A federal judge in Arizona temporarily halted the Oak Flat land exchange today while two lawsuits challenging the exchange proceed.
Without today’s injunction, the public lands about 40 miles east of Phoenix would have been handed over to a private mining company as early as June 16.
See our press release, a press release from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and the Judge’s order.
Regarding today’s court ruling, Curt Shannon, Interim Director of the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition said, “How is this mine good for the United States? The profits will all go to the two foreign corporations that own it, the copper will be shipped to China, and the mine will use a huge amount of water that Arizona simply doesn’t have to spare,”
This is great news and is the latest in a flurry of legal activity over the Resolution copper proposed copper mine that would destroy Oak Flat, a sacred recreational and ecological haven on public land in the Tonto National Forest.
When the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) was released in the final days of the first Trump administration in January of 2021, 3 lawsuits were filed to stop the title transfer of Oak Flat from public land to Resolution Copper. (A law passed in the dead of night in 2014 mandates that the US Forest Service give Oak Flat to Resolution copper within 60 days of the publishing of a FEIS). They are: Apache Stronghold v. United States et al, No. 2:21-cv-00050-SPL; Arizona Mining Reform Coalition v. United States, et al, No. 2:21-cv-122-DLR: and San Carlos Apache Tribe v. United States, No. 2:21-cv-00068-DWL. When the FEIS was rescinded in March of 2021 by the Biden administration, our lawsuit and the lawsuit filed by the San Carlos Apache Tribe were stayed. (The Apache Stronghold lawsuit moved forward and currently the US Supreme Court is deciding whether to hear the case.) The Judges in all three lawsuits ordered the federal government to give the public at least 60 days notice in advance to the publishing of a new FEIS.
On April 17, 2025, the Trump Administration gave the required 60 day notice. See a press release on the announcement here. The release of a new FEIS would happen on June 16th.
On May 5, 2025, the judge hearing our lawsuit and the San Carlos Apache Tribe’s lawsuit held a status conference with the parties to the lawsuits. During the hearing the Government’s lawyers reneged on statements made by the government in 2021 saying that the government would hold off transferring the land to Resolution Copper until we had a chance to review the new FEIS and to amend our lawsuits and file additional motions. The government now says they will give Oak Flat to Resolution Copper immediately upon the release of the new FEIS. The judge was not happy with the government response, but agreed to an expedited schedule that culminates in a hearing on June 6, 2025 where we will argue for a preliminary injunction forbidding the government to transfer Oak Flat to Resolution Copper until our lawsuits are heard in full. Go here to read a press release from the San Carlos Apache Tribe about the filing of their motion to stop the land transfer.
During the June 6 hearing in Phoenix, our Judge made it clear that the Preliminary Injunction motions that we filed by the Tribe and us were premature, he did not want the land transferred to Resolution Copper without give us a chance to review the new FEIS and file revised court motions. He has promised to rule on our new upcoming motions before the deadline for the land transfer (now August 19).
In the Apache Stronghold lawsuit, the Judge held an emergency hearing on May 7, 2025, to hear arguments for a preliminary injunction forbidding the transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper until the US Supreme Court decided whether to hear the Apache Stronghold’s case. On May 9, 2025, US District Court Judge Logan enjoined the federal government from publishing the new FEIS or transferring the land to Resolution Copper until either the US Supreme Court declines to hear the Apache Stronghold case or (if they hear the case, until the US Supreme Court rules on the case.) See Judge Logan’s order here. However, in Late May the Supreme Court declined to hear the Stronghold’s case.
Note that the transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper does not give the mining company any permits to actually build a mine and that Rio Tinto has said for several years now that they have not made a decision to move forward with the project and will not make a decision until a feasibility study is completed and reviewed by the Board of Rio Tinto.