Land Swap Between Fed Government and Foreign-Owned Mining Co.

[Dover]

Land swap would boost huge Ariz. copper mine


House moves ahead with bill allowing copper mine in Arizona


The House on Tuesday afternoon approved a rule for a bill that would allow a land swap between the federal government and a foreign-owned mining company, which would allow that company to extract copper from a massive copper deposit in southeast Arizona.

The rule was approved in a 245-178 vote in which less than a dozen Democrats voted for it. Democrats lodged several protests against the bill, including that it would only help foreign owned companies. Resolution Copper Mining LLC would be permitted to mine the copper, and that company is owned by Rio Tinto and BHP-Billiton, which both have headquarters and major offices in Britain and Australia.

"Today's bill is not written for the American worker," said House Rules Committee Ranking Member Louise Slaughter (D-NY). "It was written for foreign mining giants who hope to profit for our generosity."

Democrats also argued that Rio Tinto in particular is known to run mines remotely with robots, and said that fact undercuts Republican arguments that allowing the mining to take place would help create U.S. jobs...cont'd

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/189685-house-moves-ahead-with-bill-allowing-copper-mine-in-arizona



Okay, here's something odd -

About 3o minutes ago there was an AP story out about this and I was in the process of cutting and pasting it here.
But when I went back to it to grab it it had disappeared and a search of the AP site on the subject didn't bring it up either.
I've also done a google search of their article and nothing. So all that's left on this whole topic as far as I can find
right now is the above piece. Very strange the way it disappeared from every place.
Seems like a pretty big story, so I'm sure it will come out later.

This was posted 5 days ago and has more info on the copper mine land swap:


http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/188783-house-preparing-to-approve-arizona-copper-mine-land-swap


AMERICA ARE YOUR EYES OPEN? ARE YOU SEEING THIS?!


And in related news:


10/18/2011 11:30:00 AM


Lawmakers behind legislation claim moratorium will hinder job growth -


GRAND CANYON, Ariz. - Republican lawmakers introduced new legislation last week in an attempt to thwart a department of Interior 20-year moratorium on new uranium mining claims on close to one million acres of land around the Grand Canyon.

Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, representing Arizona's Sixth District, along with Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) introduced in the House the Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act of 2011 Oct. 12.

The legislation would also uphold the agreement reached by the Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 (AWA) that would not ban mining on some of the public lands in the proposed withdrawal. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) introduced the legislation in the Senate.

In a letter sent to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Flake emphasized the potential moratorium on new mining claims would hinder job growth in the area.
In a recent press release, Flake said uranium can be mined safely with little environmental impact.

cont'd

http://grandcanyonnews.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=9566

-------------

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[formercia]

2. We're turning into a Third-World Country.

When does the Mining Company begin to send the Goons out to drive the Locals off their land?

[kristopher]

3. There is a lot of information on the web about this. "Resolution Copper + Arizona"

http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=Resolution+Copper+Mining+LLC+Arizona&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest

[MineralMan]

4. That's near the town I was born. Superior, AZ.

Both of my grandfathers worked in the Magma Mine in Superior. The ore body they were mining is the same one as the one in question. The Magma Mine was a deep shaft mine, with shafts down over 5000 feet. The mine became unprofitable to operate sometime after the 60s, and has been shut down for years now. the new plan is to approach this very rich ore body in another way. Copper, along with some gold and silver, are held in very rich sulphide ores. The main thing I remember from many visits to Superior as a child was the sulfurous stink of the smelter in Superior and the acidic waters of the streams near the mine. Not a nice environment at all.

[Dover]

8. Interesting...so the high price of copper and new techniques are

fuelling this?

BTW is your handle "mineral man" connected to your family's history of mining?

[MineralMan]

9. Yeah, that's pretty much it. The ore body has been known for

a very long time, but the economics stopped working. New techniques and higher prices make that ore body more attractive. Deep shaft mining for copper just isn't viable any longer, using the old methods.

My interest in minerals and mineralogy was sparked by my maternal grandfather, who was also quite a rockhound back in the 50s. Much, much later, I thought I'd take that interest and turn it into a way to make a living. I did that for several years, and had one of the very first Internet mineral specimen businesses. As time went on, though, competition increased, and it became difficult to make it profitable, so I switched careers again. I seem to do that every 7-10 years. It was a fun business, though, while it lasted, and many thousands of fascinating mineral specimens passed through my inventory. I built a bunch of display cases and moved the inventory in and out of them. The local schools used to bring classes to my business location and I'd do a session on minerals for them. I didn't really do retail sales from my business. The displays were for me, and for educational purposes. When I closed my business, I sold the entire inventory to another dealer. I still have some of the display cases, but there aren't any minerals in them now.

