Idaho Copper Corp 10-K

Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS. We have no knowledge of any material, active, pending or threatened proceeding against us or our subsidiaries, nor are we, or any subsidiary, involved as a plaintiff or defendant in any material proceeding or pending litigation. There has, however, been a legal challenge made against governmental approval of certain operational plans proposed by the Company for the CuMo Project property, as further described below. Permitting for Drilling and Exploration Activities; Legal Challenges Exploration on federal lands requires a permit to conduct exploration except for sampling of rocks and soils by hand and other activities that create no land disturbance. There are three levels of permits reflecting increasing disturbance: ● The lowest level of permit is Categorical Exclusion (CE). This is the least intense disturbance and requires some public notification; ● Environmental assessment requires an in-depth study with 30 days for public comment, plus additional time for appeal; and ● Environmental Impact Statement is the highest permit level and would be required for mine development. ICUMO’s predecessor, Mosquito Mining Corporation, submitted an exploration plan of operations (the “ POO ”) in 2007 to the USFS for exploration activities which would result in about twenty (20) miles of drill road, of which 4.7 miles were existing unauthorized drill roads from previous operators and 13.3 miles of new temporary roads. An environmental assessment for these activities was prepared by the USFS. On June 14, 2010, the Environmental Assessment was completed and submitted for public review and hearing during a mandated 90-day period. On February 14, 2011, a Finding of No Significant Impact (“ FONSI” ) was delivered by the USFS. During the mandated 45-day appeal period, an environmental group, the Idaho Conservation League (the “ ICL ”) submitted an appeal of the USFS decision. On May 17, 2011, the USFS denied the appeal allowing American CuMo to begin work under the new exploration permit following a mandatory fifteen (15) day stay period which ended on June 7, 2011. The ICL filed a challenge to this denial in United States District Court for the District of Idaho on December 15, 2011. ICL and other non-governmental organizations sought summary judgment reversing and remanding the Forest Service’s February 2011 issuance of the FONSI. On August 29, 2012, the judge in the case dismissed four of the five claims of the opponents but remanded the section on groundwater for further study. As a result, on February 7, 2013, the USFS initiated a Supplemental Environmental Assessment (2015 SEA) in order to address the judge’s concerns regarding groundwater and, as needed, consider new information or changed circumstances since the 2011 FONSI was issued, including a proposed change in status of the wolverine from a regional sensitive species to an Endangered Species Act proposed listed species. 22 Based on the 2015 SEA, a supplemental FONSI addressing the 2011 court order and other changes summarized above was issued on September 30, 2015. Plaintiffs from the 2011 lawsuit again filed a lawsuit challenging the 2015 FONSI in January 2016. The lawsuit challenged the analysis of potential effects of exploration activities to groundwater and Sacajawea’s bitterroot, a sensitive plant species. The court issued a memorandum decision and order in this lawsuit on July 11, 2016. The court upheld the 2015 FONSI as to the NEPA challenges related to groundwater, so no further analysis was required. The court found, however, that the USFS analysis and conclusions concerning Sacajawea’s bitterroot to be arbitrary and capricious because it failed to reexamine the baseline Sacajawea’s bitterroot population in the project area following the 2014 Grimes Fire and subsequent 2016 Pioneer Fire. Each resource area addressed in the 2015 SEA was affected differently. Similar to the updates made in response to the 2014 Grimes Fire, updates were made in a document produced by the FS entitled “2018 Supplemental Redline Environmental Assessment CuMo Exploration Project” (2018 SREA) to address the change in baseline conditions caused by the 2016 Pioneer Fire. The 2018 SREA focused on the re-evaluation of the Sacajawea’s bitterroot baseline, as well as other resources addressed in the 2015 SEA that were affected by the 2016 Pioneer Fire, to determine whether the conclusions reached in the 2015 SEA that supported the 2015 FONSI were different or changed. The 2018 SREA focused only on these topics because the Court determined that other concerns raised during the 2012 and 2015 lawsuits were properly addressed and the evidence and analysis in the 2015 SEA project record supported the determination that no significant impacts would occur to other resources from proposed management activities. Numerous environmental studies were undertaken for the 2011 Environmental Assessment and subsequently revised in 2015 and 2018. The 2018 SREA incorporated habitat changes and resulting impacts related to the 2014 Grimes Fire and the 2016 Pioneer Fire. A number of reports supported the preparation of the 2018 SREA. Some of these updated reports and some earlier reports can be accessed at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=52875. The USFS is currently in process of preparing the final decision on the proposed exploration POO which is expected sometime before the end of calendar year 2023. Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES. The enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “ Dodd-Frank Act ”) requires the operators of mines to include in each periodic report filed with the SEC certain specified disclosures regarding the Company’s history of mine safety. The Company did not operate any mines during the period covered by this Report and currently does not operate any mines and, as such, is not subject to disclosure requirements regarding mine safety that were imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act. 23 PART II