A US judge denied a request by Arizona鈥檚 San Carlos Apache tribe to block the Trump administration from publishing the final environmental study for the land swap needed by聽Rio Tinto聽to build the Resolution copper mine.
The US Forest Service published on Friday the environmental impact statement for the project, a joint venture owned by聽Rio (55%) and聽BHP聽(45%), starting a 60-day countdown for the government to swap land with Rio.
The mine is estimated to produce as much as 40 billion pounds of copper over 40 years and could supply a quarter of US copper demand
The agency also published a draft record of decision indicating it will issue, pending review, permits for use of power lines, pipelines and roads in the area.
Resolution聽is one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world and has an average grade of roughly 1.5% copper. Ore production from the operations could reach approximately 120,000 tonnes per day, according to Rio鈥檚 Resolution Copper subsidiary.
The mine is estimated to produce as much as 40 billion pounds of copper over 40 years and could supply a quarter of US copper demand.
The non-profit community organization Apache Stronghold Tuesday in US District Court in Phoenix challenging the land
transfer on the grounds that the giveaway violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and Apaches鈥� constitutional rights to religious freedom.
The judge said that the release of the final environmental study does not necessarily mean the land swap will go through, although the US Congress had mandated just that in 2014. The judge has set a series of hearings on the matter over the next two weeks.
Lawyers for tribal members say they are looking forward to the hearings and hope the judge will invalidate the environmental study or rule the 2014 act by Congress unconstitutional.
As an added defense, tribal members on Thursday filed a property lien on the land, effectively saying the government does not own the land and thus cannot give it away.
Rio Tinto said in a statement following the study publication that it will continue to engage with Native American tribes and seek consent before any decision on the development of the project.
鈥淲e will comply with all laws related to Native American cultural heritage and will strive to do more,鈥� said Resolution project manager Andrew Lye in a December 23 letter seen by Bloomberg.
Also in December, Rio Tinto named Chief Financial Officer Jakob Stausholm as CEO after Jean-S茅bastien Jacques resigned聽under pressure from investors over the company鈥檚 destruction of a 46,000-year-old sacred Indigenous site in Australia.
BHP Group said it recognizes the Oak Flat land 鈥渉as historical cultural significance for Native American tribes鈥� and plans to monitor Resolution鈥檚 tribal negotiations.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, praised the decision, saying the state 鈥渃an have a robust聽mining聽sector while protecting our environment and cultural history.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檒l defend this land to the very end,鈥� said Wendsler Nosie, the former chairman of Arizona鈥檚 San Carlos Apache tribe who has formed a protest camp at the mine site.
鈥淚t鈥檚 silly for anyone to think鈥� the companies could offer anything to gain tribal consent.
(With files from Reuters and Bloomberg)