[Dover]

12. Fun to know the story behind your name.

Sounds like minerals, mining, rocks is in your family DNA. ;-)

[happyslug]

5. Was reported in the Congressional Record for 10-25-2011

Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2011--Rule for
Consideration: The House agreed to H. Res. 444, the rule that is
providing for consideration of H.R. 1904, to facilitate the efficient
extraction of mineral resources in southeast Arizona by authorizing and
directing an exchange of Federal and non-Federal land, by a yea-and-nay
vote of 245 yeas to 178 nays, Roll No. 803,

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/digest2011/d25OC111.html

Thus this is House Resolution 1904 (H.R. 1904)

The Actual bill can be found here:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=112_cong_bills&docid=f:h1904rh.txt

[Dover]

7. Thank you!!! n/t

[Dover]

6. This company is being sued for its complicity in the slaughter of civilians

This was posted at the end of that first article by The Hills -

Reuters reports today that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has revived a serious human rights case against Rio Tinto, the same company that House Republicans apparently bent over backward to assist with a land transfer. See

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/25/us-riotinto-humanrights-lawsuit-idUSTRE79O7CE20111025

...lots of deeply disturbing dots to connect...

"South Pacific islanders can sue a multinational mining company in U.S. courts for alleged complicity in their government's slaughter of its people, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Tuesday, adding its voice to a legal controversy now before the Supreme Court.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/25/BA5M1LM8B0.DTL#ixzz1btkWxfzK







http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/25/BA5M1LM8B0.DTL#ixzz1btkWxfzK

[happyslug]

11. That case is under the "Alien Tort Act" of 1789

The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.
Actual Text:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/28/1350.html

A discussion on the Act and its history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Tort_Statute

Yes, this law was one of the first act passed by Congress AFTER the adoption of the US Constitution.

As of today, October 26, 2011, the Supreme Court has heard only one case under the Alien Torts act, that is Sosa vs Alvarez-Machain.

More on that case:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sosa_v._Alvarez-Machain

The actual text of that decision, Please note:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/search/display.html?terms=sosa&url=/supct/html/03-339.ZS.html

The opinion of the Court has four sections, while ALL of the Justices agreed with the final decision and parts 1 and III, Part two was Written by Justice Souter (as was the rest of the opinion) and was also agreed to by Rehnquist, C. J., Stevens, O’Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas, JJ..

Part IV of which was also written by Souter but agreed to by Stevens, O’Connor, Kennedy, Ginsburg, and Breyer.

Scalia, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and Thomas, J., joined. Scalia objections was Part 4 of the opinion

Ginsburg, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which Breyer, J., joined. Ginsburg and Breyer main objections touch on the Federal Tort Act more then the Alien Torn Act and both would restrict the Federal Tort Act to Torts done by the US in the US NOT in another country. As afar as the Alien Tort Act was concerned the issue should be resolved that the alleged Tort happened in Mexico In simple terms she rejects Part IV of Souter's Opinion but accepts the rest.

Breyer, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment. Breyer would expand what is generally international law under the Alien Tort Act based on what is accepted today, not just in 1789 as Souter's opinion seems to say.

[Dover]

13. Wow...are you in the legal profession or just a good researcher?

Thanks so much. Bookmarking...

[happyslug]

14. I am a lawyer. but most of this is standard research anyone can do on the net

Now, some of this is the result of training, but much of it is just doing. The old saying, the more you do something, the better you get at it.

[Dover]

15. Well glad to have you here. Both skills are sorely needed..

:hi:

[Dover]

10. At last...AP just re-released its story about an hour ago

I didn't copy the original one last night so don't know if AP made any changes in the interim:




WASHINGTON (AP) — A plan to clear the way for North America's largest copper mine by swapping federal forest land for private acreage in Arizona has House Republicans at odds with the Obama administration.

GOP lawmakers and business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Mining Association, say the project would pump billions of dollars into the Arizona economy and help create nearly 4,000 mining-related jobs.

They are pushing a bill, up for a House vote Wednesday, that would approve the land exchange for the mining project 70 miles southeast of Phoenix. The legislation hasn't yet come up in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where it's expected to encounter greater resistance.

Under the plan, first proposed in 2005, a subsidiary of global mining giant Rio Tinto would gain access to more than 2,400 acres of federal forest land thought to contain vast resources of high-grade copper, potentially worth billions of dollars.

cont'd
http://news.yahoo.com/land-swap-boost-huge-ariz-copper-mine-071035357.html