Indigenous land claim challenges face one copper project in the United States, while tailwinds are pushing along a uranium project in Canada. Here are two projects to watch:
Resolution Copper
Arizona project Resolution Copper, a 55-45% joint venture by Rio Tinto (NYSE, LSE, ASX: RIO) and BHP (NYSE, LSE, ASX: BHP), awaits a U.S. federal court decision on a land claim exchange that would allow it to move forward with studies.
The site for the underground project includes the historic Magma Copper mine, Arizona’s deepest. Land disputes have been ongoing for around two decades, with the Apache community opposing attempts by successive U.S. governments to transfer land rights to Rio Tinto – a process halted by the Biden administration and resuscitated again under Trump.
In early November, crews had completed the deepening and rehabilitation of No. 9 shaft, enabling the next stage of underground development while permitting and litigation continue.
In August, opponents obtained an appeals court injunction to pause the project’s development at a site where Apaches have held sacred ceremonies for generations. A federal court required both sides to submit their cases by Oct. 14. The court hadn’t announced an oral-argument date by press time.
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court had rejected to hear an appeal by opponents.
Designed as a block cave project, Resolution could reach just over 2 km underground and is expected to become North America’s largest copper mine and supply up to a quarter of all U.S. copper demand.
The project is expected to produce about 18 million tonnes of copper over a 60-year mine life. The deposit contains roughly 1.8 billion indicated and inferred tonnes grading 1.5% copper for 27 million tonnes of contained metal. With recoveries estimated at 65% to 70%, annual output would average around 300,000 tonnes of copper once the operation reaches full production, which is expected to begin in the mid-2030s.
The project is one of 34 the Trump administration named to the FAST-41 process, a federal designation that is designed to aGccelerate decisions on permit applications.
Several items remain before construction. The U.S. Forest Service must issue a record of decision, the federal green-light required before the land exchange and most downstream permits can advance.
The project then needs state permits, notably Arizona’s Aquifer Protection Permit and air permits for specific facilities. Ongoing engineering and environmental management plans for water, tailings, subsidence, closure and financial assurance that feed into state and federal approvals must be completed.
In widely publicized meetings with Rio Tinto and BHP this August, Trump called opposition to Resolution “anti-American.”
The joint venture then stated: “We are confident the court will ultimately affirm the district court’s well-reasoned orders explaining in detail why the congressionally directed land exchange satisfies all applicable legal requirements.”
Rio Tinto has a market capitalization of £66 billion (C$122 billion). BHP has a market capitalization of A$216 billion (C$198 billion).
Wheeler River
Denison Mines (TSX: DML; NYSE-A: DNN) has been moving ahead on permitting for its Wheeler River uranium project in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan with an eye on breaking ground in 2026.
A public hearing with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was held on Oct. 8, and another is scheduled between Dec. 8 and 12. “We are optimistic that we will receive a decision from the commission in early 2026,” Denison President and CEO David Cates said last month in third-quarter results.
The company issued US$345 million in convertible notes in August and raised $75 million through stock sales in October, allowing it to report total cash, investments and uranium holdings of nearly C$720 million.
In November, the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation challenged Saskatchewan’s environmental approval given in July, saying it wasn’t properly consulted. Denison says the Indigenous group has been reviewing the proposed mine for the past three years.
The project is designed to include in-situ recovery (ISR) of uranium at the Phoenix deposit and a yellowcake processing plant with production slated for 2028.
ISR involves the extraction of minerals directly from an orebody through boreholes or wells. The process pumps a leaching solution underground to dissolve the target mineral, then back to the surface for processing.
Proposed as the first commercial ISR uranium mine in the Athabasca Basin, the Wheeler River project plans to target uranium in a sub-arctic sandstone environment, in an ISR wellfield slated to have over 250 injection and recovery wells. Detailed design engineering was 85% complete by November, the company said.
Over a 10-year mine life, Phoenix could produce an average of 8.4 million lb. uranium oxide (U3O8) annually in the first five years.
Phoenix has a post-tax net present value of $1.16 billion, an internal rate of return of 90% and a payback period of 11 months at capital costs of C$420 million, according to a 2023 feasibility study.
The project hosts proven reserves of 6,300 tonnes grading 24.5% U3O8 for 3.4 million lb. of U3O8, and probable reserves of 212,700 tonnes at 11.4% U3O8 for 53.3 million lb. U3O8.
Wheeler River also comprises the adjacent Gryphon project, which is intended as a conventional underground mine.
Denison Mines has a market capitalization of C$3.24 billion.
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