Hudbay Minerals Advances Appeal of Unprecedented Rosemont Court Decision

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[{"type":"text","content":" TORONTO, June 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hudbay Minerals Inc. (“Hudbay” or the “company”) (TSX, NYSE: HBM) today announced the filing of the company’s initial brief (“Hudbay Brief”) with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in relation to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona’s (“District Court”) decision in July 2019, which revoked the U.S. Forest Service’s (“Forest Service”) issuance of the Final Record of Decision (“FROD”) for the Rosemont project in Arizona. The FROD was issued in June 2017 after a thorough process involving 17 co-operating agencies at various levels of government. The filing of the Hudbay Brief follows the U.S. federal government’s initial brief (“Government Brief”) which was filed last week. The briefs explain how both Hudbay and the government believe that the District Court misinterpreted federal mining laws and Forest Service regulations as they apply to Rosemont. “Today’s filing represents the next milestone in our efforts to correct what we believe is a misinterpretation by the District Court of the current laws and regulations that govern mining operations on public lands,” said Peter Kukielski, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We believe, based on the arguments filed by Hudbay and the government, that the appellate court will reverse the District Court’s decision, allowing us to move forward with constructing and operating the Rosemont project.” Both briefs assert that current law broadly authorizes mining-related activities, such as ore processing and tailings storage, to be conducted on open Forest Service lands. The District Court’s determination that the Forest Service’s mining regulations do not apply to mining activities unless those activities are conducted entirely on valid mining claims is contrary to plain language readings of the general mining law, as well as Forest Service regulations, which explicitly allow for mining-related activity to occur on lands not covered by any mining claim: “All functions, work, and activities in connection with prospecting, exploration, development, mining or processing of mineral resources… (are authorized) regardless of whether said operations take place on or off mining claims.” - 36 Code of Federal Regulations §§ 228.1, 228.3 (emphasis added). The Hudbay Brief states, “Prior to the District Court’s decision, no court h...

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