Rio Tinto, BHP copper project set to clear hurdle for key land swap

Rio Tinto and BHP set to clear another hurdle over a giant US copper project, but face opposition from Native American tribes.

The Resolution copper project in Arizona.

The US Forest Service is expected to release a final environmental impact statement for Rio Tinto and BHP Group’s Resolution Copper project in Superior, Arizona that will open the door to a land exchange needed to develop the giant copper deposit, a spokesman said.

US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will grant the title of the Oak Flat Federal Parcel — 980 hectares of national forest land — to Resolution Copper within 60 days of the final environmental statement being published, which is due to happen January 15, the spokesman for the US Forest Service said.

The land exchange is a necessary step for the companies to access areas above the deposit, although it has faced opposition from some Native American tribes for whom the land is sacred and used for spiritual and traditional customs.

Engaging with tribal leaders on their concerns will test the miners’ renewed focus on cultural heritage, following Rio Tinto’s destruction of two ancient rock shelters in Australia last year that triggered the sacking of its chief executive.

The US government is exchanging the forest land for eight parcels privately held throughout Arizona by the Resolution Copper joint venture totalling 2175 hectares.

Rio Tinto and BHP in 2013 started the permitting process for the Resolution Copper deposit, one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper reserves.

The deposit sits well below the Earth’s surface, up to 2000 metres deep, and the companies project a mine there could produce as much as 40 billion pounds of copper over four decades.

The joint venture will require further permits to develop the mine and still needs to undertake a multiyear feasibility study before the companies decide whether to proceed with construction, Resolution Copper said.

Dow Jones Newswires