Judge blocks feds' rush to transfer Indigenous sacred site to foreign mining giant for destruction

[douglas9]

Last edited Mon May 12, 2025, 08:04 AM - Edit history (1)

A federal court just temporarily blocked the federal government from giving an Indigenous sacred site, Oak Flat, to a Chinese-owned mining giant for destruction. The ruling comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to hear an Apache group’s appeal to protect the site.

By Becket Law, Censored News, May 9, 2025

WASHINGTON – A federal court today blocked the U.S. government from plowing ahead with plans to hand over the Western Apaches’ most sacred site at Oak Flat to a multinational mining giant for destruction.

In Apache Stronghold v. United States, the federal government recently announced that as early as June 16, 2025, it would transfer Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, a Chinese-owned mining company that plans to turn the site into a massive mining crater, ending Apache religious practices forever.
Apache Stronghold—a coalition of Western Apaches, other Native peoples, and non-Native allies—filed an emergency request to halt the transfer while the Supreme Court considers its case.

A federal court granted that request today, with Judge Steven P. Logan concluding, “There is no close question in this matter. It is abundantly clear that the balance of equities ‘tips sharply’ in Plaintiff’s favor, and … they have presented serious questions on the merits that warrant the Supreme Court’s careful scrutiny.”

Since time immemorial, Western Apaches and other Native peoples have gathered at Oak Flat, outside of present-day Superior, Arizona, for sacred religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else. Known in Apache as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, Oak Flat is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has been protected from mining and other harmful practices for seventy years.


https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/05/breaking-federal-court-halts.html


https://becketfund.org/case/apache-stronghold-v-united-states/