It’s “nothing more than an attempt to transfer American resources from the hands of the American public to foreign interests”.
That’s what a representative of the San Carlos Apache Tribe told the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples in April 2010. He was referring to the threat to Apache holy places, posed by Rio Tinto’s subsidiary in Arizona, Resolution Copper, as it advances towards mining one of the world’s largest copper deposits.
Now, more than a year later, the UK-Australian mega-miner has moved much closer to achieving its objective, with approval by the House of Representatives of a “land swap” bill’. In effect, this means that Rio Tinto may now gain access to the coveted deposit, in return for which the company will “hand over” other land that isn’t mineral rich.
Amendments to exempt Native American heritage sites from the transfer plan; to charge royalties on the minerals extracted from the transfered land; and to require that the company hire local workers, were all rejected by the Republican-controlled House.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11290.