Rio Tinto is betting Donald Trump will finally give the green light to its giant copper mine in Arizona after a 12-year permitting battle, as part of a wave of domestic projects expected to be approved by the new US administration.
“I do think that we have really good chances now to progress that project,” said Jakob Stausholm, chief executive of the London-listed miner, in an interview with the Financial Times, which will be broadcast on Wednesday. “We have made a lot of progress.”
The Resolution mine, which first submitted a mining plan to the US Forest Service in 2013, would be the biggest copper mine in North America once fully developed.