Crested Butte - Environmentalists are making a last-ditch effort to stop a giant mining company from taking the Red Lady to the dance.

At issue are the plans of Phelps Dodge, a company with annual revenues of $11.9 billion, to begin mining molybdenum on 12,392-foot high Mount Emmons, adjacent to a ski resort known for its residents' strong environmental views.

For years the city of Crested Butte, Gunnison County and the nonprofit High Country Citizens Alliance have tried to stop mining companies from developing the area. It is called the Red Lady because of the rouge color of the soil.

A spokesman for Phelps Dodge did immediately return a call for comment.

District and federal appeals courts have disagreed, holding that they cannot sue government agencies over their decision.

"This is a question about the public's right to challenge government decisions, which applies broadly, and in this individual case it is the 1872 mining law," said Jeff Parsons, a lawyer for Western Mining Action, which represents the mine's opponents.

He told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel that under the outdated law, the 155 acres for the mine were sold for $5 an acre in a scenic area where housing lots start at about $224,000.

Opponents filed a lawsuit in 2004. It was dismissed a year later by a judge who said local agencies cannot sue the federal government because of "sovereign immunity." An appeal was rejected by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on a split vote.

Parsons said an appeal was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 26.