Hudbay Minerals Inc. says it may appeal a court ruling against its planned use of forest land to store waste rock from a proposed new copper mine but that it also will continue planning for a nearby related project that would include using private land.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the U.S. Forest Service went outside a federal mining law by approving Toronto-based Hudbay’s plan to store waste rock on mining claims in the Santa Rita Mountains on the Coronado National Forest in southeastern Arizona.
A Hudbay statement said it would review the Rosemont Mine ruling but “in any event” will continue planning its Copper World project on the Santa Ritas’ western flank south of Tucson.
Copper World would begin as a standalone project on company-owned land for processing ore from patented mining claims on portions of the Rosemont and Copper World sites, Hudbay said.
A later phase would incorporate additional deposits and be subject to federal permitting pursued under the terms of the court ruling “if any subsequent appeals are not successful,” Hudbay said.
Conservationist and Native American tribes that challenged Rosemont Mine also oppose the Copper World project.
Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
