The Southern Ute Indian Tribe says it will do everything in its power to prevent history from repeating itself and prevent any potential mining projects from occurring in the La Plata Mountains.
The official statement made Tuesday adds the tribe’s voice to a growing coalition opposing mineral exploration in the La Platas, where Metallic Minerals, the Canadian-based mineral exploration company, has spent several years investigating the potential for a future mine.
Opposition to a mine in the area also includes opposition to all steps involved in the lead up to a potential mining operation, including continued exploratory drilling, Summer Begay, SUIT spokesperson said in a written response to the Herald’s questions.
“The exploration has the potential to impact culturally and spiritually significant seeps and springs and is a part of the process that could ultimately lead to a mining operation,” she said.
Metallic Minerals acquired mining claims covering roughly 19 square miles in the La Plata Mountains in 2019. Since then, the company has conducted exploratory work to evaluate mineral resources, including copper and other metals. The company is currently working through permitting for another round of exploratory drilling.
Any future mining would threaten the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s rights to hunt, fish and gather on approximately 3.7 million acres of the San Juan Mountain region, according to the tribe, including the La Plata Mountain range guaranteed to the tribe under the 1873 Brunot Agreement, which ceded much of what is now Southwest Colorado to the United States.
The Brunot Agreement, like much of the historic interactions between the U.S Government and Indigenous tribes, was made in bad faith and took the 3.7 million acres from the Ute Reservation in order to pursue mining interests on the mineral rich land that the Ute’s and their ancestors inhabited since time in memoriam.
“The Tribe does not intend to repeat history and forfeit its Treaty rights to mining interests,” the tribe’s Tuesday news release read.
The La Plata Mountains hold cultural and historical significance for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Navajo Nation, among others.
“Framing the treaty rights as merely one factor to consider is incorrect and unacceptable,” SUIT said. “The Tribal Council will do all we can to preserve our treaty rights. We will not allow these rights to be diminished or disregarded in favor of mining interests.”
In a written statement to The Durango Herald, Greg Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer of Metallic Minerals, said the company did not intend and does not view treaty rights as one factor among many. The company’s various informational materials, like FAQs, presentations and project summaries will be updated to reflect that, Johnson said.
Much of the Southern Ute’s summary of their reasons for opposing a potential project related to the concept of “block cave mining” that was presented in the company’s 2026 technical report of the La Plata Project.
The block cave mining process, as defined by the tribe, involves the systemic collapse of the land within itself, which would have “devastating visual impact,” and the mountain’s aesthetics will “forever be detrimentally changed,” the news release said.
Additionally, concerns about the damage to elk and mule deer populations as well as water ways in the area were raised.
In his response, Johnson repeated that no mining method has been selected at the La Plata project and that the exploration phase will likely continue for some time.
“Our vision, should exploration be successful, would be to design a model underground mining operation that minimizes surface and environmental impacts,” Johnson said.
The company has repeatedly emphasized that its role is mineral exploration, not mining. However, the purpose of the ongoing exploration is to determine whether a sufficiently large and economically viable mineral resource exists to support future mining, in hopes that a mining corporation will eventually buy out the claim.
“The fact that the project will be sold to a different company only elevates the tribe’s concerns, as any commitments or statements by Metallic Minerals to welcome the tribe’s involvement may not be honored by the project’s future owner,” Begay said.
“This area is the tribe’s home. Any lasting effects will be borne by the tribe and tribal members, not by companies who sell projects and responsibilities to others,” she said.
Johnson said that the tribe’s formalized opposition will not impact current exploration activities that are “low impact,” but that the concerns will “will sharpen areas that we will focus on going forward in future tribal engagement and any future mine concept studies.”
The company, which has repeatedly stated that it prioritizes cultural responsiveness and community buy-in, and that both are included when considering a project’s feasibility, side stepped the Herald’s question regarding if now that SUIT has issued strong opposition to any of Metallic Mineral’s activity it will consider pausing or halting operations.
“A decision about whether a mine is ever built at La Plata is many years and many approvals away, and it is not Metallic’s decision alone to make,” Johnson said, adding the company has to follow through on it’s commitment to investors.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
