APACHE LANDS
Trump raises stakes over Resolution Copper project with BHP, Rio Tinto CEOs at White House
President Donald Trump met with the chief executive officers of the world’s two biggest mining companies to discuss a copper project that could supply the US with a quarter of its demand for decades to come, adding greater weight to his push to boost local output of the vital metal.
Rio Tinto Group’s Jakob Stausholm; his incoming replacement, Simon Trott; and counterpart at BHP Group, Mike Henry, met the US leader to discuss the Resolution project in Arizona, according to a LinkedIn post by Stausholm. In a separate post, Trump criticized a court judgment that set back the development, insisting the US’ need for greater domestic production was urgent.
The Trump administration has made the revival of US metals and minerals production a key priority, including copper, a commodity vital for the energy transition as well as conventional uses in pipes. As part of that push, Washington imposed tariffs on a wide range of products made from the metal earlier this year, although flows of refined material were not covered.
“Today, I visited the White House with Simon Trott to meet with US President Donald Trump, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, and other officials to discuss Rio Tinto’s crucial role in delivering American copper and other critical minerals,” Stausholm said in the post. They discussed Resolution and the potential the project had to provide domestic supply, he added.
The talks centered on the “industry’s capacity to deliver long-term domestic supplies of copper and other critical minerals,” Rio said in a statement.
Still, even with Trump’s support, building a mega-mine in America remains a challenging and drawn-out endeavor. It takes 29 years on average between discovery and commercial mine production in the US, the longest timeline of any country except Zambia, according to S&P Global.
Most easy-to-reach deposits, including one located above Resolution, were depleted during the 20th century. Now, miners must go deeper, into earth so hot it would have been impossible for workers to survive a century ago, presenting a host of technical obstacles that jack up project costs.
If developed, the Arizona project could supply the US with 25% of its annual copper needs for as many as 40 years, according to Rio Tinto, but it has been delayed for decades due to permitting, environmental concerns, and litigation.
Final environmental approval for the mine was given in June. However, opponents then lodged an appeal seeking a review of the decision. On Tuesday, they won a delay in approving a land swap that’s key to the development.
Trump criticized the court’s decision in a social media post that coincided with the visit by the Rio Tinto and BHP executives.
A Copper Mine in Arizona, ‘Resolution,’ was just delayed by a Radical Left Court for two months — 3,800 Jobs are affected, and our Country, quite simply, needs Copper — AND NOW!” the president said on Truth Social.
Benchmark copper futures have advanced about 11% this year, and last traded above $9,708 a ton on the London Metal Exchange. The record price was set last year at a little above $11,000.
In June, Rio Tinto said it had incurred gross costs of $321 million associated with US tariffs on aluminum, but added that a “substantial part” of that sum had been clawed back from higher premiums on US sales.
(By Paul-Alain Hunt)
Trump blasts appeals court for halting Resolution Copper land transfer
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized an appeals court’s decision to temporarily block federal officials from completing a land transfer needed for Rio Tinto and BHP to develop Arizona’s Resolution Copper project.
Trump’s post on his Truth Social platform came after he and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum met at the White House with the CEOs of Rio and BHP, two of the world’s largest mining companies, which have been trying to develop Resolution for more than a decade.
The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that the transfer – which had been slated for Tuesday – should be halted while the court weighs a request from the San Carlos Apache tribe to block the project for religious, cultural and environmental reasons.
It was only the second time any court has ruled in favor of the Apache or their allies in more than five years of myriad legal maneuvers against Resolution, slated to become one of the world’s largest supplies of a metal used to build nearly every electronic device.
Trump called the court a “radical left court” and said that those who oppose the mine “are Anti-American, and representing other copper competitive Countries.”
“It is so sad that Radical Left Activists can do this, and affect the lives of so many people,” Trump said in the post. “We can’t continue to allow this to happen to the USA!”
Trump did not outline any actions he plans to take to sway the court, but said that “our Country, quite simply, needs Copper — AND NOW!” He did not provide evidence for his claims about the court and opponents of the project.
Terry Rambler, chairman of the San Carlos Apache, said in a statement that he and the tribe were “working to save the US from making a disastrous decision that would give up American resources to foreign interests.”
Rambler noted in his statement that BHP is based in Australia, while Rio is based in Australia and the UK and its largest shareholder is a Chinese aluminum company.
Rio has said it plans to keep all of Resolution’s copper inside the US should the mine be approved. The company controls one of the two US copper smelters.
Rambler said he believes that Rio is likely to export Resolution’s copper to China.
“I look forward to sitting down with the administration and providing factual information that will help protect American assets,” Rambler said.
Court
The appeals court made clear it takes “no position on the merits” of the Apache’s arguments and would expedite its review. Judges asked for filings to be submitted by October 14, but have not yet scheduled a hearing date. Ten of the appeals court’s 29 members were appointed by Trump.
Rio said it was “confident the court will ultimately affirm” the land transfer. Rio CEO Jakob Stausholm and his successor Simon Trott, who will take the company’s reins next month, were at the White House meeting with Trump.
BHP CEO Mike Henry thanked Trump and Burgum on social media “for their strong leadership to reinvigorate mining and processing supply chains in and for America.”
Trump’s post comes less than a month after he imposed a copper tariff on wiring and pipe, but not the copper concentrate produced by mines themselves, a levy falling far short of what the mining industry had expected. That will allow other countries to import copper into the US without fear of tariff implications.
History
The mine’s construction would cause a crater that would swallow a site where the Apache worship. Congress and then-President Barack Obama approved the mine in 2014 after it was added at the last minute to a must-pass military funding bill with the condition that an environmental report be published.
The underground mine – which Trump approved in his first term before successor Joe Biden reversed him – would supply more than a quarter of US appetite for copper and be a key part of Trump’s plan to boost US mining.
Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit group comprised of some Apache and conservationists, asked the US Supreme Court to block the transfer, a request that the high court denied in May.
Meanwhile, the tribe itself made the same request of federal courts. It failed last week at the district court level and appealed over the weekend.
(By Ernest Scheyder and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Franklin Paul, Stephen Coates and Sonali Paul)
US appeals court temporarily blocks land transfer for Resolution Copper
A US appeals court on Monday temporarily blocked federal officials from completing a land transfer needed for Rio Tinto and BHP to develop Arizona’s Resolution Copper project.
The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary administrative injunction while it considers the merits of a request from the San Carlos Apache tribe to block the transfer. The transfer had been slated to occur on Tuesday.
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