Click the link to read the article on the AZCentral.com website (Debra Utacia Krol). Here’s an excerpt:
April 18, 2025
Key Points
- The Trump administration put Resolution Copper’s proposed mine at Oak Flat on a priority list with nine other mining projects, declaring they were vital to the nation’s security.
- A day earlier, the administration announced it would re-issue an environmental impact statement required to finish a land swap that would allow the mine’s construction.
- Tribes and environmentalists say Trump has clearly decided not to wait for court rulings on the project, putting the sacred site in greater jeopardy.
The Trump administration has now put the Oak Flat copper mine on the fast track for permit approval, a day after moving to push ahead with a land swap. A federal agency that oversees and supports permits for public lands projects added Resolution Copper‘s proposed mine east of Phoenix to a new priority list on April 18, along with nine other mining projects. It is part of the administration’s push to increase domestic production of critical minerals through an executive order issued March 20. The list was posted in the wake of an announcement by the U.S. government on April 17 that it would reissue the final environmental impact statement, clearing the way to transfer ownership of Oak Flat, a site considered sacred to Apache and other Native peoples, to Resolution Copper no earlier than June 17…
A petition attempting to stop the land swap is awaiting action at the U.S. Supreme Court. It was filed by grassroots group Apache Stronghold as part of ongoing litigation to stop the mine from turning Oak Flat into a huge crater through its mining process. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing Apache Stronghold, filed a letter April 18 with the Supreme Court calling for the high court to move quickly to accept Apache Stronghold’s case…The latest order put Oak Flat and nine other mining projects — including the McDermitt and Silver Peak lithium mines in Nevada; the Stibnite open-pit gold mine in Idaho; and the Lisbon Valley copper mine in Utah — on a faster schedule.