(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Resolution Copper.)
By Naveen Thukral and Melanie Burton | Reuters
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s new administration should focus on speeding up the permitting process to ensure there is enough copper for the energy transition, said a Rio Tinto executive on Thursday, referring to its stalled Arizona mine.
Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), alongside partner BHP Group (BHP.AX),is developing the Resolution copper mine which could supply more than one quarter of the country’s domestic copper needs for the highly conductive metal.
But around the world, it takes years to develop a mine partly due to the time it takes to get permits, Chief Commercial Officer Bold Baatar said, speaking at the Financial Times commodity summit in Singapore.
Development progress on the mine is currently tied up in U.S. courts. It has faced opposition from Native Americans because it would cause a massive crater that would swallow a religious site where Arizona’s San Carlos Apache worship.
