Mount Taylor drilling permit requested
First to test TCP designation

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — The U.S. Forest Service released an announcement that Strathmore Resources, U.S. Ltd., operating for Roca Honda Project, has submitted a request for confirmation drilling in the Mount Taylor Traditional

Cultural Properties designated area.
The service will accept public comment on the request until Sept. 30.

The area on Jesus Mesa that would be disturbed by Strathmore’s drilling is on previously disturbed land, said Juan Velasquez, a company spokesman, and would be about 180 feet by 180 feet, using existing roads for access. The 2,550-foot deep hole will allow technicians to confirm a uranium deposit known to exist in the area, he said. Core samples from the approximately 8-inch diameter hole will also contribute to geologic and geotechnical data, the forest service said.

This request is the first in the Mount Taylor area to test the traditional cultural property status and accompanying requirements since the state Cultural Preservation Committee rewarded the status on June 14.

Terry Fletcher of Rio Algom and president of the New Mexico Mining Association said, “It pretty much put a damper on it (the mining business),” citing time delays and increased costs as factors affecting mining companies now.

Velasquez said the company had originally applied for a minimal impact permit from the New Mexico Mining and Mineral Division and was turned down.

“The entire justification was the TCP,” he said. The division said they could not conclude it was a minimal impact, he added.

In order to proceed with the test hole, the company must go through a general permit process, which requires that public notice be given of the intent to drill; in some cases a hearing or comment period must be provided before the forest service can make a determination.

In the past, Velasquez said, a minimal impact such the small bore and pad site with established road access would go through very quickly.

He said time and money are considerations, but the biggest concern for domestic mining companies is the risk of discouraging foreign investors. “It is causing investors to look at economic development in New Mexico as difficult to justify, as it is difficult to invest in the given climate.”
Theresa Pasqual, director of the Acoma Historical Preservation Office, said, “This is the type of project that gets overlooked, often they just go through.” Pasqual explained that the small projects are part of what the traditional cultural property was designed to address.

While an 8-inch hole in a previously disturbed and restored area is a minor, nearly negligible, disturbance in itself, the project is not one-of-a-kind. “It is the overall cumulative effect. We have to look at all projects and assess (the collective impact),” Pasqual said.

The director said the TCP is working as it should, a comment period will proceed any permitting. She said the question for everyone involved in using Mount Taylor resources in any way remains, “How do we best carry on that dialogue between the state, us and the people who propose projects?”

Comments or information: Rod Byers, Mineral Program Manager, Cibola National Forest, 2113 Osuna Road N.E., Albuquerque, NM, 87113-1001, phone (505) 346-3809.

Deadline for comments is Sept. 30. Reclamation is part of the required process for any disturbing projects.