PHOENIX — Members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe walked all the way from Superior to a federal courthouse in downtown Phoenix for a hearing Wednesday over a planned copper mine that has been working its way through the courts for years.
During the hearing, attorneys representing the tribe asked a federal judge to grant a temporary injunction pausing an upcoming land swap from the U.S. government to mining giant Resolution Copper. The company has long planned a massive copper mine at Oak Flat, a site the Apache deem sacred.
Attorneys for the tribe argued May 7 that a pause is necessary as the Supreme Court considers whether to take up the case. Attorneys for Resolution Cooper argued that irreparable harm would not be caused in the immediate aftermath of a mid-June land swap.
