{"id":51408,"date":"2020-09-24T18:09:11","date_gmt":"2020-09-25T00:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mining-company-set-to-begin-exploratory-drilling-in-la-plata-canyon\/"},"modified":"2020-09-25T00:09:11","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T00:09:11","slug":"mining-company-set-to-begin-exploratory-drilling-in-la-plata-canyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mining-company-set-to-begin-exploratory-drilling-in-la-plata-canyon\/","title":{"rendered":"Mining company set to begin exploratory drilling in La Plata Canyon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A Canadian-based company will explore La Plata Canyon for its mining potential.<\/span>Courtesy of Metallic Minerals<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A mining company is set to begin prospecting with exploratory drilling this fall in La Plata Canyon in the hopes of finding enough copper and other valuable metals to warrant a full-on operation.<\/p>\n

Last year, it came to light that a Canadian-based company called Metallic Minerals Corp.<\/a> had entered an agreement with two private vendors to explore more than 8,000 acres of a mining claim in La Plata Canyon, west of Durango.<\/p>\n

Though mining in La Plata Canyon puttered out sometime in the 1940s, Metallic Minerals President Greg Johnson said new methods of prospecting and mining might uncover worthy mineral deposits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve learned a lot in the exploration and mining industry since the 1940s,\u201d he said previously.<\/p>\n

Johnson said he was not available for comment Thursday.<\/p>\n

In August, Metallic Minerals submitted a request to Colorado\u2019s Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety to begin exploratory drilling on a private mining claim near Bedrock Creek, the drainage to the west of La Plata City campground.<\/p>\n

According to state records, no new surface disturbances are expected, as the drilling will occur on an existing waste rock pile with no vegetation. Only one drill rig will be on site, as well as a few additional pieces of equipment.<\/p>\n

No reclamation will be necessary beyond plugging the drill holes once complete, records show.<\/p>\n

Russ Means, an environmental specialist with DRMS, said because Metallic Minerals\u2019 proposed project is relatively low-impact, the company\u2019s application to drill will likely be approved in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe footprint is two drill holes, side by side,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very narrow disturbance area.\u201d<\/p>\n

DRMS doesn\u2019t typically inspect or provide oversight with a project this small, but Metallic Minerals was required to post a $5,000 bond, which would be returned if the company successfully reclaims the area after the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will inspect when it\u2019s completely done before we release the bond,\u201d Means said.<\/p>\n

According to Metallic Minerals\u2019 website<\/a>, the project is being called the \u201cLa Plata property,\u201d but Johnson has said previously the site includes the former historic prospects called Allard and Copper Hill.<\/p>\n

Metallic Minerals\u2019 website says the \u201cLa Plata property hosts a large-scale precious metals rich porphyry system with associated high-grade silver and gold epithermal deposits.\u201d<\/p>\n

The property has been privately held since 2002, after the sale by previous owner Freeport-McMoRan, a mining company based in Phoenix formerly known as Phelps-Dodge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been virtually no modern exploration in over 50 years on either the large-scale porphyry system or the surrounding high-grade epithermal zones, both of which will be a focus for Metallic Minerals,\u201d the website says.<\/p>\n

Johnson said previously Metallic Minerals\u2019 geologists include former Fort Lewis College graduates. The company has until 2023 to decide whether to buy the property.<\/p>\n

If exploration is successful, Johnson said the company would likely look for a partner that has the expertise to build a modern mining operation that meets environmental standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not miners, and we\u2019re not in the business of mining,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cBut we are in the business of exploring for high-value mineral deposits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any efforts to begin mining operations would have to undergo a separate DRMS process.<\/p>\n

A public comment period is open until Oct. 2 on Metallic Minerals\u2019 proposal for exploratory drilling, which can be submitted via email to dnr_dmg_web@state.co.us<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Metallic Minerals hopes to find new reserves of copper, other metals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1030,738,28,239,2306],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-51408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-environment","tag-environmental-issue","tag-headlines","tag-mining","tag-mining-issues"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51408","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=51408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51408"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=51408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}