Catron County residents seek local uranium mining ban after proposal clears first hurdle

Residents of the small west-central New Mexico town of Datil in Catron County gathered in an elementary school gymnasium last week to push local officials into action as a company makes steady progress toward exploring uranium deposits northwest of town. 

NovaCore Exploration Inc. submitted a permit request July 2 to the state Mining and Minerals Division, seeking permission to drill up to 37 boreholes about 15 miles northwest of Datil for what it’s named the Ane Uranium Exploration Project.

The proposal, which comes amid a statewide spike in uranium interest, alarmed residents and New Mexico environmentalist groups, in part due to its size: If granted a permit to extract uranium, the company has claims covering 15,000 acres — roughly the size of the City of Carlsbad — which is far more than other recent uranium proposals across the state. 

Local activist Kathy Knapp told Source NM that approximately 70 people gathered in opposition in a town that U.S. Census records show contains 50 residents.

Two of the three Catron County commissioners, Buster Green and Audrey McQueen, spoke against the exploration effort at the meeting, though the commission has not taken any official action. McQueen and Commissioner Haydn Forward did not respond to Source NM’s requests for comment.

Green told Source NM on Friday that he, like nearly everyone else he’s spoken to in recent weeks, opposes the exploration project out of concern for the potential contamination of the underground aquifer. 

However, he said he is seeking more information from state officials before he pushes forward with a ban or other action. 

“We’re trying to get as much information as we can, so that we make good decisions, and also so that we can explain to the constituents of the county exactly what is going to be happening out there,” he said. 

The state Mining and Minerals Division Program Director DJ Ennis told Source NM on Monday that the state is beginning a technical review of the company’s proposed exploration effort after determining that its exploration permit is complete. That review includes determining whether the proposal meets criteria to be considered a “minimal impact” exploration project, a designation the company seeks. 

That designation means the project affects an area 10 acres or fewer and does not threaten water sources or use toxic chemicals like mercury or cyanide, among other state requirements.

If the MMD decides the exploration qualifies as a “minimal impact” project, no public hearing will be required.

Environmental advocacy groups, including New Mexico Wild, have asked the state agency to conduct a fuller environmental assessment and  a public hearing. 

“It’s the highest risk for contamination [in] exploratory mining you could ever do,” New Mexico Wild Gila grassroots organizer Luke Koenig told Source NM. “Not requiring a public comment period is just, I think, enraging the community.”

In response to Koenig’s concerns, Ennis stressed in the interview with Source NM that the state remains far from approving the exploration project and even farther from considering approval for an actual uranium mine. 

Catron County residents mobilize against ‘massive’ uranium mine proposal in Cibola National Forest

“It is not a proposed mine site,” Ennis said of the current proposal. “It is a proposed exploration.”

Ennis also noted the state has discretion to hold a hearing if it chooses and welcomes any public comment in the meantime.

NovaCore Chief Operations Officer Douglas Christopherson  did not return Source NM’s phone call Friday seeking comment. He previously told Source NM the company is committed to being a “good neighbor” while it determines whether, as a 1981 research paper concluded, up to 45 million pounds of uranium exist in the area.

Green told Source NM that additional public meetings will be held in the coming weeks to continue discussing the project. 

“We’re limited in Catron County,” he said of the county’s roughly 3,800 residents. “A lot of times, with federal and state government, it doesn’t seem like they’ve given us due diligence. They feel like they can come in and ride roughshod on us and do whatever they’re going to do.”