Rio Tinto Copper Mine Backed as Supreme Court Spurns Apaches (2)

The US Supreme Court cleared a major obstacle to Rio Tinto Plc’s construction of North America’s largest copper mine, rejecting an appeal by a Native American group that said the Arizona project will destroy a sacred area.

The appeal sought to block a 2,422-acre federal land transfer crucial to the Resolution Copper mine. The land includes Oak Flat, a site where Western Apaches say they have conducted religious ceremonies for centuries, including a four-day rite to mark the coming of age of young women.

The rebuff moves Rio Tinto and its partner BHP Group Ltd. a key step closer to tapping the third-largest known copper deposit in the world and bolsters the Trump administration’s efforts to increase local supplies of critical materials used in manufacturing. Projects such as Resolution have been tied up in legal challenges for years, making the US one of the most challenging places to develop new mines.

The companies say the mine would supply as much as 25% of US demand and as much as 40 billion pounds of copper over 40 years amid a soaring need for the metal in electric vehicles. The mine is likely to take more than a decade to reach full production.

The mine “is vital to securing America’s energy future, infrastructure needs, and national defense with a domestic supply of copper and other critical minerals,” Resolution Copper President Vicky Peacey said in an emailed statement applauding the high court action. Resolution Copper Mining LLC is 55% owned by Rio Tinto and 45% by BHP.

Rio Tinto shares fell 1.6% in London Tuesday, along with declines in global commodity markets.

Read More: Biggest US Copper Mine Stalled Over Sacred Ground Dispute

The land transfer now could happen as soon as June 16, after the US Forest Service issues a required environmental impact statement that the Trump administration has promised. The companies said in court papers that they still need multiple federal, state and local permits.

Conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas said the Supreme Court should have heard an appeal by Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit founded by the former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Gorsuch blasted a federal appeals court decision that rejected Apache Stronghold’s arguments that the transfer would violate the Constitution and a federal religious-rights law.

“Just imagine if the government sought to demolish a historic cathedral on so questionable a chain of legal reasoning,” Gorsuch wrote for the pair. “I have no doubt that we would find that case worth our time.”

Justice Samuel Alito didn’t take part in the court’s consideration of the case. He gave no reason for his recusal.

Apache Rituals

Apache Stronghold told the justices that the mine “will undisputedly destroy Oak Flat — swallowing it in a massive crater and ending sacred Apache rituals forever.”

The Biden administration argued against Supreme Court review before leaving office. “The federal government’s conveyance of its own property to a third party does not impose any cognizable burden on petitioner’s exercise of religion,” then-Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the justices in a brief filed in October.

The companies also urged the Supreme Court not to hear the appeal. They said the court should respect the judgment of Congress, which in 2014 authorized the federal government to exchange the land for other culturally and ecologically significant property. The swap would give the federal government full ownership of another sacred tribal area known as Apache Leap.

“Congress ultimately determined that the land exchange was in the national interest,” Resolution Copper said in court papers.

The companies, which have been digging in the area since 2008, say they have already spent more than $2 billion to develop and get permits for the project.

The case is Apache Stronghold v. United States, 24-291.

(Updates starting with Resolution Copper statement in fifth paragraph.)

--With assistance from Joe Deaux and James Attwood.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Elizabeth Wasserman at ewasserman2@bloomberg.net

Steve Stroth

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