Wildcat Mining Corp. has until Jan. 31 to put $100,000 in escrow to pay for long-overdue fixes to an illegal road the company\u2019s former owner built.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say they have all the contracts to do the work, but it hasn\u2019t been done for the last two summers,\u201d said Loretta Pineda, director of the state Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety.<\/p>\n
The $100,000 will ensure Wildcat has the funds to pay to reclaim the road, Pineda said.<\/p>\n
The state mining board in November voted to suspend Wildcat\u2019s permit and took steps to revoke it this month. But at the board\u2019s meeting Wednesday, Pineda told board members that her inspectors are working with Wildcat on the escrow plan, so the board delayed a decision on Wildcat\u2019s fate until its next meeting, Feb. 19.<\/p>\n
If the company does not come through and fix the road, the state is working on plans to make sure it gets repaired this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody is going to do it,\u201d Pineda said in an interview.<\/p>\n
The illegal road cuts steeply down the banks of the La Plata River at the hamlet of Mayday. It was the first in a litany of violations Wildcat committed under previous management, including drilling new portals without a permit. The portals later collapsed.<\/p>\n