collapse

Advertisement


Author Topic: Mount St. Helens Area Green River drilling update  (Read 1058 times)

Offline fireweed

  • Washington For Wildlife
  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Sourdough
  • *****
  • Join Date: Sep 2009
  • Posts: 1307
  • Location: Toutle, Wa
Mount St. Helens Area Green River drilling update
« on: February 23, 2018, 01:03:42 PM »
http://tdn.com/news/local/mining-company-ascot-usa-details-plans-for-minerals-exploration-near/article_4ddc8b2e-e3a3-59fd-8a80-2f51344d6b6b.html#tracking-source=home-top-story


Ascot USA Inc. updated some of its plans for minerals exploration north of Mount St. Helens on Thursday, about a week after it got U.S. Forest Service approval for the effort.

According to Ascot spokesperson Kristina Howe, the company is sticking with its plan to drill at 63 roadside sites. Howe said each borehole will be about the diameter of a soda can. (Information about the depth of each hole was unavailable.)

British Columbia-based Ascot will drill within a 900-acre area in the Green River watershed near Goat Mountain in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The area is within the Mount St. Helens blast zone and just outside the northern border of the 110,000-acre Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
Howe said that on average, each borehole will cost about $100 or $200 per meter.
Before Ascot gets to drill, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management must decide whether to issue a prospecting permit to the company.
None of this allows the opening of a mine. Exploratory drilling would determine if minerals are present in sufficient concentrations to warrant development of a mine. If Ascot wants to proceed with a mine, it would have to file a separate application and undergo a separate, and likely far more rigorous, public review process through the Forest Service, which manages the area.
Despite the potential that the Forest Service might reject a mining permit, Howe said in an email that their drilling will still “provide valuable information regarding the minerals underlying the property.”
She also noted that Ascot’s shareholders aren’t commenting about the permitting process.

Ascot has never revealed what type of mine it would try to develop if drilling shows it’s worthwhile, but opponents have long assumed developers would create an open pit mine.


Nicole Budine, policy and campaign manager for Portland/Vancouver-based environmental group Cascade Forest Conservancy, previously told The Daily News that the group will likely appeal once BLM issues exploratory permits. That’s expected this spring.


The history of copper mining goes back into the 19th century in the upper Green River, but ore deposits have never proven rich enough to support large-scale mining. In addition, the location of the Ascot proposal and the danger full-scale mining could pose to rivers and other resources have generated strenuous opposition.


This is the second time Ascot has obtained an exploratory minerals permit. The courts tossed out the first for an inadequate review of its impacts.


 


* Advertisement

* Recent Topics

Triple Blacktail Pedestal by DaNewb
[Today at 04:21:32 PM]


2025 Area 9 King Opener by fishngamereaper
[Today at 04:07:30 PM]


Idaho general deer area 5. by timberhunter
[Today at 03:53:42 PM]


Tasty Pinks! by jamesfromseattle
[Today at 03:31:13 PM]


2025 Crab! by SeaRun1
[Today at 02:58:28 PM]


Area 11 2025 - Well? by trophyhunt
[Today at 02:56:27 PM]


2024 Quality Buck coming home by OutHouse
[Today at 12:42:30 PM]


If this is your trap by Ridgeratt
[Today at 09:13:08 AM]


Crabbing at cornet bay? by mikey549
[Today at 09:07:29 AM]


Boundary Waters walleye trip by Angry Perch
[Today at 07:17:54 AM]


Livestock near 49 degrees north? by nwwanderer
[Today at 06:12:32 AM]


GMU 247 Entiat bear hunting by BigredRusch
[Yesterday at 09:27:40 PM]


JBLM by Nash
[Yesterday at 07:05:57 PM]


AKC lab puppies! Born 06/10/2025 follow as they grow!!! by scottfrick
[Yesterday at 06:41:20 PM]


William o Douglas lakes by hughjorgan
[Yesterday at 06:28:07 PM]


10 years ago- Now by Ryan P
[Yesterday at 05:51:57 PM]


Please Comment on new Game management Plan, RE Furbearers by redi
[Yesterday at 04:13:27 PM]

SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2025, SimplePortal