Supreme Court refuses Apache plea to save Oak Flat from copper mining destruction

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a review of Apache Stronghold’s case aimed at blocking the U.S. government’s transfer of Oak Flat to a copper mining company, whose mine will transform the sacred site into a massive crater.

The decision comes after Apache Stronghold initially asked the U.S. District Court in Phoenix on May 7 to temporarily block the Trump administration from pushing ahead with the land swap that would hand over Oak Flat to Resolution Copper.

The Trump administration plans to reissue a final environmental impact statement regarding Oak Flat and transfer the land to Resolution Copper as early as June 16, according to court documents.

An Arizona federal judge granted a temporary injunction on May 9, delaying the land transfer as the case awaited review by the Supreme Court. 

Apache Stronghold v. United States has been awaiting a hearing in the Supreme Court since the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2024 that the land transfer is not subject to federal laws protecting religious freedom.

The Supreme Court’s decision on May 27 removes any obstacles to halting the land transfer from occurring.

“Apache Stronghold asks us to review the Ninth Circuit’s extraordinary conclusion,” the dissent states. “But the Court today turns aside the group’s request.”

Justice Neil Gorsuch, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote in the dissenting opinion that the court’s decision is a “grave mistake” because the case meets all of the standards the court typically applies when evaluating petitions for review.

“Before allowing the government to destroy the Apaches’ sacred site, this Court should at least have troubled itself to hear their case,” Gorsuch wrote.

He added that, while the court “enjoys the power to choose” which cases they will hear, the decision to shuffle this case off their docket is a mistake and “one with consequences that threaten to reverberate for generations.”

Gorsuch said that he has no doubt the court would find the case worth its time.

“Faced with the government’s plan to destroy an ancient site of tribal worship, we owe the Apaches no less,” he wrote. “They may live far from Washington, D. C., and their history and religious practices may be unfamiliar to many. But that should make no difference.”

Becket, a nonprofit institution that advocates for freedom of religion that is representing Apache Stronghold, said that the Supreme Court’s action means Oak Flat will be destroyed by a Chinese-owned mining giant. But, the group said, they will continue to fight in court to stop the government from transferring Oak Flat to Resolution Copper.

“We will never stop fighting—nothing will deter us from protecting Oak Flat from destruction,” Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. of Apache Stronghold said in a press release.

“While this decision is a heavy blow, our struggle is far from over,” he added. “We urge Congress to take decisive action to stop this injustice while we press forward in the courts.” 

Resolution Copper General Manager Vickey Peacey said they are pleased at the ruling because the Resolution Copper mine is “vital to securing America’s energy future, infrastructure needs, and national defense with a domestic supply of copper and other critical minerals.” 

“We are encouraged by the significant community support for the project,” she said, because the mine has the potential to become “one of the largest copper mines in America.” 

Peacey said Resolution Copper has had more than a decade of “extensive consultation and collaboration” with Native American tribes and local communities, which has resulted in changes to their mining plan with the hope of preserving and reducing potential impacts.

The courtroom battle for Oak Flat, or Chi’chil Biłdagoteel as the Apache people know it, has been ongoing since 2021, with the grassroots group Apache Stronghold leading the effort. 

Since time immemorial, Western Apaches and other Indigenous peoples in the Southwest have gathered at Oak Flat, near Superior, for sacred religious ceremonies that cannot occur anywhere else. 

Oak Flat is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a Western Apache Traditional Cultural Property and National Historic District. 

Oak Flat has been protected from mining and other harmful practices for decades, according to Becket. However, those protections faced challenges in December 2014 when a last-minute provision was inserted into a must-pass defense bill, authorizing the transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper. 

Resolution Copper plans to turn the sacred site into a two-mile-wide and 1,100-foot-deep crater. 

“It is hard to imagine a more brazen attack on faith than blasting the birthplace of Apache religion into a gaping crater,” Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said in a written statement.

“The Court’s refusal to halt the destruction is a tragic departure from its strong record of defending religious freedom,” Goodrich said. “We will do everything in our power to ensure that the Apaches can continue worshiping at Oak Flat as they have for generations.”

 

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Shondiin Silversmith is an award-winning Indigenous journalist from the Navajo Nation who has covered Indigenous Affairs for over 14 years. She currently focuses on Arizona’s 22 federally recognized tribal nations. Her stories have appeared in local and national news publications across the country. Silversmith earned a master’s degree in journalism from Northeastern University in Boston and is pursuing a Ph.D. at Arizona State University. She is an active member of the Indigenous Journalists Association and is committed to amplifying Indigenous voices and storytelling through journalism. She has made it a point in her career to advocate, pitch, and produce stories about Indigenous communities in every newsroom she’s worked in.

This report originally appeared in the Arizona Mirror, an online nonprofit news agency. Find more reporting at azmirror.com. More can be found on Twitter at @ArizonaMirror or at azmirror on Facebook.

Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.