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suite de ce post du 29 sept 2024 viewtopic.php?p=2399517#p2399517

US Supreme Court rejects Apache appeal to block Rio Tinto’s Resolution mine

Staff Writer | May 27, 2025

The US Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to hear an appeal by the Apache Stronghold seeking to block the development of the Resolution Copper mine in Arizona. The mine is a joint venture between Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) and BHP (ASX: BHP).

The advocacy group, comprising members of the San Carlos Apache tribe of southeastern Arizona and conservationists, challenged a 2024 lower court decision that permitted a federal land swap allowing the mining companies to acquire land considered sacred by the Apache for the mine project.

A federal judge in Arizona had temporarily halted the land transfer on May 9, pending the outcome of the Supreme Court appeal.

The Resolution Copper project is 55% owned by Rio Tinto and 45% by BHP, with Rio serving as the operator.



The companies have so far invested over $2 billion into the project, which is poised to become North America’s largest copper mine. It contains the third-largest known copper deposit globally, and could meet over a quarter of US copper demand for decades.

Apache Stronghold first filed suit in 2021, claiming the project violates constitutional and statutory protections for religious freedom. They argue the mine would destroy the Oak Flat, known as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel in the Apache language, a sacred site where Western Apaches have conducted ceremonies for generations, including a traditional four-day coming-of-age ritual for young women.

The group also says the mine would violate an 1852 treaty in which the US government promised to protect Apache lands and ensure the tribe’s “permanent prosperity and happiness.”

Congress authorized the land swap as part of a 2014 defense spending bill signed by then-President Barack Obama. The legislation allowed Rio Tinto and BHP to exchange private lands for Oak Flat, located about 70 miles (113 km) east of Phoenix.

The transfer was contingent on the completion of an environmental impact statement, which was released in January 2021, during the final days of the first Trump administration. However, in March 2021, the Biden administration withdrew the statement, halting the transfer temporarily.

The US Forest Service is expected to reissue the environmental report, potentially allowing the land swap to proceed as early as June 16.

Copper ambitions
Rio Tinto is ramping up its copper portfolio to meet growing global demand, which analysts predict will soon outpace supply.

The company’s Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia began underground production in 2023 and is projected to become the world’s fourth-largest copper mine by 2030.

In Peru, Rio Tinto has partnered with Chile’s state-owned Codelco and Canada’s First Quantum Minerals to develop the La Granja project, one of the world’s largest untapped copper deposits.

Rio is also investing in cleaner extraction technologies, including Nuton—a bioleaching process developed with Arizona Sonoran Copper (TSX: ASCU)—to recover copper from tailings and low-grade ores.

https://www.mining.com/us-supreme-court ... tion-mine/

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Peru expects $4.8B in mining investment this year

Reuters | June 3, 2025
Peru’s Energy and Mines Minister Jorge Montero expects mining investment in the world’s third-largest copper producer to reach $4.8 billion this year, and output of the red metal to be 2.8 million metric tons, he said on Tuesday.

Peru in 2024 produced about 2.7 million tons of copper, lightly less than the prior year.

Speaking at a press conference, Montero also noted a concerning increase of informal and illegal mining in two key copper production areas, referring to the Apurimac and Arequipa regions of southern Peru.

Top copper mine Las Bambas, controlled by China’s MMG, is located in Apruimac, while Canadian miner Teck is developing the Zafranal copper project in Arequipa in partnership with Mitsubishi Materials.

The rise of artisanal copper mining has created a much-needed income for impoverished Andean Peruvians, despite bringing them into conflict with major miners.

https://www.mining.com/web/peru-expects ... this-year/

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BHP-backed startup delivers first copper at Chile leaching plant

Bloomberg News | June 3, 2025

A Chilean startup backed by BHP Group has delivered its first copper cathodes from a demonstration plant at a mine site in northern Chile as the industry looks to squeeze out more metal from lower quality ore.

Ceibo extracted the metal from sulfide ores at a mine owned by Cia. Minera San Geronimo, or CMSG, using a proprietary leaching process, the two companies said in a statement Tuesday.

Ceibo and firms such as Jetti Resources LLC and Rio Tinto Group’s Nuton venture are looking to roll out catalysts for liberating copper from low-grade ore that miners previously saw as too expensive and difficult to process.

With new deposits getting harder to find and develop, leaching offers a way to boost and extend output at existing mines at a time when the industry is scrambling to meet an expected surge in demand.

Ceibo’s process extracts copper from sulfide ores using existing plants, with electrochemical reactions bolstering recovery rates in shorter cycles. The company is also working with Glencore Plc on a leaching process at the latter’s Lomas Bayas mine in Chile.

BHP Ventures and Energy Impact Partners participated in Ceibo’s 2023 financing round, joining Khosla Ventures as investors.

https://www.mining.com/web/bhp-backed-s ... ing-plant/