The red sandstone vistas in Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument may soon be criss-crossed with dumptrucks after a Canadian mining company announced plans to begin operations on land cut from federal protection by President Donald Trump.
Vancouver, British Columbia-based Glacier Lake Resources Inc. announced last week it had acquired a former copper mine on land formerly contained in one of the two national monuments that Trump shrunk last year, a move that was bitterly contested at the time by environmental and Native American groups.
"Surface exploration work will start this summer on the Colt Mesa property and drill permitting will be initiated shortly," Saf Dhillon, president and chief executive officer of Glacier Lake Resources, said in a statement. The company plans to mine copper, cobalt and other minerals from an area about 200 acres (81 hectares) in size. The mine was last used in 1974, according to the company