Canadian company announces it has ‘abandoned’ push to mine gold at New Mexico lizard, dark sky haven

New Mexico environmentalist groups this week celebrated the continued preservation of an obscure corner of western Hidalgo County, following a Canadian company’s announcement that it no longer seeks to develop its gold and silver mining claims on public lands otherwise known for their abundance of lizards and dark skies.

A subsidiary of Almadex America, a Canadian company that recently staked more than 130 gold and silver claims in the Antelope Pass area, had announced in April that it had received rock-chip samples for the area and would be conducting further tests to define “drill targets” later this year.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management had set that area aside as a Research Natural Area, a designation that bans mineral and oil extraction and limits vehicle access to protect “biological and research values of the land.”

Members from several conservation groups at the time told Source NM that the testing could disrupt fragile species, such as Night-blooming cereus cactus, or the genetically distinct population of the Dixon’s whiptail lizard, one of 17 species in the area. Groups also noted that exploration and mining might also threaten the area’s dark skies, which are crucial for stargazing and astrophotography, as well as disrupt hunters, hikers and campers using the area.

At the end of June, Almadex announced  that “certain factors” had prompted the company to no longer pursue the mining effort it dubbed the “Big Sky” project.

“This early-stage exploration project no longer meets the Company’s criteria for further exploration and investment, and will be abandoned,” company leaders wrote in a June 30 news release.

The company did not respond to Source NM’s request Friday to elaborate on its decision, and  BLM records do not make it clear whether Almadex ever filed for exploratory or other initial permits that would have outlined its efforts to determine how much gold and silver may be recoverable from the area. Koenig told Source NM that they urged the BLM to require the company to provide a detailed operations plan before considering any such permit.

BLM Public Affairs Specialist Allison Sandoval on Friday did not respond to Source NM’s request for more information on that process, but did send a statement that the agency is “aware that Almadex is no longer pursuing the Big Sky Project.”.

Conservation groups New Mexico Wild and Dark Sky New Mexico described Almadex’s abandonment of the project as proof that their pushback against the proposal — in the form of a 1,600-signature petition and multiple well-attended public meetings — succeeded. 

“I think the community feels super proud,” Luke Koenig, New Mexico Wild’s Gila grassroots organizer, told Source NM on Friday. “When a company wants to come in and put a mine in place, which is totally inappropriate, oftentimes people feel resigned to the fact that there’s nothing you can do about it. Well, this shows that there is something that you can do about it.”