The U.S. Supreme Court has declined for a second time to hear a bid by Apache Stronghold to overturn a land exchange that would allow a huge copper mine at Oak Flat, a site 60 miles east of Phoenix held as sacred by Indigenous peoples.

The high court issued a terse statement Oct. 6, the first day of its new term. Apache Stronghold, a grassroots group, is trying to halt the deal between the U.S. Forest Service and British-Australian mining firm Resolution Copper at Oak Flat, a deal that has been the object of a prolonged legal battle.

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