The Boise National Forest covers more than 2.5 million acres and includes more than 500 trails. More than 60% of Idaho is federal public land. (Clark Corbin/Idaho Capital Sun)
An environmental assessment of a four-year proposed minerals test drilling project north of Idaho City is up for public comment this month.
The 2023 CuMo Exploration Project is a four-year mining exploration proposal, 14 miles north of Idaho City, according to a U.S. Forest Service news release. The planned project area is 2,917 acres, and would feature 122 drill pads and construction of 8.9 miles of temporary roads.
A draft environmental assessment by the Boise National Forest will be open for public review and comment until June 27, along with public meetings to hear analysis on the project from Forest Service staff. Those dates include:
Virtual + Idaho City and Garden Valley: 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. June 13. Links for participating and sending questions will be available online. Meetings will also be available to view at the Idaho City Ranger District office at 3833 Highway 21 at the Garden Valley Work Center at 1219 Banks Lowman Road.
Boise: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. June 18 at the Best Western Vista Inn located at 2645 Airport Way.
The project wouldn’t include any full-scale mining operations, the release said, which would start a new analysis and public involvement process. Within two years after the project is completed, all drill pads and temporary roads created would be removed and restored, the release said.
The Idaho Copper Corporation is advancing the CuMo Project “towards feasibility and its goal is to establish itself as one of the world’s largest and lowest-cost primary producers of molybdenum,” the company said on its website.
The company “is studying all factors” and “is committed to exhaustive adherence to modern mining practices, stewardship of all natural resources, reclamation of the preexisting historic mining damage, and meaningful community engagement,” its website says.
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