Resolution Copper’s Mine at Oak Flat: Myths vs. Facts
Oak Flat, or Chi’chil Bildagoteel, is a Tribal sacred site listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural Property. Despite its cultural, religious, and ecological significance, this area is at risk of being transferred to Resolution Copper—a foreign mining company owned by Rio Tinto and BHP—to develop one of the largest copper mines in North America. This mining project would cause a crater 1.8 miles long and at least 1,000 feet deep and exhaust 250 billion gallons of water (enough for a city of 140,000 people for 40 years) in a state suffering from a mega drought.
This proposed mine would also create an 8,647-acre/13.5 square mile toxic waste dump on state lands to store its mine waste in perpetuity, betray U.S. treaty and trust responsibilities to Tribal Nations, and, according to several studies, deplete and contaminate vast amounts of groundwater in Arizona.
Resolution Copper is owned by Anglo-Australian miners Rio Tinto (55%) and BHP Group (45%). Rio Tinto’s single largest shareholder is the Aluminum Corporation of China, a Chinese state-owned mining company that holds nearly 15%of Rio Tinto’s stock. This is a huge stake in a multi-national mining company. Rio Tinto’s single largest customer is also China, which accounted for a whopping 57% of its sales last year.
For decades, Resolution has engaged in a false information campaign to mislead Arizonans and other Americans about this proposed mine at Oak Flat.
It is time to set the record straight with this list of myths vs. facts!
MYTH: The Resolution Copper Mine will not impact Arizona’s water supplies.
Resolution Copper says:
“Resolution Copper has already spent more than $33 million to date studying the hydrogeology in and around the mine project, and has drilled more than 30 holes in the area to assess the water resources. These activities so far show little if any impact to local water quantity or quality from the new operations.” Jon Cherry, Vice President, Resolution Copper, Hearing before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands on H.R. 1904, June 14, 2011.
“We have already stored enough water to sustain our operations, assuming maximum production for more than half the mine’s operating life. And the EIS published by the US Forest Service demonstrates there is adequate water supply for all cumulative uses for the next 100 years.” Myths and Facts, Resolution Copper Website.
FACTS: The water demands of the proposed mine will deplete, destroy, and poison substantial amounts of limited and precious water resources in a region that is already suffering from historic drought conditions:
The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) – rescinded by USDA in March 2021 -- estimated that the proposed mine will require at least 775,000 acre-feet of water under the untested assumption that Resolution Copper will achieve a level of water efficiency at least twice as good, if not more, than most other mines. This is over 256 billion gallons of water -- enough water for a city of 140,000 people for 40 years.
Although Resolution Copper has secured some water storage credits, according to the FEIS, 70% of the water needed for the mine must be pumped from a large network of new extraction wells in the East Salt River Valley just east of Phoenix. The FEIS estimates that the water to be pumped represents nearly 7% of all groundwater in the East Salt River Valley. This basin is relied upon by agricultural users as well as Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Apache Junction and Superior.
The FEIS does not include the Superstition Vistas housing development in its calculations of cumulative uses.
The Arizona State Land Department has warned that Resolution Copper’s heavy groundwater pumping will result “in the loss of the development of at least 3,440 acres of State Trust land” for residential communities and “a minimum potential loss to the Trust of at least $536,640,000 in revenue”, concluding that Resolution Copper’s “negative impact of the proposed ground water consumption sourced from . . . [planned residential communities] far outweighs the estimated financial benefits to the Trust resulting from other aspects of the project by a factor of 20:1”.
The groundwater pumping will result in water levels being drawn down 199 feet in some areas, which could cause the land to subside by as much as 52 inches and impact the Central Arizona Project canal, municipal infrastructure, and agricultural infrastructure.
The continual dewatering of the mine site and other groundwater pumping will result in the destruction of at least 18 groundwater dependent ecosystems in the local area, many of which are tribal sacred springs, and the associated wildlife.
The crater would create a pit lake or lakes, resulting in additional losses to the region's groundwater supplies and pose a toxic threat from acid rock drainage.
MYTH: The Resolution Copper Mine will have limited impact on Oak Flat.
Resolution Copper’s statement to Congress in 2009: “Innovative and proven technology will allow us to build a safe, economically stable, panel cave mine 7,000 feet below ground, with limited surface impact. (emphasis added)” David Salisbury, President, Resolution Copper, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on S. 409 - June 7, 2009.
