Apaches get new chance to argue mine will harm sacred sites

PHOENIX (AP) — An Apache group battling a foreign firm that wants to build one of the largest U.S. copper mines on what tribal members say is sacred land is getting a new chance to make its point to a full federal appeals court panel. The 11-member panel of judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals meets Tuesday to review the appeal by Apache Stronghold to save Oak Flat, a site east of Phoenix that the group considers sacred. A smaller 9th Circuit panel previously ruled 2-1 that the federal government could give the Oak Flat land to Resolution Copper for a mining project that would swallow the site, ending Apache religious practices there. Resolution Copper says it will continue trying to address concerns.