DENVER – A gold-mining company will begin construction Monday on cleanup of an illegal road it cut in La Plata Canyon four years ago, state regulators said Wednesday.

Over the winter, the Mined Land Reclamation Board gave Wildcat Mining one last chance to fix violations committed by its former owner, starting with a steep road down the banks of the La Plata River to connect its Mayday mine to the main road into the canyon.

The company has missed a series of previous deadlines to clean up its errors. But that pattern appears to have changed.

Company officials have deposited $450,000 in an escrow account to cover construction costs, and they had an on-site planning meeting Wednesday morning, said Russ Means, an inspector for the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety.

The mining board heard an update on the situation Wednesday morning, and the board will continue to get updates throughout the summer, Means said.

“We plan on having staff out there weekly, biweekly to make sure it’s done right,” he said.

Wildcat Mining is under order to remove the road by the end of the summer construction season this year.

jhanel@durangoherald.com