Resolution Copper’s statement after TNF issued a Draft EIS in 2019 confirming Tribal concerns that Oak Flat would be obliterated: “Oak Flat is a broad 4,600-acre area. To date, Resolution Copper has worked to minimize impact to the broader Oak Flat area. We have reduced the original land exchange area to 2,422 acres… The maximum expected area impacted by subsidence is about 1,800 acres at the end of the life of the mine.” Myths and Facts, Resolution Copper Website.
FACTS: Over the decades, Resolution Copper has changed its narrative when caught in a lie. From 2000-2019, Resolution Copper was adamant there would be no or minimal surface impacts to Oak Flat. Then, TNF issued a 2019 Draft EIS on Resolution Copper’s proposed mine and this DEIS refuted Resolution Copper’s statements and instead validated the long-standing concerns of Arizona tribes that the mine will in fact destroy sacred Oak Flat. Resolution Copper then shifted its story and is currently saying the mine will only destroy part of this Traditional Cultural Property.
The FEIS on the mine confirmed that it will result in a 1,000-foot deep by 1.8-mile-wide crater that will obliterate Oak Flat. Arizona tribes will no longer be able to access this sacred area. The 23-square mile footprint of the mine will also destroy dozens of sacred springs and hundreds of other traditional cultural properties, including burial sites, petroglyphs, cultural landscapes, and medicinal plants.
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation refused to sign the Programmatic Agreement for the Project, stating: “Chí’chil Biłdagoteel (Oak Flat) is a historic property of profound importance to multiple Indian tribes and plays a significant role in their religious and cultural traditions…. The historic significance of Oak Flat cannot be overstated and neither can the enormity of the adverse effects that would result to this property from the undertaking. Oak Flat would be directly and permanently damaged with a substantial portion of the property being destroyed through subsidence. In addition, hundreds of other historic properties would be destroyed or otherwise adversely affected by the undertaking.”
Just as a church is a place of worship to Christians and the Vatican is a holy place to Catholics, Oak Flat is the equivalent for Apaches and other indigenous people. The ethnographic study prepared for TNF confirms that Oak Flat is a sacred area for nine federally recognized Tribal Nations with ties to the land. The rescinded FEIS confirms that if Resolution Copper’s mine is developed, this holy place will be destroyed.
MYTH: The storage of mine tailings will benefit the environment.
Resolution Copper says:
We will “…deposit the tailings to fill one or more existing open pits from closed mines, and then reclaim and re-vegetate those backfilled pits. We believe that undertaking will significantly benefit the environment.” David Salisbury, President, Resolution Copper, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on S. 409 - June 7, 2009.
FACTS: Under the FEIS, the mine would generate 1.37 billion tons of tailings, or toxic waste, that will be liquefied and transported as a slurry through a 19-mile pipeline to the Skunk Creek waste dump located on what are now state lands.
The Skunk Camp tailings dump would be one of the largest tailings storage facilities in the world. The tailings would cover nearly 4,000 acres in a facility of over 8,600 acres. It would include a three-mile-long earthen dam taller than the 40-story Chase building (the tallest building in Arizona) to store the toxic liquified mining waste.
The tailings facility will have to be maintained and monitored for safety and water quality in perpetuity.
The tailings dump would be located in the Dripping Springs Wash which feeds into the Gila River.
A tailings dam failure could result in injuries and deaths, destruction of property, displacement of large downstream populations, disruption of the Arizona economy, contamination of soils and water, and risk to water supplies.
Uncontrolled seepage from the tailings dump threatens to contaminate groundwater and/or downstream surface waters with hazardous waste.
MYTH: The San Carlos Apache Tribe is the only tribe that opposes the Resolution Copper Mine.
Resolution Copper says that the San Carlos Apache Tribe is the only tribe opposed to the Resolution Copper Mine, and they repeat this myth to Members of Congress, the Administration, state and local officials, and fellow Arizonans.
FACTS:
The San Carlos Apache Tribe is joined by 19 other Arizona tribes opposing the Resolution Copper Mine, who have repeatedly sent letters and passed resolutions in opposition.
The Inter-Tribal Association of Arizona, which represents 21 of the 22 tribes in Arizona, has passed numerous resolutions, sent letters, and testified before Congress on multiple occasions over the last 20 years opposing the Resolution Mine.
National and regional tribal organizations, including the National Congress of American Indians, and countless tribes from across the country have also passed resolutions, testified before Congress, and spoken out in the effort to save Chí’chil Biłdagoteel from obliteration.
MYTH: The Resolution Copper Mine will provide 25% of U.S. demand for copper.
