Opponents of the Lucky Jack mine are ramping up their efforts to stop the proposed large-scale molybdenum mine on Mt. Emmons just north of Crested Butte, and they’re looking for allies throughout the Gunnison Valley.

The Irwin Lodge has sold, and development plans for the local treasure remain unknown.

Another large crowd turned out in Gunnison for the second of last week’s High Country Citizens’ Alliance (HCCA) forums on Wednesday, October 24, discussing the proposed Lucky Jack molybdenum mine.

There is an old black and white photograph of a woman standing high atop a boulder pinned between the walls of a fluted canyon. She is looking up at the water and silt-sculpted walls above her—perhaps as one would gaze upon the love of her life. But that lover is gone, drowned by the 710-foot Glen Canyon dam.

 

Experts provide guidance

In an effort to increase public awareness and understanding of the proposed Lucky Jack mine, the local environmental nonprofit group, High Country Citizens’ Alliance (HCCA), held its Red Lady Forum on Tuesday, October 23, 2007, with the goal of forming a community-wide coalition.

Rules will affect two major proposals

In anticipation of a review of at least two proposed major developments—the Lucky Jack molybdenum mine on Mt. Emmons and Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s Snodgrass ski area expansion—Gunnison County officials have begun the process of updating the “regulations for special development projects.”

 

Mining law reform passed one of two major legislative hurdles on Thursday, November 1 as the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation overhauling the 135-year-old law regulating hardrock mining on public lands. A much more difficult fight is expected in the Senate.