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Rio Tinto is betting Donald Trump will finally give the green light to its giant copper mine in Arizona after a 12-year permitting battle, as part of a wave of domestic projects expected to be approved by the new US administration.
“I do think that we have really good chances now to progress that project,” said Jakob Stausholm, chief executive of the London-listed miner, in an interview with the Financial Times, which will be broadcast on Wednesday. “We have made a lot of progress.”
The Resolution mine, which first submitted a mining plan to the US Forest Service in 2013, would be the biggest copper mine in North America once fully developed.
The project, which is 55 per cent owned by Rio Tinto and 45 per cent owned by Australian-based BHP, is a deep underground mine that would produce as much as 1bn pounds of copper a year, meeting 25 per cent of US needs.
“If they [the US] want to be less dependent on importing a critical mineral like copper, it would be a good thing,” Stausholm said.
The mine is one of several expected to benefit from the policies of Trump, who declared last year that he would speed up regulatory approvals for any company investing more than $1bn in the US.
The permitting process for Resolution has been slowed down by a complex land ownership swap arrangement, water use concerns, opposition from traditional land owners, and flip-flopping policies in Washington.
The fate of the mine now rests with the US Supreme Court, which is due to issue a ruling in the coming days on a case brought by the San Carlos Apache tribe, which opposes the development of the mine.
In the case, Apache Stronghold versus the United States, the plaintiffs seek to halt the proposed mine on religious freedom grounds. They say it would have an impact on sacred Apache sites.
Under Trump’s previous administration, one of his last acts was to give the go-ahead to a series of mining projects, including the land swap for the Resolution mine just days before leaving office.
While many of Trump’s mining appointments have yet to be announced, his nomination for secretary of the interior Doug Burgum has a pro-industry record, supporting oil and gas development in his previous role as governor of North Dakota.
The Pebble Project in Alaska, a copper-gold project owned by Toronto-listed Northern Dynasty Minerals, is also expected to get its final approval under the new administration, according to industry executives.
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