Save Oak Flat from Foreign Mining Act

Summary

Withdraws about 2,422 acres of Oak Flat in the Tonto National Forest from mining and other public-land disposal, and repeals the earlier 2015 land-exchange law that would have conveyed the site to a private mining joint venture. The withdrawal takes effect on enactment, preserves any preexisting valid rights, and blocks new mining claims, mineral leasing, and public-land disposals on the withdrawn lands.

• Repeals the 2015 statutory land-exchange provision that would have required conveyance of Oak Flat to a mining joint venture.
• Withdraws about 2,422 acres of Oak Flat from mining claims, mineral leasing, and other public-land disposal authorities.
• Preserves any preexisting valid rights that existed on the date of enactment; blocks new claims and leases on the withdrawn lands.
• Takes effect immediately upon enactment; no funding or new administrative programs are created.
• Includes findings that highlight cultural, environmental, economic, and national-security concerns about the proposed mine and its foreign ownership.
• Defines "Oak Flat" geographically and defines "Resolution Copper" as the Rio Tinto–BHP joint venture.
• Does not appropriate money, change tax law, or impose new federal spending responsibilities on states.
• May trigger legal or commercial disputes with the company that expected the land conveyance, but the bill itself only changes legal access to the land.