LIVERMORE , Colo.—An Australian-based company thinks there are diamonds in Colorado’s mountains and wants to start drilling in a valley about 20 miles northwest of Fort Collins.
DiamonEx believes the North Rabbit Creek Valley will eventually yield hundreds of thousands of diamonds, rivaling its other major enterprise, the Lerala Diamond Mine in Botswana, Africa. The company is seeking a permit to begin exploratory drilling on a 3-acre site.
If exploration leads to mining, the venture could become the only active commercial diamond mine in the U.S.
That prospect frightens Julian Stovall, his wife, Lori Drew, and other residents of the valley.
“We are faced with a looming prospect that one day we’ll be looking at an open-pit mine as our neighbor for the next 20 years,” Stovall said.
He and Drew have started a nonprofit group called Leave Our Valley Alone Forever to try to head off the potential of a full-scale mining operation. Stovall said he believes the company’s Sloan Ranch Exploration plan is an effort to get a foot in the door.
“Clearly, the exploration proposal is not in itself economically feasible unless followed by commercial mining,” Stovall said.
DiamonEx leased mineral and surface rights to explore the area last year. The company said in a written statement that the area, long identified as a potential producer of commercial-grade diamonds, is a treasure trove.
“Like Lerala was when DiamonEx acquired it, the new project is considerably advanced in that the kimberlite pipes are known to contain diamonds,” DiamonEx managing director Dan O’Neill said.
Kimberlite is the ore that contains the diamonds.
DiamonEx notes that one of the largest diamonds ever found in the U.S. came from the Kelsey Lake Mine near the Colorado-Wyoming border.
The Kelsey Lake mine 45 miles northwest of Fort Collins gained international attention after some large gem-quality stones were discovered. In 1996, the mine produced a 28.3-carat gem, the fifth-largest diamond found in the United States.
Stovall said commercial-scale production in North Rabbit Creek Valley, home to about 60 people, would generate hundreds of vehicle trips a daily up a narrow county road and consume huge volumes of water.
“The heavy equipment, the dust—everything adds up to big problems,” Stovall said.
He said the valley is a residential area where people live on 35- to 40-acre lots and a full-scale mine would be disastrous.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
