Arizona tribes seek to halt copper mine on sacred lands

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Several Indian tribes say they have filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Arizona challenging the U.S. Forest Service’s approval of a proposal to develop an open pit copper mine on public land.

The Tohono O’odham Nation, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and the Hopi Tribe said they filed the complaint April 12 in hopes of blocking plans by Hudbay Minerals Inc. of Canada to develop the Rosemont Copper Mine in southern Arizona’s Santa Rita Mountains.

The tribes say the site is on ancestral homelands and includes burial grounds.

A spokesman for Hudbay Minerals Inc. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The environmental law firm Earthjustice released a copy of the complaint, which did not immediately appear in court records.

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