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Indigenous group takes fight versus Rio Tinto Arizona copper mine to United States Supreme Court

A Native American group on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to obstruct Rio Tinto and BHP from getting to Arizona land needed to build one of the world's largest copper mines, a lastditch legal relocation in a longrunning case pitting religious rights versus the energy shift.

Apache Fortress, a nonprofit group comprised of Arizona's. San Carlos Apache tribe and conservationists, asked the court to. reverse a March ruling from a sharply divided San. Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the. federal government to switch acreage with the mining business for. their Resolution Copper job.

The attract the nine justices was delivered personally. by a courier after the Apache held an event of prayer and. dancing on the court's steps in Washington, the conclusion of a. months-long caravan from their Arizona booking to the. capital.

At least 4 justices would require to accept hear the. appeal, in which Apache Fortress and their lawyers at the. Becket Fund for Religious Liberty compete the federal government would. be breaching the First Amendment's warranty of flexibility of. religious beliefs if the mine is established.

If the court accepts hear the case, it might hold oral. arguments in its term which starts next month and potentially. problem a choice by next June.

The conflict fixates the federally owned Oak Flat. Campground, referred to as Chi' chil Bildagoteel in the Apache language. and where lots of Apache worship their divine beings. The website sits atop. a reserve of more than 40 billion pounds

of copper, an essential element of electrical vehicles and. almost every electronic device.

If a mine is built, it would produce a crater 2 miles

broad and 1,000 feet

deep that would ruin that praise site.

In 2014, Congress and then-President Barack Obama. authorized an intricate deal to offer Rio Tinto the land. President. Joe Biden

froze the land swap

after presuming workplace in 2021.

The U.S. Department of Justice, managed by Biden, has. argued in court that the government has the right to hand out. its land to whomever it selects, despite the religious. ramifications.

That legal argument is astonishingly broad and damaging. to Native Americans and individuals of all faiths, stated Luke. Goodrich, a Becket lawyer who is leading the appeal.

Rio Tinto stated the case does not provide any question. deserving of Supreme Court evaluation provided the 9th Circuit's judgment,. which it supported.

This case is about the federal government's right to pursue. national interests with its own land, an unremarkable and. longstanding proposition that the Supreme Court and other courts. have actually regularly declared, stated a Rio Tinto spokesperson.

BHP, which owns 45% of the job to Rio Tinto's 55%,. decreased to comment.

Both business have actually invested more than $2 billion on the. job without producing any copper.

The date of the appeal was because of a fluke of the court's. calendar and not implied to accompany the anniversary of the. Sept. 11 attacks, lawyers said.

Still, the date does coincide with the four-year. anniversary of when

Rio Tinto fired its former CEO

for inadequate consultation with Indigenous groups in. Australia.

(source: Reuters)