HCCA takes hard look at mine test proposals

Mining company asking for series of tests

High Country Citizens’ Alliance (HCCA) is busy reviewing a Plan of Operation (PoO) submitted by U.S. Energy on behalf of the Mt. Emmons Moly Company and Thompson Creek Metals to the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The PoO is for a series of tests that the mining company wants to start in the summer of 2011. The companies hope to eventually mine molybdenum from Mt. Emmons.

“The Forest Service knew there would be a significant public interest in this plan so they quickly posted it on their website and we are busy looking at the proposal,” explained HCCA executive director Dan Morse.
The PoO can be viewed at http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/gmug/policy/.
“We’ve looked over the submission and it looks like a plan for baseline studies,” said Morse. “It asks for things like 32 borehole wells that will be 10 feet by 20 feet and nine feet deep. It proposes 23 boreholes in the area. It proposes 20 stream flow monitors in places like Coal Creek, Carbon Creek, Oh-Be-Joyful and the Slate River. They are essentially taking a preliminary look at some of the facilities they would eventually want to operate a mine. They are investigating sites for reservoirs, dams and mill sites. They want to fly industrial helicopters to carry backhoes into roadless areas to conduct these studies. But it’s definitely not a comprehensive plan to develop a mine.”
And that is what concerns Morse. He believes that based on a water right decree granted in 2002, it was explicitly agreed that the mining company had to file a detailed mining plan for the Mt. Emmons mine by early April. He believes they were also under an obligation to apply for all special use permits by April 2.
“From what I’ve seen, they haven’t submitted a mining plan at all,” he said. “My real concern is that they are trying to preserve their water rights with a totally different type of proposal. We are taking a hard look at everything they submitted.”
Mt. Emmons Moly Company director of community relations Perry Anderson has said that the company is investigating various sites for mining operations and the proposal for upcoming tests will help determine the best places to locate reservoirs, mills and a tailings dam.
“It is obvious they are planning a series of baseline studies and that isn’t good enough to satisfy the water rights requirement,” said Morse.
“That is a legal opinion and we’re not going to respond to that,” said Anderson.
“But it’s not good enough for the community,” Morse added. “The community has made it clear they want to see the big picture with this mine proposal and this is not at all a big picture look at it.”
Morse said the HCCA staff and legal team are continuing to review the proposal. They have filed a Freedom of Information Act request to gather more information. Upon receiving all the pertinent information, HCCA will determine a course of action.
The mining company has scheduled two open houses to let the public ask questions about their proposal. An open house was held at their Crested Butte office on April 14 while a similar meeting will take place in Gunnison on April 15.