A coalition of Native Americans and religious freedom advocates has appealed to the US Supreme Court to overturn a decision allowing Rio Tinto and BHP to develop the massive Resolution Copper mine in Arizona, arguing it violates their religious freedom. The court's conservative, pro-religious bench could potentially take the case, but there are no guarantees.
| Rio Tinto and BHP’s giant Resolution copper mine in the election battleground state of Arizona is heading to the US Supreme Court after a religious freedom group representing Native Americans lodged a challenge to the miners’ lease.
“The Court should uphold its strong record of defending religious freedom by ensuring that the Apaches can continue worshipping at Oak Flat as they have for centuries.”The Becket group has cited Rio Tinto’s controversial handling of Indigenous sites in the Juukan Gorge in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, saying the company had “sparked international outrage when it deliberately destroyed 46,000-year-old Indigenous rock shelters at one of Australia’s most significant cultural sites”.
An environmental report was subsequently published under the Trump administration, but that was reversed by the Biden administration after Native American groups helped deliver the battleground state to the Democrats.
Native Americans Religious Freedom Mining Resolution Copper Mine Supreme Court
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