Firm Revives Open-Pit Mine Proposal in Sand Canyon Area

The president of a Los Angeles-based mining company said Thursday he is reviving plans to construct a controversial open-pit iron-ore mine near the pricey Sand Canyon area of Santa Clarita.

George Warsaw, president of Eureka Consolidated Development Co., said he plans to file a lawsuit in federal court in an effort to compel the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to conduct boundary surveys that could pave the way for Eureka’s proposed mine in the Angeles National Forest.

“We have every intention of proceeding,” Warsaw said, adding that he hopes to file suit within six months.

The project was thrown into limbo in July after federal surveyors were unable to determine if the proposed mine site was within a portion of the national forest where mining is legal. Federal officials refused to conduct a new survey, saying they could not afford the $200,000 cost.

Homeowners in Sand Canyon--an exclusive area that features Tudor-style estate homes and Arabian horse ranches--assumed that they had won their five-year battle against the mine after federal authorities declined to do new surveys.

Minebusters, a homeowners group, has scheduled a “victory fiesta” for Sunday to celebrate and to raise money to pay off $2,300 in legal bills. Minebusters leader Mike Levison could not be reached for comment Thursday.