Last Friday, Feb. 8 members of Apache Stronghold held their fifth — and possibly final — anniversary march to save Oak Flat, proposed site of a deep mining project by Resolution Copper that is expected to permanently alter the landscape in the mountains east of Superior.

The march consisted of a combination of walking by a group of about 50 people and a relay run of members of the Apache Tribe, including event organizer and former Tribal Chairman Wendsler Nosie.

The morning began with a gathering for prayer and singing before the 40-plus-mile trek, but the group almost had to move the start of the march, after the board of San Carlos Apache College initially refused to let Apache Stronghold use the space in front of the college.

Nosie negotiated with the college, which relented a bit to allow the ceremony one-half hour of time, but it was not until Tribal Chairman Terry Rambler and Vice-Chairman Tao Etpison interceded that the protest was allowed to use the space for as long as it took.

Nosie, who was instrumental in the formation of the college during his time serving on council, expressed his disappointment to the crowd of Tribal members and supporters from as far away as Oregon, and said he might have to run for council again in the future.

“Even from my homeland right here, they put the first struggle, the first weight on me,” Nosie said. “I’m real thankful to the chairman and vice-chairman for taking care of it. I’m accustomed to this off the reservation, not on the reservation.”

He added that rather than be mad about what happened, it should be used as a learning experience, and said one good thing that came from it was that the board of the college now understands where Tribal leadership stands on the issue.

“To all the tribal members who are here, teach this to your children, because we don’t want our children to be like this,” he said. “We want our children to embrace our history, our culture [and] our identity.”

Etpison was on hand to speak to the gathering, reiterating that this could be the final protest, as Resolution and the U.S. Forest Service might execute a land swap for the property within the next year.

“This is the last year we can fight for whatever we can, so this is the year that we will have to give it our all,” Etpison said. “Determination has to heighten; determination has to get stronger. ... After this year, they’re going to turn it over to Resolution Copper as private land.”

The mining project

Resolution Copper is a partnership between Rio Tinto, a multi-national mining corporation headquartered in London, the third largest in the world, and BHP, an Australian corporation that is the second largest. BHP also owns property around the city of Globe, including Old Dominion Mine Park and several parcels in the surrounding area.

Oak Flat sits over the second largest remaining copper deposit left on the planet.

The mine would sink more than 7,000 feet into the ground, where temperatures reach 180 degrees Fahrenheit, and large quantities of water for cooling and other aspects of mining from dust control to remediation of mine waste, would be required for its operation.

In the end, it would leave a crater more than one mile wide and 1,100 feet deep, coming within 1,000 feet of Apache Leap, just east of the town of Superior.

The project would ultimately employ somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,400 people and inject $20 billion into Arizona’s economy. It could supply the United States with one-quarter of its copper for the next 40-60 years.

According to Jonathan Ward, communications specialist for Resolution Copper, the mine’s water consumption would be “a small fraction of what the City of Mesa uses.”

“Mesa has a population of around 500,000 and annual water use of approximately 91,536 acre-feet per year (source: city of Mesa Director of Water Resources for 2015),” Ward wrote in a recent email. “Per the mine plan of operations, the maximum amount of water Resolution Copper will need in any given year is estimated to be 16,000 to 20,000 acre-feet, but on average we will operate below the maximum.”

One acre-foot of water equals 325,851 gallons, or the amount of water needed to cover an acre of land a foot deep.

According to representatives of Apache Stronghold, Highway 60 would also have to be rerouted, but Ward said that is not the case, although parts of Magma Mine Road to Resolution’s east plant would have to be rerouted.

Ward said Resolution expects the permitting process to be finished by 2020 and after a “period of construction,” production is expected to begin by 2030.

As to the land-swap with Forestry, a common practice in the mining regions of the state, Ward said that would not take place until the final environmental review is complete.

“The U.S. Forest Service is managing the comprehensive environmental review of the mine plan and land exchange under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which includes years of consultation with Native American tribes,” Ward wrote. “After public scoping in March 2016, the US Forest Service analyzed comments, identified issues, completed an alternatives assessment and evaluated the impacts of the project for a wide range of resources. All of this information is being compiled into a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).”

The release of the DEIS is expected later this year and will be open for further public comment. “After the U.S. Forest Service addresses public comments, they will issue a final EIS and Record of Decision, ending the NEPA process and enabling progress on construction and mine development.” Ward said. “Throughout this comprehensive environmental review, local communities and Native American tribes have had their voices heard, and they are helping shape the outcome.”

The Forest Service a website devoted to the federal permitting process, at www.resolutionmineeis.us/about-project/questions-and-answers.

For more information about Resolution Copper, go to resolutioncopper.com. For more about Apache Stronghold, go to www.apache-stronghold.com.

In the days leading up to the march, Vanessa Nosie, co-organizer of the march and daughter of Wendsler Nosie, said the issue goes beyond the San Carlos-Globe-Miami area and is a global issue in the 21st century.

“The Apaches are fighting for the people of Globe, for the state of Arizona and for the world,” she said. “It’s a global fight about [mine waste], health issues, birth issues and rights for neighboring communities and the metro Phoenix area. Globe and Miami will not be able to sue Resolution, because they’re exempt [from following Federal laws] and it’s a foreign mining company.”

Vanessa Nosie, who was born and raised in San Carlos and went to school in Globe, called Oak Flat “a huge environmental issue,” that impacts everyone, particularly in the arid state of Arizona.

“We take it for granted that when we turn on the tap, water will come out,” she said. “When we have no water, what happens? Once that collapses, what then?”

Supporters of Apache Stronghold and the march to save Oak Flat spent the night camping on the vacant lot next to the Dollar Tree between Globe and Miami. Photos by David Abbott.