Planning commission discusses mineral exploration permit

Some ranchers, locals and environmental groups still have qualms about the application for uranium and vanadium prospecting in Slick Rock

By Sophie Stuber, Planet contributor

San Miguel County Planning Commission met on Friday, April 5, to discuss an application for a special use permit from San Miguel County for mineral prospecting. Highbury Resources, a subsidiary of Anfield Energy, applied for a permit for uranium and vanadium prospecting in Slick Rock, about 65 miles west of Telluride.

The proposed project, located in Disappointment Valley in western San Miguel County, could drill up to 20 exploratory mining samples within public lands owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The permit application is for an exploratory drilling campaign, known as mineral prospecting. The idea is to determine whether uranium and vanadium are present at Slick Rock.

“The primary objective is verification of old drilling data,” Alex Kriele, project geologist with Highbury, said during last Friday’s meeting.

The BLM approved the project on December 7, 2023. San Miguel County will decide whether to approve the permit at an upcoming Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting.

Vanadium is considered a “critical mineral” and is primarily used as an alloying agent for high grade metal products. Uranium is necessary for nuclear power. There has been a recent push for domestically sourced minerals, especially as prices for uranium skyrocketed earlier this year.

But with the rising uranium prices and a growing interest in nuclear power and domestic uranium mining, environmental groups expressed concerns that mining and exploration could put local public lands at risk.

“This exploration proposal is an opportunity for the county to flex its muscle on their environmental values,” Mason Osgood, executive director of Sheep Mountain Alliance, told the Planet.

Osgood, along with Jennifer Thurston, director of Information Network for Responsible Mining, and Jennifer Singer, of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, submitted a letter to the San Miguel County planning commission opposing mine development in the Dolores River basin, citing conflicts with regional conservation goals.

The Slick Rock and Disappointment Valley areas near the proposed drilling activity offer key habitat for wildlife. The proposed project area is within mapped winter range and severe winter range for mule deer and elk. Desert bighorn sheep, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, cotton-tailed rabbits, and jack rabbits also use the area. In the winter, ungulates are at higher risk of disturbance. The mining application agreed to halt exploration from December 1 - May 1 to protect wildlife.

Tony Bonacquista, CPW Nucla District Wildlife Manager, also recommended that there should be golden eagle nest surveys conducted during the breeding season before mining activities start.

The Slick Rock exploratory project is adjacent to the boundary of the proposed Dolores River National Conservation Area (NCA), which is supported by all three San Miguel County Commissioners.

“One of the larger exploration projects is certainly the closest to the Dolores River,” Osgood said.

A petition created by Great Old Broads for Wilderness received more than 300 signatures from Colorado residents in Dec. 2023 and Jan. 2024. The petition called on the San Miguel County Commissioners to reject the Slick Rock Canyon permit for uranium exploration and mining, citing concerns including chemical toxicity and radioactivity from uranium, threats to the ecosystem, potential health risks to locals, and possible damage to the Dolores Canyon.

Kathryn Wilder, owner of Cachuma Ranch Co. LLC, which is within 1,500 feet of some of the proposed drill holes, also submitted a public comment expressing concern over the proposed permit. “We run cattle in this pasture and use it as our calving pasture when moisture has given us a good feed year. The cattle water in ponds south of the proposed drill sites,” Wilder wrote.

“My primary concern is the health of my family, my cattle, my land,” she added. “I am also concerned about how the land disturbance will impact water flow, as well as how the traffic and noise will impact both the cattle and human occupants of the surrounding land.”

Other public comments also shared concerns over groundwater contamination and runoff, to which Kriele responded.

“Our drilling methods do not introduce soluble oxidizing chemicals into the drilling fluid. We’re not mobilizing mineralized material,” he said. “If things are working correctly, we’re trying to prevent fluid from exiting the drill hole into formation.”

“While we’re drilling, our fluids and cuttings are contained within the drill hole and the mud sump. As far as stormwater is concerned, disturbance areas are very small sites, mostly located on flatline terrain. Healthy vegetation growth is the best way to ensure long term site stability,” he said.

Kriele emphasized that the permit was only for exploration, not mining.

“Anfield or others, they may choose someday to pursue a mining permit. But that’s not what we’re here talking about today. The purpose of this project is to increase our geologic knowledge base and verify our large quantity of historical data about the Slick Rock site,” he said.

Future mining permit applications would have to undergo the NEPA process and would have additional opportunities for public comment.

But environmental groups still had concerns.

“There was some discussion that the exploration project is just exploration, but they wouldn’t be doing that if they didn’t have a goal in mind,” Osgood said.

The San Miguel planning commission ultimately recommended removing some of the drill sites nearest to the Dolores River. The BOCC will make the final decision.

“It’s always a challenge to advocate against extraction on a county level. There’s a lot of complexities of what counties can and can’t do on federal lands,” Osgood noted.

Read the article here.