A map of the site is provided by Ascot Resources.
A mining plan map is seen in this photo provided by Ascot Resources.
Ascot Resources has been working to begin an exploratory drilling project in the Gifford Pinchot for about six years.
If everything moves forward with a new application this year, the Canadian-based mining company hopes to begin prospecting this summer, potentially bringing jobs to Lewis County — a prospect that has made Lewis County elected officials supportive of the project.
Mike McDonald, an Ascot Resources representative, said the prospecting project will bring in more than 20 jobs, as well as contract work for other companies.
However, he expects the company will face continued opposition from environmental groups.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and environmental groups including the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, which McDonald said has been the loudest in speaking out against the project, want the public comment period for the application extended to 90 days total.
The task force previously sued the agencies involved with the proposed project.
A federal court judge ruled in 2014 that the company’s permits for the project were invalid and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and Ascot dismissed their appeals instead deciding to file a new application — one twice as long as the first.
While the company is hoping to start work this summer, McDonald expects the task force could file another lawsuit, delaying the project.
“I won’t be shocked if they do it again,” he told The Chronicle.
The company is seeking drilling permits for 900 acres about 12 miles northeast of Mount St. Helens in Skamania County. While the project site isn’t in Lewis County, McDonald said, the processing work would be based between Morton and Randle.
“When we’re actually out here working we actually stay in Lewis County,” McDonald said.
Because the site is in Skamania County, it would benefit from the mineral royalties, but Lewis County would benefit from the employment, he said.
The Board of County Commissioners has hopeful the project will move forward.
“We have been supportive of this all along,” Commissioner Bill Schulte said at a Monday meeting.
The Board of County Commissioners plans to extend their support via the public comment period for Ascot’s Goat Mountain Project Environmental Assessment permit application.
The comment period for the project on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s website, blm.gov/or/programs/minerals/prospecting, is open until Thursday.
If the project seeking gold, copper and other minerals moves forward, the drilling of 63 holes would be approved for two years with the option of a two-year extension. The company previously drilled 13 holes 3 inches in diameter and found evidence of minerals deeper than 1,500 feet.
The company’s new application is extremely thorough at about 350 pages, about double of its previous application McDonald said.
In the earlier case, U.S. district court judge ruled that the drilling operation didn’t recognize outdoor recreation as the primary purpose of the forest.
McDonald said one of the biggest complaints was the noise the project is estimated to produce. The noise pollution would be about the equivalent of an idling diesel truck, he said, and the operations would be going 24 hours per day.
“Yes, there is some noise, but it’s pretty minimal,” McDonald said.
Ascot Resources first applied to drill in 2009. Until the company does its exploratory drilling, McDonald said it doesn’t know how the minerals will be extracted, if it moves forward with mining the area.
