RICO — Dolores County commissioners have rejected a plan to mine a rich molybdenum deposit in the San Juan Mountains, after residents said they want to put mining’s legacy behind them.
“Mining is our past, but I don’t believe that it is our future,” said Rico Mayor Barbara Betts. “Mining jeopardizes the safety of our children, our water and our air.”
The 3-0 vote to reject Outlook Resources’s plan to mine the deposit followed a six-hour meeting that ended about 1 a.m. Friday. Residents packed the town hall to denounce the mine slated to be built 1 1/2 miles from town.
Commissioners cited an application that failed to lay out the specifics of the mine’s impact and said the proposal was too speculative.
Issues included mine-truck traffic through residential areas, uncertain milling site locations, lack of financial backers, and water-use and safety issues.
Dolores County does not have zoning laws, and applicant Mark Levin of Outlook Resources argued that mining is a historic right in the region.
“I am asking the commissioners to recognize mining as a use by right,” he said, adding that he expected to create 200 to 300 jobs.
“This town is based on recreation and beauty of the environment,” said resident Craig Spillman. “That is our use by right today.”
Test holes drilled in the 1980s by the Anaconda Mining Co. indicated there were 198 million tons of molybdenum ore at the site.
That could produce 273 million pounds of molybdenum, according to industry estimates, which would be worth $2.4 billion at the current price of about $9 per pound, down from $35 per pound at the end of 2008.
Production at the Rico deposit is estimated to rival that of the Henderson mine near Empire, the largest producer of molybdenum in the world.
What is molybdenum?
Molybdenum is an element used to strengthen steel and other metals in products such as auto parts, stainless-steel items, tools, liners for nuclear reactors and mountain bicycles.
