Freeport-McMoRan to permanently remove mining claims from Mount Emmons and transfer back to U.S. Forest Service Options

[Gene Kooper]

Published this evening in the online Denver Post.

Crested Butte celebrates as longest running mine battle in the West nears end

CRESTED BUTTE — This end-of-the-road village has spent nearly 40 years transforming itself from a mining town into a thriving tourist destination despite the threat of a huge molybdenum mine on the hill overlooking downtown.

But the final chapter in the longest running mine fight in the West may soon be written.

Freeport-McMoRan — the world’s largest moly producer and owner of the Climax Mine near Leadville and the soon-to-shutter Henderson Mine near Empire — has inked a preliminary deal to permanently remove mining claims from Mount Emmons and return about 9,000 acres to the Forest Service. It will also work with Crested Butte to continue treating tainted water flowing from a long-defunct mine on the mountain.

For decades, every time molybdenum prices peaked, locals raised money and filed lawsuits to fight a proposed 1,000-worker mine digging 25 million tons of high-grade moly from the belly of beloved Mount Emmons. The crusade was at times so pitched that residents pledged to lay down in the middle of Whiterock Avenue to block ore-hauling trucks.

From the article it appears that if the town of Crested Butte can raise $2,000,000 Freeport-McMoRan will give up nearly 9,000 acres of unpatented lode claims on Mt. Emmons. Sen. Bennet has agreed to sponsor a bill that the article implies will permanently remove the area covered by those claims from mineral entry. At least that is how I read the story. The townsfolk and environmentalists are hailing this proposed action as forever removing Mt. Emmons and its large moly deposit from ever being mined.

The article implies that the Gold King Mine disaster acted as a catalyst for Freeport-McMoRan's decision. The company will still operate a water treatment plant to treat acidic metal-laden water that discharges into Coal Creek.

[Gene Kooper]

A couple of updates, the first dealing with Crested Butte's ballot issue (details of the ballot issue are in the links to my previous post).

From an article in the Crested Butte News, 2A, Houck, Messner all win big in November election

Aside from the stunning presidential and national election outcome that could impact us locally through issues like public lands management, there were local political races that mattered as well, from county commissioner seats to ballot issue 2A, which sought to set aside open space revenues to help pay mining company Freeport McMoRan to take some unpatented mining claims off the Mt. Emmons table.

Ballot issue 2A passed overwhelmingly in Crested Butte. With unofficial results in at the county elections office, Crested Butte citizens passed the issue 903 to 137.

Also, a meeting was held in Denver on November 8, with the USFS, Senator Bennet, Freeport and representatives from the Town of Crested Butte.

More positive progress with Red Lady mining withdrawl situation - Crested Butte News, November 9, 2016

Meetings and negotiations are continuing to take place between Mt. Emmons mine owner Freeport McMoRan and the town of Crested Butte. Town attorney John Belkin and Crested Butte planner Michael Yerman travelled to Denver Tuesday, November 8, for a meeting with the Forest Service, the mine company and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s office.

They spent the meeting going over a draft bill that Bennet would bring to the U.S. Congress. The bill would provide for a congressional withdrawal of mineral rights on Mt. Emmons. Obtaining that withdrawal would prohibit any future mining on Mt. Emmons.