Preserving the San Rafael Watershed in Southern Arizona
Preserving the San Rafael Watershed in Southern Arizona
Barksdale Resources Corporation is a Canadian based junior exploratory mining company, which has acquired unpatented mining claims on Forest Service land for their four projects. Their total unpatented mining claims cover almost 33 square miles or an area 25 times the size of the Town of Patagonia, AZ.
On March 30, 2022, Forest Service announced its decision to authorize the Plan of Operations for the San Antonio Exploratory Drilling Project. The project approval was granted to IC Exploration, the US subsidiary of Barksdale, a Canadian exploratory mining company.
To eliminate the potential for direct noise-related impacts to the yellow-billed cuckoo, Forest Service has directed that IC Exploration conduct all aspects of the proposed Project outside of the cuckoo breeding season (May 15 – September 30). Drilling is expected to begin in October 2022.
District Ranger Kraft stated he found there are no extraordinary circumstances that would warrant further analysis and documentation in an Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). As a result of Mr. Kraft’s findings, the San Antonio Project meets the requirements for a “categorical exclusion” as defined in 36 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) § 218.23. Categorical exclusions cannot be appealed.
The San Antonio Drilling Project Decision Memo and related documents are available on the Forest Service web site by clicking the following link San Antonio Decision Memo.
Background: The San Antonio project is located in the San Rafael Valley Watershed. Barksdale has described the project as a “potential shallow buried copper porphyry” target. Industrialized mining, in this case an open pit mine, would have significant impacts on the area water supply, wildlife, recreational use of the Forest Service land, ranching, tourism and the private property owners in the area.
In July 2019, Barksdale entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Teck American Incorporated, to acquire a 100% undivided interest in:
According to Barksdale, “significant historical work has been completed on the San Antonio Property including geologic mapping, geochemical sampling, and extensive geophysical surveys by Teck (a Canadian mining company) which outlined a shallow IP anomaly...”
Barksdale anticipates finding copper, molybdenum, silver, and gold at the San Antonio site.
To download the Plan of Operation and other Forest Service information related to the San Antonio Project, click here.
For information on the impacts of mining, click here.
In August 2019, Forest Service announced that Arizona Standard, LLC, a United States subsidiary of Barksdale Resources Corporation, submitted the Sunnyside Exploratory Drilling Project Plan of Operation (PoO). Major components of the PoO include:
The proposed locations for the 30 exploratory drill holes are Flux, Upper Humboldt and Lower Humboldt Canyons in the northwest portion of the Patagonia Mountains.
The Scoping Period, time frame when the public was able to submit comments about the Sunnyside Project, ended in October 2019. Forest Service is currently conducting an environmental analysis of the Project and anticipates releasing a draft decision in July 2022.
In August 2017, Barksdale entered into an agreement with Regal Resources USA, Inc., to acquire up to 67.5% of the Sunnyside Property located in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. This agreement includes an interest in:
Barksdale anticipates finding copper, zinc, lead, and silver at the Sunnyside Project. This project is located in the Harshaw/Sonoita Creek Watershed.
For information on the impacts of mining, click here.
To download the "Plan of Operation" and other Forest Service information related to the Sunnyside Project, click here.
In April 2018, Barksdale entered into a definitive option agreement with MinQuest, Ltd. and Allegiant Gold (U.S.) Ltd., to acquire a 100% undivided interest in:
In July 2021, Barksdale completed the purchase of a 10 acre patented mining claim adjoining the Four Metals unpatented claims.
Barksdale states the project has the potential to become an open pit mine producing copper, molybdenum, silver, and gold. As of May 2022, Barksdale has not announced any specific plans related to this project.
The Four Metals project is located on the western edge of the San Rafael Valley Watershed.
For information on the impacts of mining, click here.
On May 12, 2021, Barksdale announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the copper exploration project (Canelo Project) from Kennecott Exploration Company ("Kennecott"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto Group.
The Canelo Project is located in the northwest corner of the San Rafael Valley, an area locally known as Meadow Valley. The Canelo project is an early-stage copper porphyry and skarn/CRD exploration project located approximately 6 miles north-northeast of the Barksdale’s Sunnyside project. The property consists of 433 federal mining claims covering approximately 8,700 acres or almost 14 square miles of Forest Service land.
In addition to acquiring 100% of the Canelo Project from Kennecott Exploration Inc., Barksdale has obtained certain raw geophysical data that covers the Company's Sunnyside and San Antonio projects.
As of May 2022 Barksdale has not announced any specific plans related to this project.
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