A federal judge has rejected a request by opponents to stop Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc. from preparing a planned new copper mine’s site in the Santa Rita Mountains near Tucson.
U.S. District Judge James Soto refused to issue a temporary restraining order and dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Tohono O’odham, Pasqua Yaqui and Hopi tribes and the group Save the Scenic Santa Ritas.
Soto’s ruling Monday said Hudbay’s surrender of a suspended Clean Water Act Permit for a nearby project, the Rosemont Mine, removed the suit’s legal basis because the projects weren’t legally related.