Inconclusive Survey Stalls Plan for Mine

Federal officials say a controversial plan to operate an open pit mine in exclusive Sand Canyon has been left in limbo because land surveys could not determine whether Eureka Consolidated Development has a right to mine the site.

Federal surveyors failed to establish whether a proposed iron silicate ore mine is within an area of Angeles National Forest where mining is allowed, said Richard Borden, a special projects coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service.

Eureka Consolidated staked its claim to the proposed Black Diamond Mine under an 1872 federal mining law that allows prospecting on some public lands. But the area’s rugged terrain--plus confusing maps from the 1890s--have made it impossible to determine whether the proposed Black Diamond Mine lies within legal mining territory.

The questions raised by the surveys prompted the Forest Service to halt work on an environmental impact report, Borden said. Resolving the questions would require a $200,000 land survey, but “we don’t have the money to do that work,” he said.

The Forest Service spent $15,000 for a survey in December and January, but that effort only raised the questions that now perplex the agency, Borden said. Although the 1872 law allows mining in national forests, Congress declared portions of Angeles National Forest off limits to miners in 1928, he said.

The problem, Borden said, is tracking down the boundary line drawn by Congress. “Nobody knows where that line is,” he said. The proposed mine is about four miles south and one-quarter of a mile east of the Antelope Valley Freeway.

The discrepancies in the boundary lines were discovered more than a year ago when four Sand Canyon homeowners near the proposed mine became embroiled in a property dispute. The dispute came to the attention of Minebusters, a homeowners’ group, which raised the issue last July when it submitted 55 points challenging a draft of the environmental impact report prepared by the Forest Service.

Minebusters has not declared victory in its fight, but group leader Mike Levison said the inconsistent surveys “pretty much eliminate the prospect of a mine there in the immediate future.”

But in a June 22 letter, Eureka Consolidated asked the federal Bureau of Land Management to survey the proposed mine site. Barbara Maxfield, a bureau spokes-woman, said the agency had not yet reviewed the request. A final decision will be made by the bureau’s state director, Ed Hastey, she said.

Levison said the bureau should not use public funds to promote a private venture. “There must be something more important on their agenda than to justify a questionable mining claim,” he said. If Eureka is serious about mining in Sand Canyon, he said, the company should offer to pay for the survey.

George Warsaw, company president, said that Eureka is still committed to the Black Diamond Mine and that the survey problem could be resolved soon. “I don’t imagine it’ll take too long,” Warsaw said. He refused to comment further.

Minebusters, which has fought the mine for six years, claims that crushers used to grind ore into small chunks would disrupt the quiet of the secluded canyon. Sand Canyon is considered Santa Clarita’s most exclusive area, dotted with Tudor-style estates and Arabian horse ranches.