Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act

[CannondaleKid]

While I truly hate politics and politicians, this has got my goat...
:SB:
Anybody been keeping up with the scrub-land for Oak Flat land exchange between Resolution Copper and the US Government?
Namely: H.R. 687 - Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act

There may be a Land Exchange taking place but I don't believe Conservation has anything to do with it. Maybe conservation of $$ for Resolution Copper, or more accurately, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, two of the largest mining companies in the world (English & Australian), who just happen to be partnering with an up-and-coming Chinese mining company.

Between the billions of gallons of water necessary for this type of mining along with the monstrous hole in the ground that will eventually form when the 7,000-foot deep 'cave' collapses in 25-30 years, I may be dead and gone by the (and possibly so will the legislators who vote for it) but I don't believe it's a good thing.

If interested, you can read the whole bill here: (all two pages of it so I would hope it is a summary)
http://www.cbo.gov/publication/44416
Check out all the vague language in the document...

"Enacting the legislation could increase offsetting receipts..."
What? Vote on the unknown, sounds like a good idea? NOT!

"If the property sought by Resolution Copper is appraised at more than the appraised value of the property that the company offers for exchange, the company could donate additional land or make a cash payment to the United States."
COULD?! This should read MUST!

If the company’s property is appraised for more than the federal acreage, the difference in the value would be considered a donate to the federal government"
What?! So they can write more off their taxes?? Oh wait... And further what taxes will come to the US and Arizona out of it anyway? The employee's?

"In addition, after completion of the exchange, Resolution Copper would have to pay the federal government a portion of any future income earned on the former federal property if the company determines that the actual cumulative production of minerals located on that property exceeds the value of the estimated production used in the original appraisal process."
Again, shouldn't the US Government or an independent organization make this determination and NOT the company who will benefit if (when) they understate the value?

"Therefore, we cannot determine whether the company would make a payment or estimate the size of any such payment."
So much for having valid information to make an informed decision to vote for against this bill.

While Senator McCain visited the current mine and got the two-bit propaganda tour, what he needs to do is go look at the scrub-land that Resolution wants to trade for Oak Flat. From what I've seen of it it isn't fit for recreation anything like the Oak Flat area.

Oh well, if it gets passed then in 25-30 years maybe the monstrous hole in the ground that forms could be called the Gosar/Flake/McCain Meteor Crater... after all, we Arizonans won't know what hit us until too late.

[chumley]

When I spoke with the folks who seem to know most about this at Oak Flat last year, they said that even though the land exchange was approved in the defense spending bill, the tailings site still had an excellent chance of being the real show-stopper.

The FS has the final say on that because that land wasn't swapped to private hands, and the hearings for the environmental impact study are an important part of the FS coming up with a report that will prevent the tailings from being permitted there.

If that happens, the tailings will have to be deposited elsewhere, and my understanding is that alternative sites are significantly more expensive and could derail the entire project (or at least postpone it until the price of copper is so high that the additional cost is worth it).

I think this was discussed in another thread. Perhaps with links!

edit: no links. Just a discussion I had with the opposition folks: https://hikearizona.com/trip=129698
photos of all the models and such: https://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=39829

[PrestonSands]

Tonto Forest to Offer Online Opportunity for Public Viewpoints On Proposed Copper Mine Tailings Facility
Release Date: Mar 21, 2017

PHOENIX, March 21, 2017 — For Immediate Release. The Tonto National Forest will host two public workshops – March 21 in Superior, Arizona, and March 22 in Gilbert, Arizona -- to collect information on what the public deems important with regard to mine tailings as the Forest Service analyzes alternate locations for Resolution Copper’s proposed tailings facility.

For individuals unable to attend, there also will be an opportunity to participate in an online workshop. The online workshop will be available beginning March 23 and continue through April 5, 2017, on the project website: http://http://www.ResolutionMineEis.us.

The site’s home page will have information and links directing visitors to the online workshop. Participants will be able to view a video of the workshop presentation and the slide show presentation that provides a project update. Online participants also will be able to answer the same series of questions about social and environmental values related to alternative locations for the tailings storage facility.
Both the in-person and online workshops will allow the public to provide feedback on what they feel are the most important variables to consider for the tailings location. This feedback will give the Forest Service a means to evaluate alternative tailings locations using interests and values provided to the agency by the public.
Resolution Copper’s General Plan of Operations for a large-scale copper mine near Superior, Arizona, proposes that tailings -- the waste material left over after processing -- be pumped as a slurry to a tailings disposal facility located on national forest land between the towns of Queen Valley and Superior. The tailings facility would grow in phases, and eventually occupy about 4,400 acres (including associated structures) of national forest land.

[hikeaz]

OAKFLAT,
SAN CARLOS Tribe vs. RESOLUTION COPPER
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 23RD
2PM-5PM

1st Court Hearing: San Carlos Tribe Vs Resolution Copper

August 23, 2017, 2:00pm - August 23, 2017, 5:00pm

Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse - 401 West Washington, Phoenix

[azbackpackr]

Thanks for posting this. I haven't kept up with the news about it since leaving Arizona.

[hikeaz]

OAK FLAT, Ariz. - Apache Stronghold, on behalf of traditional Apache religious and cultural leaders, placed a lien on Oak Flat on Wednesday, January 13, with the Pinal County Recorder’s Office. The lien prevents the planned transfer of Oak Flat, or Chi’chil Bildagoteel, to a foreign mining company until the recently filed ongoing Apache Stronghold lawsuit is finalized.

The lien and one of the lawsuit claims are based on the Treaty of Santa Fe of 1852 between the United States and the Apache which promises that Apache lands, at the center of which lies Chi’chil Bildagoteel, are to remain in Apache ownership. The Treaty of Santa Fe is still in force.

“What was once done with gunpowder and disease is now achieved with legislative and bureaucratic wrongdoing and mythology about the past that treats Native people as if we are invisible or don't exist.” said former San Carlos Apache Tribal Chairman and Apache Stronghold leader Dr. Wendsler Nosie, Sr.

“The January 15, publication of the FEIS triggers the Forest Service ability to transfer Oak Flat to the mining company," said Apache Stronghold attorney Michael Nixon. “But the lien is like a giant Apache shield over Oak Flat, protecting it for the life of the case. Oak Flat is Apache Holy Land. The U.S. has no legal right to give it away.”

Apache Stronghold lawsuit's claims also include violation of the Religious Freedom Act and constitutional rights to religious freedom, due process, petition and remedy, and breach of trust and fiduciary duties.

The foreign mining company, Resolution Copper, which is owned by Rio Tinto and BHP, admits that they will turn Oak Flat into a crater of rubble 1,100 feet deep and 2 miles wide.

The hearing for the injunction is set for January 27, 2021 via Zoom.

[SuperstitionGuy]

However when the Apache Tribe obtains ownership they will mine it for it's wealth and then when they are done, leave it to the US Taxpayer to clean it up!