San Miguel County is working on a new Land Use Code (LUC) Amendment that would address the development of lands with mining remnants and hazards. With the demand for more single family homes in the unincorporated county, few developable parcels are available, and the county is considering how to incorporate more “difficult” parcels, such as those with mining remnants. These properties could contain mine waste, mine shafts and structures.

 San Miguel County is basing some of their regulations on existing codes laid out in Section 5-321 High Country Area. 

“We’re proposing regulations to evaluate whether owners can safely build residences and structures on these properties. We already have these regulations for the high country area but we are seeing a need to have an expansion,” Kaye Simonson, San Miguel County planning director, said during the BOCC meeting on May 1.

The amendment will serve as a guideline in the West End, as construction permits are not mandatory

“In the West End development permits and building permits are not required, so it is for information purposes,” Simonson said. “If you or anyone you know is developing a site with mining remnants, it is a good guide.”

Before construction begins, the parcels can be evaluated using the amendment’s additional criteria to determine where owners can safely build homes and other structures on this land.

The BOCC will discuss the LUC amendment during their next meeting on May 15.

Simonson also gave a brief overview of the two pending applications for mineral exploration in the West End.

The two applications are from Highbury Resources for exploration in Slickrock and Fermi Uranium Corporation for exploration in Big Gypsum Valley.  

“Approval is pending so the commissioners cannot discuss them, and I would recommend that you not take any input today. People should be advised to write to us or come to the specific meetings,” Simonson said.

The first application by Highbury Resources, a subsidiary of Anfield Energy, is for uranium and vanadium prospecting in the area around Slick Rock and Burro Mines, about 65 miles west of Telluride. The proposed project, located in Disappointment Valley in western San Miguel County, could drill up to 20 exploratory mining samples within public lands owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Highbury has identified 27 potential drilling sites and will choose 20. The BLM approved the project on December 7, 2023.

The San Miguel County Planning Commission previously went over details of the project at a meeting in early April. The BOCC will consider the application at its meeting on May 15.

“The primary objective is verification of old drilling data,” Alex Kriele, project geologist with Highbury, told the planning commission in April’s meeting.

Vanadium is considered a “critical mineral” and is mainly used as an alloying agent for high grade metal products. Uranium is needed for nuclear power. Recently, there has been growing demand for domestically sourced minerals, especially as prices for uranium skyrocketed earlier this year.

But with the rising uranium prices and a growing interest in nuclear power and domestic uranium mining, environmental groups expressed concerns that mining and exploration could put local public lands at risk.

The second project is by Fermi Uranium Corporation for the “Pitchfork Exploratory Drill Program,” which would have four proposed drill pads on private land with unpatented mining claims off County Road 23S in Big Gypsum Valley. The application will be heard by the planning commission on June 13, and the BOCC will go over it at a later date, not yet set.

San Miguel County is also preparing draft regulations for mining, mineral exploration and related activities.

“The next phase of our natural resources regulation preparation will be looking at mining,” Simonson said. “We’re looking at very thorough regulations that clearly outline the application materials and clearly correspond with the burden on the application to show how they are planning on mitigating their impact.”

There will be upcoming planning commission and BOCC work sessions for public input. The dates have not yet been scheduled, but the meetings will be held simultaneously in Norwood, Telluride and via Zoom. After mining and mineral exploration, San Miguel County will look at regulations for oil and gas and then logging.

To stay up to date, people can submit their contact information to planning@sanmiguelcountyco.gov or sign up for notifications at https://www.sanmiguelcountyco.gov/list.aspx.

Details on pending mineral exploration applications are available at https://www.sanmiguelcountyco.gov/490/OtherResources.