GOLD STANDARD
Controversial Gold Mine in Wilderness Open For Comment
By David Frey, 9-18-06
A controversial plan would open up the Uncompahgre Wilderness to gold mining.
The Forest Service has put plans for the Robin Redbreast Lode up for public comment. It envisions using mule trains and helicopters to remove the ore from a wilderness area, where motorized vehicles and industrial development typically aren't allowed.
The Montrose Daily Press reports on the project, which has been battled over for nearly 20 years. The mining claim is held by Robert and Marjorie Miller, of Montrose. They fought for the validity of their claim until 2003, when and Interior Department administrative law judge ruled in their favor. The Colorado Wilderness Act of 1890 established the wilderness area, but it also recognized existing mineral rights.
Forest Service officials releaed a draft environmental impact statement on the plan earlier this month. The proposal calls for two mine tunnels, storage buildings, compressors and mining equipment at the site, just below tree line at about 11,500 feet. It calls for pack animals to do most of the transporting, but some large equipment and occassional loads could move by helicopter.
The mining proposal calls for two adits, or mine tunnels, along with associated storage buildings, compressors and mining equipment at the site, which sits just below tree line at roughly 11,500 feet.
Some waste rock and ore will be transported out of the wilderness to be processed elsewhere. The proposal calls for pack animals to be the primary form of transportation from the site, but some of the hauling of large equipment and occasional loads from the mine could be done by helicopter.
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I scrambled through much of that country during my 1969 Outward Bound class -- an experience that still resonates with me to this day.
I can't believe that such a gold mine has any economic viability, based as it is on helicopters and pack mules -- two notably poor transportation systems that are either grossly expensive or inefficient. Unless the owners of the claim have hit a high-grade Mother Lode that dwarfs anything ever found in Colorado or the West, their mining plan is laughable. No banker in his right mind would loan them a dime. As a public service, it would be interesting for the mineral economics faculty at Colorado School of Mines to make some guesstimate as to what kind of gold-to-ore ratio would be needed to make helicopters and pack mules viable.
Having edited newspapers in Colorado mountain communities (Gunnison, Creede and Buena Vista), I am more than familiar with the prospector-miner culture, so I'm more than prepared to grant that the claim owners may be true believers. That being said, I agree with George (above) that there is a real risk that the claim owners may see their payoff in a buyout to "just go away." That would be relatively cheap, given the potential damage they might wreak in one of the most spectactular wildernesses in the Lower 48.
A question for George or other readers closer to this story: do the claim owners have ANY viable financing or technical expertise to pull this off?