Durango-area residents gathered last weekend at the Durango Public Library for an interest meeting about the Metallic Minerals mining project in the La Plata Mountains.
It was the first such meeting in the Durango community on the subject, said Dan King, who helped organize the event after attending a meeting held by Metallic Minerals in Breen in November where 50 to 100 attendees voiced opposition to the project.
About 20 residents attended the meeting; among them were owners of property in La Plata and Lafayette canyons, generational ranchers, environmentalists, a hydrogeologist, the Colorado policy manager for Winter Wildlands Alliance and the director of San Juan Citizens Alliance.
The residents gauged one another’s support for a formal coalition versus working together in an informal group, how to fund activities either way and to discuss their worries.
King suggested the group name, “Friends of the La Plata Mountains.”
The consensus appeared to land on maintaining an informal group at this time, given the barriers of accounting and finance reporting that comes with a proper nonprofit group. King pledged to lead opposition efforts either way.
King said his intent is to give a voice to the mountains. Although he isn’t convinced resistance to the mining project would stop it completely in its tracks, an organized effort could net concessions from Metallic Minerals.
He said Metallic Minerals has identified a deposit with approximately 1.2 billion pounds of copper, has spent $9 million on the project to date and recently hired staff in the Durango area.
Tom Miller, who lives in La Plata Canyon and has been following the mining project closely, said the copper deposit was found in the headwaters of Bedrock Creek. The area boasts old growths of Douglas fir, the remnants of historic mines and steep landscapes that are challenging to mine.
Metallic Minerals acquired a claim to mineral rights over a large portion of the area – over 19 square miles or approximately 12,300 acres – which is a huge chunk of the range in question, according to Miller’s and King’s presentations.
Miller said Metallic Minerals has used helicopters and other impression technologies to scout for mineral deposits. But if it identifies a strong enough return on their investment for its investors, it will sell the claim to the highest bidder. If that happens, roads and infrastructure will assuredly be built to mine the deposit.
King said a coalition, possibly in the form of a nonprofit organization, is a strong way to amplify the voices of landowners, water rights holders and other concerned stakeholders. He and his colleagues have collected names of people who voiced opposition to the project at recent meetings and have also reached out to the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian tribes.
Several attendees said the tribes should be included in discussions and it is likely they will oppose the mining project, especially because they are downstream and have downstream interests in water use and water quality.
King gave Metallic Minerals some credit. He said they are using stronger technology than ever before and current work is exploratory. But he remains wary.
“This isn’t the Wild West and the minerals that they’re looking at are minerals that power the Green Revolution,” he said. “... They are using really amazing technology for this work, but it still comes with potential harmful consequences.”
Miller said he is among the closest residents to Metallic Minerals’ current activities, and Metallic Minerals’ recent public outreach is new and there was originally no public outreach efforts.
“A lot of the things that they post on their website and present to investors is wildly different from what they will tell any of the local folks here,” he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
