Judge makes ruling in Copper World Mine right-of-way case

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – A Maricopa County judge has ruled in favor of a local environmental group in a lawsuit involving Hudbay’s Copper World Mine and the Arizona State Land Department.

According to the judge’s 13-page decision, an open meeting was held in December 2022 regarding right-of-way permits for the mine. The information presented was taken into account by the Arizona State Land Department Board of Appeals before they approved the valuation of the permits.

During that meeting, however, it wasn’t disclosed that these right-of-ways would include four additional pipelines and tailings.

A right-of-way authorizes a specific use of parcels of public land for a period of time. Court documents show this was because of clerical issues leading up to the meeting.

Because of that, Judge Scott Blaney ruled everything that happened in that meeting and the approval of the valuation of Copper World’s right-of-way that followed, is null and void.

From there, Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said the state can go in one of two directions.

“The land department can go ahead and go through the right process to give this permit to Hudbay,” said Robert Peters, Executive Director of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas. “What we want is for the governor and the commissioner of the land department to say no, we’re not going to go ahead with this right-of-way.”

If the right-of-way is not approved, Peters said Hudbay would have to go through BLM land, which would require an environmental impact study.

13 News also reached out to Hudbay, who sent us a statement saying quote:

“Hudbay respects the recent court decision on a noticing error related to the Board of Appeals meeting. However, as pointed out in the decision, the Board of Appeals meeting that was the subject of the lawsuit is not a required part of the Land Department’s process for issuing right-of-ways. In this context, the Board’s review is strictly advisory and is not part of the approval process. Therefore, the ruling did not vacate the right-of-way itself and does not affect its validity.

Our team will work with ASLD to resolve this matter and maintain our rights granted in the right-of-way. The Copper World Project remains on track, and we are confident in its future contributions to local economic growth, job creation, and the supply of responsibly mined copper to support America’s clean energy goals.”

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