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But a decision by the Corps -- which can be appealed -- could be six months off, a Corps spokeswoman said.

The Corps' L.A. district commander sent the recommendation this week to the agency's San Francisco-based South Pacific Division Commander's Office, a Corps spokesman said Thursday afternoon. Corps spokesman Dave Palmer declined to discuss the recommendation or release a copy. The recommendation was received on Monday by the Corps' San Francisco office, said Heather Babb, a Corps spokeswoman working in that office.

But if it had been a recommendation to approve the permit, it would have gone directly to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under Corps procedures. That would give EPA a chance to decide if it wishes to elevate consideration of the proposed permit to the Corps' Washington, D.C., office.

This is just the first step in what could be a long, complex process in deciding on this permit, one of two major federal approvals that the copper mine needs. If the South Pacific Commander, Mark Toy, denies the permit, Rosemont applicant Hudbay Minerals Inc. can appeal the denial to a Corps review officer.

The Corps' South Pacific Division's initial projection is that it could take six months to issue its decision "due to the complexity of the permit application and the extensive administrative record" on it, Babb said.

"We do not have the exact timeline for a decision at this time," Babb said.

The Corps has been tight-lipped on its views on Hudbay's most recent mitigation plan for the mine, which involves buying and preserving 4,800 acres of private land and restoring some of it. The agency had criticized earlier versions of the plan as inadequate.

The mine would extract 243 million pounds of copper from private land in the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, and dispose its tailings and waste rock on nearby Forest Service land.