US judge denies request to halt Oak Flat land transfer to copper mining company

Source: AP

Updated 7:51 PM EDT, August 15, 2025


A U.S. district judge on Friday denied the latest request by a Native American tribe, environmentalists and other plaintiffs to stop the federal government from transferring land in Arizona for a massive copper mining project.

The ruling by Judge Dominic Lanza triggered an immediate appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as a deadline fast approaches for the federal government to move ahead with the transfer next week.

Lanza outlined the “stark trade-offs” at the heart of the fight over Oak Flat, an area considered sacred. He pointed to the economic and national security benefits that would come from the land transfer and the indescribable hardships that would result from the permanent destruction of the Apaches’ historical place of worship.

Lanza wrote that the nation’s political branches are responsible for weighing competing objectives and determining how to balance them.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/arizona-oak-flat-copper-mining-apache-ba45e906b1874fda83abca0ca00b2b67