US Judge Rejects Request to Block Oak Flat Land Handover to Mining Company

Last week, a judge turned down a request to prevent the federal government from handing over land in Arizona to a mining company. The request was made by various plaintiffs, including the Apache Stronghold group and the San Carlos Apache Tribe, among others. 

The land in question, Oak Flat, is considered sacred by Western Apache tribes and other Indigenous people and is central to their religious traditions. Oak Flat is located in the Tonto National Forest and is home to endangered Arizona hedgehog cacti as well as ocelots. 

In his ruling, Judge Dominic Lanza highlighted that while the land transfer would bring major economic gains and strengthen the country’s national security, it would also cause irreversible cultural and spiritual harm to the Apache people. He added that the country’s political institutions were tasked with assessing conflicting goals and deciding how to reconcile them. 

In this case, he argued, Congress had made the decision to move forward with the handover in spite of numerous major compromises and the president had endorsed its decision by enacting the law. This, Lanza noted, meant that the court had to accept that this choice served the common good and proceed on that basis.  

In their petition, the plaintiffs had argued that the federal government didn’t evaluate the risk of a dam collapse, pipeline malfunction, or whether an emergency response strategy existed for the tailing’s storage facility. Additionally, they expressed worries that an evaluation neglected to reflect the worth of the copper reserves beneath one of the tracts of land to be transferred. 

They therefore asked that before the handover was done, the federal government conduct an exhaustive assessment that examined every element of the proposed mine and all associated infrastructure. 

The plaintiffs have been in court for nearly two decades now, fighting to preserve what tribes refer to as Chi’chil Bildagoteel, a site enriched with centuries-old oak groves and different plant species that the Apache people regard as vital to their spiritual practices. 

Following the ruling, they filed an appeal with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, hoping to beat the upcoming deadline for handing over the land to Rio Tinto. If the handover goes through, global mining company Rio Tinto will commence a copper mining project on the land through its subsidiary, Resolution Copper. 

The mine is expected to create thousands of opportunities for employment while also generating about one billion dollars annually for Arizona’s economy. 

This case highlights the conflicts that often arise between different competing interests in a mining project. Some firms, such as Torr Metals Inc. (CVE: TMET), opt to conduct their operations in jurisdictions that are unlikely to trigger drawn-out legal disputes that could hamper operations. 

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Torr Metals Inc. (TSX.V: TMET) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/TMET 

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