A decades-long effort to open a massive copper mine about an hour east of metro Phoenix cleared a key hurdle with a March 1 ruling.
A panel of eleven judges from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on Friday in a divided 6-5 decision that a land swap between the federal government and Resolution Copper could move forward despite a request by the former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, Wendsler Nosie, to halt the exchange.
The March 1 ruling reaffirmed a prior court's decision to deny a preliminary injunction sought by nonprofit Apache Stronghold, which is led by Nosie, the San Carlos Apache Tribe and other religious and environmental groups.
Resolution Copper Mining LLC, an Arizona-based subsidiary of British-Australian mining firms Rio Tinto and BHP Group, has been trying for decades to open a copper mine near Superior, which is expected to produce a quarter of the annual demand for copper in the U.S.
