US judge rejects request to block work for new copper mine

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a request by opponents to stop Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc. from preparing a planned new copper mine’s site in the Santa Rita Mountains near Tucson.

U.S. District Judge James Soto refused to issue a temporary restraining order and dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Tohono O’odham, Pasqua Yaqui and Hopi tribes and the group Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, the Arizona Daily Star reported.

Soto’s ruling Monday said Hudbay’s surrender of a suspended Clean Water Act Permit for a nearby project, the Rosemont Mine, removed the suit’s legal basis because the projects weren’t legally related.

The company pivoted to the Copper World project on private land on the Santa Ritas’ western slopes after the Rosemont Mine ran into legal obstacle related to its location largely on public land.

Hudbay maintains that the Copper World site on private land doesn’t include washes subject to Clean Water Act authority.

Stu Gillespie, an attorney for the tribes, said Soto’s ruling was disappointing because it “allows Rosemont to evade the regulatory process and bedrock environmental laws.”