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An Arizona judge ruled in favor of a stricter interpretation of mining law that could have consequences for future mining projects. U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks ruled that mining claims don't convey the right to dump tailings and other waste on adjacent land.
Hicks cited a previous ruling in an Arizona case that reversed a long-held position that the 1872 Mining Law does convey dumping rights alongside a mining claim. That ruling blocked the construction of a copper mine based on the conclusion that it did not have rights to dump waste where it had planned to on adjacent national forest land. The ruling also established a precedent that the mining company and government need to confirm that valuable minerals are present on the surrounding lands in order to gain the right to dump there. This prevents mining operations from permanently occupying public lands that don't have any mining potential.
The new ruling reverses the Bureau of Land Management’s approval of a molybdenum mine in central Nevada based on the lack of evidence of molybdenum on the surrounding land. The case could potentially have implications for the Thacker Pass lithium mine and the Stibnite Gold Project in Idaho, which is currently under review by the U.S. Forest Service.
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We can't see the roots underground. We don't know what all those connections mean. However, those hidden things are really important in terms of understanding how communities work.”
