A United States federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from transferring land containing Rio Tinto (ASX : RIO) and BHP’s (ASX : BHP) Resolution copper mine opposed by Native Americans, citing the Supreme Court’s ongoing deliberations in the complex case.
The long-running fight over Resolution pits the religious rights of Arizona’s San Carlos Apache people against rising demand for copper for our clean energy transition and Washington’s drive to expand domestic critical minerals production.
In an 18-page order, U.S. District Judge Steven Logan said the Apache Stronghold - a nonprofit group of the Apache and their allies - is likely to succeed in its appeal to the Supreme Court and thus the land transfer should be halted for now.
“It is abundantly clear that the balance of equities tips sharply in (Apache Stronghold’s) favour, and that even in the short term, they have established a likelihood of irreparable harm should the transfer proceed,” Logan said.
The dispute centres on the federally-owned Oak Flat Campground where many Apache worship their deities.
The site sits atop a reserve of more than 40 billion pounds (18.1 million metric tonnes) of copper, a crucial component of electric vehicles and nearly every electronic device.
The Resolution project would, if built, cause a crater 2 miles (3 kilometres) wide and 1,000 feet (304 metres) deep that would slowly engulf that worship site.
Transfer of land tussle
For the past four years, courts have rejected a request by the Apache Indians to block the transfer. The ruling deferred to a 2014 decision made by the U.S. Congress and then-President Barack Obama.
When President Donald Trump first took office, he started the land transfer process - a move then undone by his successor Joe Biden, as the issue wound its way through the courts.
The U.S. Supreme Court is now considering whether to take the case. It has said at least 13 times it will continue to deliberate on the appeal request - an unusually long time frame.
Meanwhile, Trump last month restarted the land transfer process, with his administration aiming to complete it as soon as 16 June - a move that prompted the emergency request to Logan.
Logan said in his Friday ruling “there is good reason to anticipate” that the Supreme Court will take on the case, adding that Rio and BHP’s promises that they would maintain public access to the land for as long as safely possible “are insufficient,” as they are not legally binding.
Logan swept aside a Rio executive’s testimony - made at a hearing earlier this week - of the US$2.7 billion spent on Resolution thus far and an additional $11 million a month on care maintenance as the company’s “voluntary choice”.
In a statement to Reuters, Rio said it was reviewing the district court’s ruling.
“This short-term order … changes nothing about the merits of the legal issues currently before the Supreme Court,” a Rio spokesperson said.
BHP, which owns 45% of the project to Rio’s 55%, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
