The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from Apaches who are fighting to halt a massive copper mining project on federal land in Arizona that they hold sacred. The justices left in place lower court decisions allowing the transfer of the Tonto National Forest land,

The justices turned away an appeal by Apache Stronghold, an advocacy group that includes Arizona's San Carlos Apache tribe and conservationists, of a lower court's ruling that let the federal government swap acreage with the mining companies for the Resolution Copper project.

The Supreme Court agreed to consider whether Native Americans can challenge a massive copper mining project in Arizona that would destroy a sacred site used for tribal ceremonies.