AdvertisementToday, Resolution Copper Mining, which is owned by Rio Tinto and BHP, two British-Australian companies, is entering what may be final stretch of a decades-long push to gain control of the site. The plan is to turn this sacred area into a gaping thousand-foot-deep crater that would swallow Oak Flat, according to draft studies. The saga of Oak Flat shows how none of our public lands can ever be fully safe, when monied interests have such power in our politics. AdvertisementOne of the biggest recipients of Rio Tinto campaign donations in Congress was then-Arizona Sen. John McCain. AdvertisementThe Forest Service refused to comment on whether the agency had been pressured to speed up the release of the report.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 13, 2020 11:32 UTC