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A federal appeals court upheld a ruling that blocks a proposed mile-wide open pit copper mine near Tucson, Arizona. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said that while Rosemont Copper has a valid mining claim to the minerals, it cannot use that claim to dump an estimated 1.9 billion tons of waste on adjacent forest service land.
Judge William Fletcher wrote that the general mining law of 1872 only gives companies the right to use land where valuable minerals have been found—which is not the case for the mine's proposed waste site.
Attorney Heidi McIntosh with Earthjustice, which represented mine opponents, explained that the ruling exposed the limits of the 150-year-old law that still governs hard rock mining in America today.
“What Congress did at the time was to give prospectors who were willing to go out there and try to develop mines a certain amount of land,’’ McIntosh said.
“At the time, they contemplated that miners would go out and do an 1872-size mine and that the lands they would get to do that would be enough to store any kind of waste or tailings that they generated. Of course, if you’re talking about a mile-wide pit that Rosemont is, they’ve just kind of outgrown the mining law.”
Bill would help coal communities transition
Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado introduced a bill to support communities as the country transitions away from coal power. The National Energy Community Transition Act would create a $20 billion endowment to pay for core services and transition grants to diversify coal-dependent local economies. Leasing revenue from fossil fuel and renewable energy projects would contribute to a second account.
The Steamboat Pilot highlights the town of Hayden, Colorado, where a $22 million school bond measure passed in 2017. The bond is 55% dependent on Hayden Station, a coal-fired power plant that is scheduled to shut down by the end of 2028.
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This landmark decision further validates that Rosemont’s foreign owners have neither the legal right nor the valid mining claims for their proposed plan to destroy sacred sites beneath a mountain of poisonous mine waste. The ruling thoroughly dismantles the error-riddled process and reinforces the importance of protecting these sites and the entire region’s water supply. As decisive as this decision is, Rosemont’s foreign investors will likely continue to try and profit through environmental and cultural destruction. We must not allow this to happen.”
