The US Forest Service releases a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) which outlines massive problems that Resolution Copper’s proposed mine would create. This follows a 2016 public comment period in which more than 120,000 comments were received in opposition to the proposed copper mine. However, the Forest Service states it is powerless to stop the project. In response, conservation, tribal, and religious organizations file a 6,436 page set of detailed criticism of the report.
The widespread resistance against the Resolution Copper project is noticeably absent from Rio Tinto’s own timeline.