Court ruling raises another obstacle for planned copper mine

A judge on Monday overturned a key government approval for a proposed copper mine in Arizona’s Coronado National Forest, ordering federal wildlife officials to redo their analysis of potential effects on jaguars and other endangered species.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge James Soto followed an earlier decision in July that halted construction of the giant Rosemont mine in the Santa Rita Mountains.

The latest decision appears to add another obstacle for Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc., which is continuing to try to move ahead with plans for the mine.

“The Forest Service has to redo their analysis, plus now U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has to redo their analysis,” said Marc Fink, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s another major permit that’s been found to be unlawful and sent back to the agencies to try again.”

The Tucson-based conservation group sued in 2017 to challenge the agency’s biological opinion, which concluded the mine would not jeopardize threatened and endangered species. Fink called the ruling a significant victory for opponents who are trying to stop the mine project.

After Soto’s earlier ruling overturning the Forest Service’s approval of the project, the federal government and Rosemont appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Hudbay said in a statement that Monday’s ruling on the endangered species cases “does not come as a surprise” in light of the court’s previous decisions on the project.

“While we respect the court’s authority to remand the analysis and findings back to the agencies for further review, Hudbay believes this is unnecessary and remains committed to advancing the project,” the company said in an emailed statement. It pointed out that the Forest Service approved the project after more than 11 years of review.

“The research and studies all concluded that the potential impacts to endangered species would be insignificant and would comply with the regulations,” Hudbay said. The company said it will “continue following the direction of the government agencies through the permitting process.”

The judge said that the Fish and Wildlife Service applied the wrong standard when assessing whether the mine would likely affect the critical habitat of jaguars, which roam the wilds of northern Mexico and southern Arizona.

Soto wrote in the decision that the agency must, using the proper standard, “reconsider whether the Rosemont Mine is ‘likely’ to result in destruction or adverse modification of the jaguar’s critical habitat.”

The judge also sided with conservationists on other arguments. He ruled the wildlife agency failed to assess a tipping point for the northern Mexican garter snake, a threatened species that lives in the area.

He agreed with the conservationists that there were “fundamental problems” with how the agency assessed potential losses of species in nearby streams due to the mine’s expected drawdown of groundwater levels.

Federal wildlife officials didn’t respond to an email requesting comment.

Hudbay had said it planned to start initial work on the project last year, but those plans were put on hold indefinitely by the July ruling.

Hudbay says Rosemont would be the third-largest copper mine in the United States. The company, which also operates mines in Canada and Peru, took over Rosemont when it bought Augusta Resource Corp. in 2014.

Opponents of the open-pit mine say it would tear up the landscape, destroy springs and streams, and ravage habitat that provides a vital sanctuary for rare animals, including jaguars.

Fink said the judge rightly focused on protections under the Endangered Species Act.

“The jaguars and endangered frogs, snakes and fish that call this place home are too important and vulnerable to be sacrificed for mining company profits,” he said.