Resolution Copper

Resolution Copper (RCM) is a joint venture owned by Rio Tinto and BHP formed to develop and operate an underground copper mine near Superior, Arizona, US. The project targets a deep-seated porphyry copper deposit located under the now inactive Magma Mine. Rio Tinto has reported an inferred resource of 1.624 billion tonnes containing 1.47 percent copper and 0.037 percent molybdenum at depths exceeding 1300 m.[1] It sits atop Oak Flat, a land preserve sacred to several Apache Native American tribes in the region. The proposed mine contains one of the largest copper reserves in North America.[2] Following the passage of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, Native American and conservation groups opposed the copper mine.[3]

Overview

Resolution Copper estimates the $64 billion mining project would run over 60 years[4] and produce 25% of projected future US copper demand for several decades.[2]

Investment

Through 2012 Resolution Copper had invested almost a billion dollars in the Superior project, and planned a $6 billion investment to develop the mine, if the Federal land exchange is approved. Pending approval, the project budget was cut from about $200 million in 2012 to $50 million in 2013.[5] By early 2023, more than $2 billion had been spent on exploratory work and preparation for the project.[6]

Resolution Copper also owns the mineral rights acquired from ASARCO to the Superior East deposit which is another deep-seated

Project history

As of 2008 the project was stalled pending a proposed land swap with the federal government.[9] Resolution Copper has proposed to give the federal government 5376 acre of environmentally sensitive land in Arizona in exchange for the 2422 acre oak flat federal parcel,[10] which includes the Oak Flat Campground (protected since 1955) and several outdoor climbing sites including the Mine, Atlantis and the Pond.[11]

In May 2009, Arizona Democratic representative Ann Kirkpatrick introduced legislation in Congress to complete the land swap. The swap then had the support of Arizona's two Republican senators.[12]

In 2013, the proposed land swap was readdressed when Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R, AZ-4) introduced the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013 (H.R. 687; 113th Congress).[13]

Controversy

The San Carlos Apache Tribe, the National Audubon Society in Tucson, the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club as well as the National Congress of American Indians have opposed the Resolution Copper land swap.[16] Native American groups and conservationists worry about the impact to surrounding areas.[28] In 2014, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said she was "profoundly disappointed with the Resolution Copper land-swap provision, which has no regard for lands considered sacred by nearby Indian tribes".[29] Jodi Gillette, Special Assistant to the President for Native American Affairs, stated that the Obama administration would work with Resolution Copper's parent company Rio Tinto to determine how to work with the tribes to preserve their sacred areas.[30] In 2021, the tribe filed a lawsuit against the land swap as a violation of the First Amendment, with other organizations following. Resolution Copper has made actions to provide benefit to the tribes, along with a grove preservation program in cooperation with the

External links

Resolution Copper Mining Website
33.30311°N, -111.10012°W

References

Resolution Copper Mining LLC reports an Inferred Resource, 29 May 2008 news release^
History About Us, Resolution Copper Mining, retrieved December 15, 2014^
This land is sacred to the Apache, and they are fighting to save it Washington Post, retrieved 19 June 2021^