A Canadian company seeking a permit to explore uranium mining in the Carson National Forest told prospective investors last week that leaders expect to begin drilling near Canjilon as early as April.
Connor Messler, the newly appointed president of Vancouver-based Gamma Resources, Ltd., told potential investors during a virtual presentation Thursday the company will “drill the project” beginning in the second quarter of next year. He was referring to what the company has dubbed the “Mesa Arc” Project, intended to extract uranium from the Carson National Forest.
Before it can begin drilling, the company needs approval from state and federal entities for its exploration effort, which it has described as drilling between 10 and 12 boreholes up to 500 feet deep.
Messler’s claim to investors prompted U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) on Tuesday to ask sharp questions of United States Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz as he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Luján asked Schultz whether the Forest Service had approved the exploratory permit. Schultz responded that the service had not yet done so. That prompted Luján to accuse the Messler of “lying.”
“I don’t know how a president of a Canadian company… is telling shareholders, ‘Hey, give me some money, because we’re going to go mine,’ and they haven’t even gotten approval yet,” Luján said.
Schultz noted that a fully operational mine will require a completed environmental impact statement after exploration.
“So, I would find it challenging to expect to have a mine up and running in ‘27,” Schultz said.
Recently, U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) urged Forest Service leaders to require a full environmental impact statement even for the exploratory stage.
In a recent statement to Source NM, Carson National Forest officials said they were evaluating the company’s permit application to determine whether it would cause substantial surface disruption that warrants additional environmental analysis.
The company also needs to receive the state’s permission through a parallel permitting process. It had not applied as of Tuesday.
The company’s proposal comes amid renewed interest in domestic energy production and uranium extraction in New Mexico. Local and state elected officials and organizations have universally opposed the notion of new uranium mining in the area since Source NM first reported on the proposal in March.
Luján and Leger Fernández also intend to introduce legislation that would prohibit all forms of mineral extraction from the Chama watershed.
“I just wanted to take this opportunity today to make it clear to everyone that’s listening, including everyone in this room,” Luján said in conclusion Tuesday: “This mine’s not welcome in New Mexico.”
