US court rules against Hudbay’s Rosemont project

Shares of Hudbay Minerals (TSX: HBM; NYSE: HBM) plunged 21.4% after a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona halted construction at the company’s Rosemont copper-molybdenum project in the state. The court challenged the U.S. Forest Service’s issuance of a Final Record of Decision (FROD) on the project and ruled to vacate and remand the FROD. The U.S. Forest Service issued the FROD in June 2017 after a process that took ten years, involving 17 co-operating agencies at various levels of government, 16 hearings, over 1,000 studies, and 245 days of public comment resulting in more than 36,000 comments. Hudbay argues the district court has “misinterpreted federal mining laws and Forest Service regulations” regarding the project, and will appeal the decision to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Peter Kukielski, Hudbay’s interim president and CEO, was travelling and unavailable for comment, but in a press release expressed his disappointment, stating “we strongly believe that the project conforms to federal laws and regulations that have been in place for decades.” Continue reading at The Northern Miner.