Land swap would boost huge Ariz. copper mine

House Republicans and the Obama administration are at odds over a GOP bill aimed at boosting a proposed Arizona copper mine that would be the largest in North America. 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 a land exchange to clear the way for the mining project 70 miles southeast of Phoenix. Under the plan, first proposed in 2005, about 5,300 acres of environmentally sensitive land throughout Arizona would be transferred to federal control, including 3,000 acres on the lower San Pedro River in southeastern Arizona and 940 acres to be added to the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch southeast of Tucson. The land is controlled by Resolution Copper Co., a subsidiary of the giant global mining company Rio Tinto. The Obama administration opposes the land swap, saying an environmental review should be completed before the exchange is made...more