{"id":24869,"date":"2024-11-12T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/in-la-plata-mountains-possibility-of-copper-mining-has-neighbors-anxious\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:03:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:03:44","slug":"in-la-plata-mountains-possibility-of-copper-mining-has-neighbors-anxious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/in-la-plata-mountains-possibility-of-copper-mining-has-neighbors-anxious\/","title":{"rendered":"In La Plata Mountains, possibility of copper mining has neighbors anxious"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Metallic
Metallic Minerals has found an estimated 1.2 billion pounds of relatively low-grade copper, in addition to 30,000 ounces to 50,000 ounces of platinum and palladium, in the La Plata Project. The company\u2019s mining claims straddle the La Plata County and Montezuma County line on the western edge of La Plata Canyon. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

BREEN \u2013 It was a room full of skeptical people who have seen this all before \u2013 or so they thought \u2013 Thursday night at the Breen Community Building as the leaders of Metallic Minerals tried to put to bed the fears area residents hold over the company\u2019s exploratory drilling in La Plata Canyon.<\/p>\n

Over the last three years, the Canadian company has drilled eight holes, each between about 2,600 feet and 4,300 feet, on a small mining claim on Forest Service Road 792 near the headwaters of Bedrock Creek underneath Gibbs Peak.<\/p>\n

The cores extracted show an estimated 1.2 billion pounds of relatively low-grade copper, in addition to 30,000 ounces to 50,000 ounces of platinum and palladium, said Scott Petsel, the company\u2019s president, all contained within about 147 million tons of rock.<\/p>\n

\"Scott
Scott Petsel, president of Metallic Minerals, tried to reassure residents that nothing is imminent in the way of drilling for copper in the La Plata Mountains. He was speaking at a community meeting held Thursday at the Breen Community Building. (Reuben M. Schafir\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

That doesn\u2019t mean a mine within the confines of the 12,300-acre La Plata Project, which straddles the La Plata-Montezuma county line, is likely \u2013 and certainly not anytime soon, Petsel said.<\/p>\n

But residents of the La Plata River corridor say they\u2019ve seen miners come and go from the canyon, often leaving a toxic or unsightly legacy, and are less than thrilled to see prospectors return.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that there\u2019s a bad legacy from mining and that there are impacts on local communities,\u201d Petsel acknowledged to those assembled Thursday night.<\/p>\n

\"Core
Core samples extracted from holes in La Plata Canyon at a meeting in Breen on Thursday. Cores cost about $1,000 per meter to extract. So far, the prospectors have found an estimated 1.2 billion pounds of copper. (Reuben M. Schafir\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Mining safety and environmental standards have changed dramatically, he insisted, and any impact to water quality in the La Plata or Mancos rivers would be closely monitored. And even a conversation about what a mine could look like is premature for several reasons.<\/p>\n

Logan Powell, the company\u2019s project manager, noted that the average elapsed time between the discovery of copper and first production in a mine is nearly 29 years. <\/a>While Metallic Minerals has sunk $9 million into the project, the mineral discoveries are sufficient to warrant further exploration but not enough to attract a mining company given current copper prices (Metallic Minerals specializes only in exploration; any mining would be performed by a third party).<\/p>\n

\"Metallic
Metallic Minerals has drilled eight exploratory holes on a mining claim up Forest Service Road 792 on the La Plata Project. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Petsel said exploration will continue as long as intuition and evidence make drilling worthwhile, and more importantly, as long as investors are willing to fund it. The company didn\u2019t drill in 2024 because of a lack of funds and its share price dropped<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still, Petsel\u2019s and Powell\u2019s hedging was of little comfort to residents, one of whom went so far as to say that the connection between exploration and mining is akin to that of making out and sex \u2013 one may not lead to the other, but \u201cyou\u2019re at least thinking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou might prove there\u2019s a resource there, and then we\u2019ll never be left alone, and it won\u2019t be you guys doing the mining,\u201d the man added.<\/p>\n

\"The
The full scope of the La Plata Project on a map at a community meeting held at the Breen Community Building on Thursday by Metallic Minerals, the exploration company drilling for copper in the La Plata Mountains. (Reuben M. Schafir\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Another resident, raising the alarm of a worst-case scenario, said the region could see the development of an open-pit mine. Prospectors said that prophesy could be all but ruled out. The state would almost certainly deny such an application, Petsel said, given what would certainly be vehement public opposition.<\/p>\n

Still, there are more immediate plans that trigger concern among residents and environmentalists.<\/p>\n

Metallic Minerals has received approval for, but not realized, a plan to use water<\/a> from Bedrock, Boren and Madden creeks for drilling. Although the company has only drilled at the headwaters of Bedrock Creek so far, it has received approval to use up to 289,000 gallons per year of water from the three sub-basins.<\/p>\n

Rather than truck water up 1,400 vertical feet from the mouth of the canyon, as they are now, the prospectors would pump water from the creek near the drill site and replace it with water trucked from the Animas River directly into the La Plata River. The plan makes whole downstream water rights holders, but would decrease flows in the creek between the drill site and the La Plata River.<\/p>\n

\"Concerned
Concerned residents attended a community meeting held at the Breen Community Building on Thursday by Metallic Minerals, the exploration company drilling for copper in the La Plata Mountains. (Reuben M. Schafir\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Powell said the plan has never been used because it was \u201cnot a good fit\u201d and does not match the company\u2019s operation plans approved by the U.S. Forest Service. However, he said it was \u201centirely possible\u201d that the plan could be implemented in the future.<\/p>\n

With the drilling season over for the year, the trucks and helicopters that bring the prospectors and their equipment to the site have fallen quiet, for now. And despite the criticism Metallic Minerals leaders faced \u2013 Petsel faced a tough room Thursday night, he acknowledged \u2013 the company\u2019s leaders say they are committed to transparency.<\/p>\n

\"Looking
Looking southwest toward Metallic Minerals\u2019 La Plata Project patented mining claim near the headwaters of Bedrock Creek in La Plata Canyon on July 18. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Still, that wasn\u2019t enough for some in the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince somebody else is going to do the mining and not you guys, what difference does it make if you make reassurances that you\u2019re going to do things the right way?\u201d one skeptic asked.<\/p>\n

rschafir@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Metallic Minerals faced stiff opposition at a community meeting in Breen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1030,28,475,239,2306],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-24869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-environment","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-colorado","tag-mining","tag-mining-issues"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24869"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78709,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24869\/revisions\/78709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24869"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=24869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}