US lawmakers flag China-linked copper deal risks
Washington, April 25 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Senior Democratic lawmakers have urged the US Treasury to review the transfer of federally owned land in Arizona to a foreign mining venture, asserting that it poses significant national security risks due to links with China and proximity to sensitive military installations.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Congresswoman Maxine Waters and three other ranking members called for an immediate review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) of the transfer of thousands of acres of US Forest Service land to Resolution Copper Mining, LLC.
The lawmakers said the land transfer placed “one of the nation’s largest undeveloped deposits of copper and other critical minerals” under the control of a company with “significant ties to the People’s Republic of China (PRC)” .
They highlighted that Resolution Copper is owned by global mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto, both of which have deep commercial links with China. “The statutory language explicitly failed to acknowledge that Resolution Copper is owned by BHP and Rio Tinto, two of the largest foreign mining corporations in the world,” the lawmakers wrote.
They added that “both BHP and Rio Tinto generate more than half of their revenue from exporting minerals to the PRC,” and noted that Rio Tinto’s largest shareholder is a Chinese state-owned enterprise .
The site, known as Oak Flat, is also located within 100 miles of Luke Air Force Base, a major US military training facility. Lawmakers warned that such proximity raises risks under federal rules governing foreign investment near sensitive defence installations.
“Given the site’s proximity to a sensitive military installation and the strategic importance of copper to US national security, we respectfully urge the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to initiate a review,” the letter said .
They further cautioned that the planned mining operations would involve extensive infrastructure, including tunnels, transport corridors and electrical systems, which could increase vulnerabilities in a strategically important region.
The lawmakers also pointed to the growing defence footprint in the area, noting that a hypersonic missile manufacturing and testing facility may be developed nearby, adding to concerns about foreign-linked industrial activity in the region.
Underscoring the economic stakes, the letter said copper has been designated a critical mineral by the US Geological Survey due to its essential role in manufacturing and power infrastructure. However, the lawmakers warned that current law does not require the extracted copper to be processed or sold within the United States.
“Taken together, the facts outlined in this letter present a potential major national security concern: the transfer of one of America’s largest undeveloped critical mineral deposits to a foreign-owned entity with substantial financial ties to the PRC, in close proximity to sensitive US military installations and emerging advanced weapons infrastructure,” they wrote .
In a separate development, Republican lawmakers raised concerns over US-China science cooperation, warning that gaps in oversight could expose sensitive research to exploitation. In a letter to the State Department, they said there is “no centralized system in the US government which tracks these sub-agreements” under Science and Technology Agreements (STAs) .
They warned that such agreements allow the sharing of research and technology information and could be exploited by adversarial nations. The lawmakers said China has “historically weaponized science and technology cooperation to steal the Intellectual Property (IP) and trade secrets from its ‘partner’ countries” .
