BREAKING: AZ Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Resolution Copper Mine, State Could Issue Water Permit (READ Opinion)

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled today in favor of the Resolution Copper Mine in Superior, in one of several legal battles about the controversial mining operation. The Justices unanimously vacated a lower court ruling that the state should not have granted a water permit, because the expansion of the existing mine was a new pollutant source that could damage the Queen Creek (desert) river.

The permit - initially granted before this 2017 case began - has since expired. However, this Opinion (authored by Justice Kathryn King) can set the stage for a reissuance.

Queen Creek - the dry river, not the booming suburb - is legally defined as "impaired water" because of previous mining pollution. Therefore, if "Shaft 10" constituted a "new source" of potential damage, the state permit should not have been issued - as the San Carlos Apache Tribe argued to the courts.

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, an Administrative Law Judge and the Superior Court judge all ruled in favor of the permit. However, last year, the Court of Appeals disagreed, finding that Shaft 10 was a "new source".

Today's Opinion established a step-by-step test to make the determination, and found that Shaft 10 is more integrated with the existing mine components. "According to Resolution’s General Plan of Operations, in the event of future ore extraction, two new shafts “will be production shafts dedicated to hoisting ore and other rock material from the Mine”—these will be Shafts 11 and 12. The Plan of Operations does not state that Shaft 10 will be used for ore extraction. Thus, we cannot speculate about such alleged future use of Shaft 10."

Resolution Copper Mining is owned by two of the four largest mining companies in the world - Rio Tinto and BHP. Several other challenges to the expansion of the mining complex into the Oak Flat area continue to work through federal courts. (In March, the 9th Circuit ruled against a preliminary injunction against the mine on the basis that the 2014 land exchange sought by members of the San Carlos violated their rights and treaties.)

This article was reported by AZ Law founder Paul Weich. 

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