Juab County commissioners have signed a letter supporting gypsum mining in Gardner Canyon.
Mine owner Robert Steele wants to allow mining on claims containing approximately 59.1 acres, with 56.98 acres having the surface interest held by the United States with the minerals privately owned.After reviewing the draft environmental impact study for the canyon, Commission Chairman J. Morris (Ike) Lunt said the commissioners agreed to support Steele's Alternative B, which would allow an open-pit gypsum mine inside the confines of Macfarlane 1 and 2 and Little Doctor claims and would allow access along the existing unimproved road to be developed.
In a letter addressed to Peter W. Karp, forest supervisor for the Unita National Forest, the commissioners said that "Juab County and the Juab County Board of Commissioners strongly oppose the presently imposed Wilderness Act as it affects the Nebo Range."
Commissioners agreed it was their responsibility to protect the people of the county. "This policy includes the preservation of the economy of Juab County.
They said Alternative B "has best analyzed the economic feasibility of continuing with this vital (gypsum mining) operation in Juab County."
The exact scope of mining would vary from year to year, with ore being removed from the claims on an existing jeep trail.
The current proposal would start at Macfarlane Number 1 claim at the bottom of Gardner Canyon and would allow dozing of top soil and overburden with mining starting at a high point of the exposed ore. The ore would be blasted and dozed to the bottom of the hill and would be hauled away.
Up to 100,000 tons would be mined a year, though the amount would vary from year to year.
The Utah State Department of Oil, Gas and Mining (DOGM) would issue a permit and appropriate other permits would be secured as required from other agencies.