A federal appeals court was asked – for a second time – to consider whether the proposed Resolution Copper Mine will infringe on the religious rights of local Apache by creating a massive crater on land that tribal members consider sacred. It is the latest twist in a years-long fight over the project. Photo by Jamie Cochran | Cronkite News
Hours before the federal government was expected to transfer land in eastern Arizona to a mining company, a federal appeals court issued an emergency injunction blocking the transfer of Oak Flat, a sacred site for the San Carlos Apache Tribe and other tribal nations in the region.
“We grant a temporary administration injunction to preserve the status quo while the motions are pending,” the ruling states. The case is being assigned to a panel that will decide the merits of these appeals. The order requires the appealing parties to file their opening briefs by Sept. 9.
“The Apache people will never stop fighting for Chi’chil Bildagoteel,” San Carlos Apache Tribe Chairman Terry Rambler said in a statement, using the Apache name for the site. “We thank the court for stopping this horrific land exchange and allowing us to argue the merits of our pending lawsuit in court.”
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Without the emergency injunction, Oak Flat, which is about 40 miles east of Phoenix, was expected to be transferred on Aug. 19 to Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of the multinational mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP. The mining company is seeking to develop one of the largest copper mines in the world, which would turn Oak Flat into a massive crater.
“Everyone who loves Oak Flat and who’s been fighting for years to save it can exhale for now,” said Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity.
“The battle over this extraordinary place is far from over,” he added. “I’m grateful the lawsuits challenging this terrible mine will be heard and I’m hopeful the courts will protect Oak Flat for future generations.”
Resolution Copper Spokesperson Tyson Nansel said in a statement that the court’s decision is “merely a temporary pause so that the court of appeals can consider plaintiffs’ eleventh-hour motions.”
“We are confident the court will ultimately affirm the district court’s well-reasoned orders explaining in detail why the congressionally directed land exchange satisfies all applicable legal requirements,” Nansel said.
The federal appeals court decision to block the land exchange comes after U.S. District Judge Dominic Lanza rejected a request to extend that hold on Aug. 15, clearing the way for the exchange to be executed Aug. 19.
The court’s rejection led to conservation and recreation groups and the San Carlos Apache Tribe filing separate lawsuits challenging the land transfer and filing their appeals hours later.
“The appeals court rightly understood the important issues at stake,” said Roger Flynn, attorney for the groups challenging the land exchange and mine. “There is too much at stake to rush forward with this ill-advised give-away of our priceless public lands.”
President Donald Trump called the efforts against the land exchange for the copper mine “anti-American” in a post on Truth Social on Aug. 19.
“Those that fought (the mine) are Anti-American, and representing other Copper competitive Countries,” Trump wrote.
He called the 9th Circuit Court “a Radical Left Court,” and said delaying the land transfer impacts jobs and copper production, which he claims the county needs. He did not provide any evidence to support his claims.
The single largest investor in Rio Tinto, Resolution Copper’s parent corporation, is the government of China, through the state-owned company Chinalco. Resolution Copper has never committed to keeping the copper it seeks to extract from Oak Flat in the U.S. for refining and sale — and the company successfully fought congressional efforts that would have required such a commitment.
The chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe responded to Trump’s claims in a Facebook post on Aug. 19, calling the president’s claims misinformed.
“As first Americans, the San Carlos Apache Tribe agrees on the importance of protecting America’s interests,” Rambler wrote. “Unfortunately, the President’s comments mirror misinformation that has been repeated by foreign mining interests that want to extract American copper.”
Rambler said that the proposed mine from Resolution Copper is a “rip-off” because under the current law, they pay almost no royalties, but their mining efforts “will destroy a sacred area, decimate our environment, threaten our water rights and is bad for America.”
“I am willing to sit down with the Trump administration and provide factual information to protect American interests,” he added.
The courtroom battle for Oak Flat has been ongoing since 2021, with the grassroots group Apache Stronghold leading the effort.
Since time immemorial, Western Apaches and other Indigenous peoples in the Southwest have gathered at Oak Flat, near Superior, for sacred religious ceremonies that cannot occur anywhere else.
Oak Flat is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a Western Apache Traditional Cultural Property and National Historic District.
Oak Flat has been protected from mining and other harmful practices for decades, according to Becket. However, those protections faced challenges in December 2014 when a last-minute provision was inserted into a must-pass defense bill, authorizing the transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper.
The mining company plans to turn the sacred site into a two-mile-wide and 1,100-foot-deep crater.
Apache Stronghold has been at the forefront of the fight to protect Oak Flat for years, and leader Wendsler Nosie Sr. released a statement on Facebook about the emergency injunction, stating that it clearly shows that the land transfer is wrong and has been wrong since Day One.
“If Resolution Copper is to receive this land, there’s going to be tremendous disasters coming,” Nosie said. “What’s sad is the United States government knows it.”
Nosie said that they have demonstrated how the mining will cause harm in every court hearing, from testimonies from Apache Stronghold to the evidence provided by the San Carlos Apache Tribe, conservation groups, and environmentalists.
“This Injunction comes in a desperate time of asking for miracles,” he said, adding that it is an opportunity for the federal government to do the right thing by not allowing a foreign mining company to take Oak Flat.
“Three times now, courts have stopped this destructive project,” Nosie said in a statement. “That is because it is unjust, bad for our nation, and bad for the world.
“We hope the courts will stop the destruction of Oak Flat once and for all,” he added.
Support to protect Oak Flat continues to come in after the emergency injunction.
“I stand with the San Carlos Apache Tribe and its Apache Stronghold members in their fight to protect sacred lands from greedy international mining companies,” said Adelita Grijalva, democratic nominee for Arizona’s 7th Congressional District.
“This decision is an important win for the Apache people and for the rights of all Americans to protect our lands from corporate greed. Oak Flat is sacred land,” she added. “No amount of corporate lobbying or political pressure should outweigh tribal sovereignty, religious freedom, or our responsibility to protect Arizona’s natural heritage and water supply for future generations.”