Battle for Oak Flat: Mining company one step closer to building copper mine on sacred land

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A giant mining company is one step closer to building one of the nation's largest underground copper mines, an hour east of Phoenix, on land considered sacred to many Apaches.

A giant mining company is one step closer to building one of the nation's largest underground copper mines, an hour east of Phoenix, on land considered sacred to many Apaches.

Native Americans and their allies have been fighting the project for years and say they won’t give up now. They will capture the copper ore with explosives, coming at it from underneath the deposit 7,000 feet below the surface. As the explosions undercut the copper ore, the land will collapse into a giant sinkhole. It'll leave a crater nearly two miles wide.For generations, the Nosie family from the San Carlos Apache tribe has been taking part in traditions at Oak Flat.

"For Apache people in the past, you could be born here and you could die here. So everything here is provided for us -- the water from the springs, the animals and the plants, that's something sacred," said Pike."That's what this fight is about--it's about survival. Without these places, our people won't survive spiritually."

Impact reports by the US Forest Service warn waste from the mine could contaminate water supplies, potentially threatening wildlife habitats, drinking wells and water for livestock. "It's just a travesty that we've got nothing in our federal laws that can protect places like this," said Serraglio. Resolution Copper will dig under about 7,000 feet below the surface to access the copper ore over the course of about 40 to 50 years. Explosions will cause the ore to collapse under its weight, falling into a series of pre-constructed funnels and access tunnels. Over time, the land will disintegrate into a giant sinkhole. Data shows it'd leave a crater on the surface about 2 miles wide.

Resolution Copper said it's worked for years to come up with mitigation measures to keep sites sacred to Native Americans protected. Gary Jones worked for a mine in Globe for decades. He said the economic pluses far outweigh the potential cultural and environmental concerns. How did we get here & what's next? In the 1950s, the Eisenhower administration had declared Oak Flat off limits to mining. It was protected until 2014, when a bill allowed for a land exchange between the federal government and Resolution Copper, granting it access to Oak Flat.

 

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