Resolution Copper says:
“Once in operation, the Resolution Copper mine could supply up to one-quarter of the nation’s copper demand.” - Myths and Facts, Resolution Copper Website.
FACTS: Resolution Copper is owned by foreign corporations and copper from the proposed mine at Oak Flat will almost certainly be shipped to China.
Resolution Copper has never committed to keeping the copper it seeks to extract beneath sacred Oak Flat in the U.S. for refining and sale and successfully fought congressional efforts that would have required this. The U.S. Geological Survey reports the U.S. is already a major exporter of unrefined copper concentrate which would be produced at Resolution. The U.S. exported 390,000 metric tons of concentrate in 2020 - 32% of all copper concentrate produced at domestic mines.
To be usable for industry, copper must be smelted first. The U.S. only has three smelters and lacks the capacity to refine all of the domestic copper concentrate currently produced into usable copper. Resolution intends to mine copper ore beneath Oak Flat and convert it to copper concentrate on site. Resolution Copper has stated it has no plans to build a smelter to process the concentrate.
Instead, Resolution plans to slurry copper concentrate through 22 miles of pipelines to then be loaded on trains and shipped out of Arizona and most likely to a seaport in Guaymas, Mexico. The Guaymas Port already ships copper concentrate from Arizona to Asian destinations, including China. Resolution Copper executives have held meetings with Guaymas Port officials.
Further, the Arizona Department of Transportation in its “Arizona Freight Plan” reports that Resolution Copper will use Arizona railways to likely ship copper concentrate to Mexico.
While Rio Tinto, who owns Resolution Copper with BHP, does have a smelter located in Utah, this smelter is dedicated to processing copper concentrate from the Bingham Canyon Mine, the second largest copper mine in the U.S. Resolution’s mining plan (“General Plan of Operations”) and the rescinded FEIS does not reference using the Utah smelter, which is likely at capacity.
The single largest investor in Rio Tinto, Resolution Copper’s parent corporation, is the government of China, through the state-owned company Chinalco. During the House floor debate in 2013 on the Land Exchange, Chairman Grijalva pointed out “Rio Tinto has a long-established partnership to supply copper to China—they repeatedly stated—and at a hearing refused to say what percentage of the copper generated from Federal lands would be retained and processed in the United States.” China is the world’s largest importer of copper concentrate, accounting for 43% of global concentrate imports in 2020. China is stockpiling and consuming vast amounts of the world’s resources to grow its economy, build cities, and enhance its military.
MYTH: The Resolution Copper Mine will bring huge economic benefits.
Resolution Copper says:
“Resolution Copper will deliver significant economic growth to nearby communities and the state of Arizona by providing tax revenue, increased local spending and jobs.” - Myths and Facts, Resolution Copper Website.
FACTS: The economic costs of the proposed Resolution Copper Mine far outweigh any potential benefits. The damage that would be created by the 23-square mile footprint of the mine to the region’s water, culture, environment, and infrastructure would serve as a drag on the local and state economies for generations to come.
It will be impossible to diversify or revitalize the local economy once the region becomes an enormous toxic Superfund site created by these foreign companies, who will leave after they take the resources beneath Oak Flat owned by the American people and, as further insult to injury, leave it to the American people to shoulder the costs to address public health and the environmental consequences from their toxic waste.
Resolution Copper claims that the mine will bring 3,000 jobs and billions of dollars to Arizona’s economy. However, these claims ignore the fact that the mine would be located 1-mile (7,000 feet) below Oak Flat. At this depth, temperatures are over 170 degrees and humans cannot survive down there. Instead, the mine will have to be highly automated, requiring very few, if any, local workers. Rio Tinto refers to its automated mines as its “Mine of the Future”. For example, Rio Tinto’s Pilbara automated mine is controlled almost entirely from its Remote Operating Center in Perth, Australia, more than 800 miles away. Rio Tinto has stated, “There is no other mining operation anywhere in the world attempting this on this scale. Our driverless trucks, remotely operated drill and blasting, automated train systems and remote train loading functions are just the start….” This automation leaves very few jobs and will require specialized knowledge in advanced technologies. The number of actual jobs that would be created by the proposed mine does not justify sacrificing Oak Flat and the rest of the area.
Once the mine is closed and the foreign mining corporations have left, Oak Flat and other large parts of Arizona will be decimated and be a perpetual source of water contamination; the groundwater throughout the region will be depleted and modeling shows that it will not come back for hundreds of years, if ever, in some places; the local streams will dry up and habitats will be forever impacted; and the area will be left with a vast permanent toxic dump of 1.37 billion tons of their mining waste.