In a court filing, the US Justice Department says it backs a land swap in Arizona that would permit Resolution Copper Mining to build a giant copper-molybdenum mine at Oak Flat, a site considered sacred by the Apache, Kallanish reports.

The court document was filed with the 9th US District Court of Appeals. It says the proposed Arizona land swap would not create “a substantial burden on anyone, even if it severely impacts their religious exercise.” The agency said the land swap should proceed, despite objections by Apache groups and environmentalists that the swap violates treaties and religious freedom laws.

The Justice Department contends that the Apache Stronghold, a grassroots activist group, is not a legal tribe and does not have standing. It also notes that the San Carlos Apache tribe did not exist at the time the 1852 treaty was signed and it does not have legal standing.

The land swap calls for the US Forest Service to cede 980 hectares including Oak Flat to the company in exchange for 2,175 hectares of other Arizona lands.

The new filing suggests that the Biden administration will follow through on the land exchange, despite the pause ordered last March after President Joe Biden took office, reports the Arizona-based Payson Roundup news site. The Justice Department did not issue a statement about the filing. The Biden administration has not addressed the issue in recent announcements.

Last March, the Biden administration had reversed course, blocked the land swap and rescinded two key environmental documents for the project, a joint venture by Rio Tinto and BHP. The new administration said more time was needed to study the project that had been fast-tracked by the outgoing Trump administration.

The proposed mine would be near Superior, Arizona, and about 96 kilometres east of Phoenix in the Tonto National Forest. Resolution Copper has been working since 2013 to develop the project that could produce 120,000 tonnes of ore/year and 40 billion pounds of copper over 40 years. It could produce 25% of the US copper demand and create 1,500 mining jobs. The company has spent $2 billion on the project. It intends to conduct a feasibility study over several years, after the permitting process is completed. That will enable the company to make a final investment decision and building infrastructure may take up to 10 years before mining begins, it says. Three lawsuits have been filed to block the project.