May 14 (Reuters) – A Native American group said on Tuesday it will take its fight against Rio Tinto’s proposed Arizona copper mine to the U.S. Supreme Court, after a federal appeals court refused to reconsider whether the U.S. government may have improperly transferred land to the developer.
The group said they would ask the high court to weigh in after the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a longshot bid to have the full 29-judge court reconsider earlier decisions not to block a land grant for the project. The court did not provide an explanation for its decision.
The Resolution Copper project, a partnership between Rio and BHP, would supply more than a quarter of U.S. copper, which is needed to build electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels. Those are key to federal plans to combat climate change.
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