San Carlos Apache Reservation, Ariz.—The San Carlos Apache Tribe hails a May 9 federal court decision that temporarily blocks the federal government’s plans to give sacred Western Apache land at Oak Flat on the Tonto National Forest to Chinese-backed Resolution Copper Company.
“We believe this is the turning point in our 20-year fight to prevent the destruction of Oak Flat at the hands of the two largest mining companies in the world,” said San Carlos Apache Tribe Chairman Terry Rambler. “Our Tribe congratulates the non-profit citizens group Apache Stronghold in obtaining this historic court victory.”
Apache Stronghold filed an emergency request to halt Oak Flat’s transfer while the U.S. Supreme Court considers its case challenging a federal law that requires Oak Flat to be traded to Resolution Copper Mining, LLC upon issuance of an environmental report that the federal government planned to release after June 16.
The court decision prevents the government from giving Oak Flat to Resolution Copper until the Supreme Court determines whether it will hear Apache Stronghold’s case that was filed last September.
“There is no close question in this matter,” U.S. District Court Judge Steven P. Logan stated in his ruling. “It is abundantly clear that the balance of equities ‘tips sharply’ in Plaintiff’s favor, and … they have presented serious questions on the merits that warrant the Supreme Court’s careful scrutiny.”
Known in Apache as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, Oak Flat is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and had been protected from mining and other harmful practices for 70 years. Those protections were removed by Congress in December 2014 when a last-minute provision was inserted into a must-pass defense bill authorizing the transfer of Oak Flat to the Resolution Copper upon issuance of a final environmental report. Resolution Copper plans to turn the sacred site into a two-mile-wide, 1,100-foot-deep crater.
“We call on the Supreme Court to accept Apache Stronghold’s petition and rule in favor of protecting the right of Western Apache to practice sacred religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else,” Chairman Rambler said. “Indigenous people across the planet are praying that the Supreme Court finally puts Indigenous religious practices on the same footing as the world’s other great religions.”
Resolution Copper is owned by Melbourne-based BHP, the world’s largest mining company, and London-based Rio Tinto, the world’s second largest mining company. Both companies generate more than half of their revenue from China. The Chinese state-owned company Chinalco focuses on obtaining strategic minerals including copper and is Rio Tinto’s largest shareholder owning nearly 15% of the company’s stock.
