest Service from transferring government-owned land in Arizona to Rio Tinto Plc for its Resolution…
Apaches fight over Arizona copper mine goes before US accesswdun.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from accesswdun.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.
Apache tribal members made emotional pleas Wednesday in federal court to try to prevent what could become the largest copper mine operation in the U.S.
Naelyn Pike and her grandfather, Wendsler Nosie Sr., were representing Apache Stronghold. The nonprofit group recently sued the U.S. Forest Service to keep the agency from turning over a parcel of land to Resolution Copper, a joint venture of global mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP.
The group is seeking an injunction until U.S. District Court Judge Steven Logan in Arizona ultimately can determine who has rights to the land east of Phoenix and whether mining would infringe on Apaches’ religious practices.