While new gold mining operations in La Plata County are on hold, existing mines throughout the state got a leg up on attempts to ban a controversial form of extraction.

This week, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Summit County – and other counties – cannot ban heap-leaching, which uses cyanide and other acids to remove gold from low-quality ore. Gunnison, Gilpin, Conejos and Costilla counties also adopted similar legislation.

“A patchwork of county-level bans on certain mining extraction methods would inhibit what the General Assembly has recognized as a necessary activity,” Justice Gregory Hobbs wrote for the majority. That necessary activity, he added, is the “orderly development of Colorado’s mineral resources.”

The counties had adopted the regulations after the Summitville disaster in the south San Juan Mountains in the 1980s resulted in a badly polluted Alamosa

River. The only remaining place where the same mining technique is used is on the western flanks of Pikes Peak, at the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co.

Mining industry officials say Colorado’s state government has improved its regulatory oversight to prevent a recurrence of Summitville. County officials remain unconvinced. “The state’s oversight of mining hasn’t been sufficient, and at the county level, we don’t have the tools to deal with mining,” Summit County Commissioner Karn Stiegelmeier told The Denver Post. Counties, he added, now need “more clarity from the Legislature.”

Wildcat Mining Corp., which has proposed reopening the Idaho and May Day mines, near Durango, proposes to use “Green Mining” techniques to extract gold, according to the company’s web site.

“Wildcat Mining Corporation is proud to promote Green Mining, focusing on preserving the surrounding environment by utilizing practices such as lined

ponds, nontoxic chemical separation, recycled water systems, etc., to attain zero discharge, resource efficiency and limited waste,” says the company’s web site.

The web site goes on to say that Wildcat has been working closely with local, state and federal regulatory agencies to incorporate “Green Mining and Milling” practices on all its projects.

The California-based company recently ran afoul of state and local regulations by failing to post a $35,000 reclamation bond and building an unauthorized road to access the site. In addition to having to reapply for its permit from the state Mined Land Reclamation Board, Wildcat could face fines up to $20,000 for operating without a permit. The company could also face fines or corrective measures from the state’s Water Quality Division for the road, which was built in close proximity to wetlands and is in possible violation of the Clean Water Act.

– Allen Best and Missy Votel