TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, NEW MEXICO – (June 23, 2022) – The New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC), along with interveners New Mexico Copper Corporation (NMCC), owned by THEMAC Resources Group Limited (TSX VENTURE:MAC) (“THEMAC” or the “Company”) and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), received a favorable decision from the New Mexico Court of Appeals on May 16, 2022 upholding the ground water discharge permit, DP-1840, issued by NMED for New Mexico Copper Corporation’s proposed Copper Flat Mine near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
A panel of three judges on the Court of Appeals issued a consolidated opinion deciding two separate appeals from the Elephant Butte Irrigation District and Turner Ranch Properties (Turner), Hillsboro Pitchfork Ranch (Pitchfork) and Gila Resources Information Project (GRIP). The judicial appeals were taken from an earlier unanimous 13-0 administrative appeal decision by the WQCC approving of NMED’s issuance of DP-1840. Appellants argued that DP-1840 would cause water contamination levels in excess of state standards and otherwise create a hazard to human health and the environment. They contended the WQCC acted arbitrarily in upholding the permit.
In the Court of Appeals’ consolidated decision, the three-judge panel found that “the Commission did not act arbitrarily, capriciously, or otherwise not in accordance with the law.” The Court of Appeals also affirmed the decisions of NMED and the WQCC that the Copper Flat pit lake projected to exist at the conclusion of mining is a private water body within the meaning of the New Mexico Water Quality Act and “does not constitute a surface water of the state.”
On June 15, 2022, Turner, Pitchfork and GRIP petitioned the New Mexico Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari asking the court to conduct a further review limited to the legal status of the pit lake after mining. The Supreme Court has the discretion to grant or deny the petition. If it grants the petition, the parties will then have an opportunity to brief whether the Court of Appeals’ consolidated decision should be affirmed. If the Supreme Court denies the petition, then all appeals regarding the issuance of DP-1842 will have been exhausted, leaving the Copper Flat Mine’s permit in effect.