This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake County spent millions to preserve a rugged Oquirrh Mountain region of high-mountain forests and sagebrush-speckled slopes, trumpeting the sale as an open-space prize for generations to come.
But the county failed to mention one detail: Kennecott Utah Copper wants to snoop beneath the surface for minerals.
The copper giant filed 70 mining claims with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to explore mineral deposits beneath the county-owned Rose Canyon Ranch in the hills west of Herriman.
It's a potentially troublesome move for the county, which bought 1,700 surface acres of Oquirrh Mountain wilderness five months ago for hiking, horseback riding and backcountry bicycling.
Even so, county leaders acknowledge they knew of Kennecott's leanings before they closed the $8.7 million deal.
"If it is not invasive to the property, I don't have a concern," Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon said. "But I don't want to see anything done that would deteriorate the property for its intended purpose.
"We purchased that property for open space for the citizens. That is the way we want to keep it."
But Kennecott's plans may burrow beyond the county's comfort level.
The company has requested the county's permission to remove brush, install temporary survey wires, improve existing roads and, depending on Kennecott's findings, construct up to five drill sites for sampling, according to documents obtained through an open-records request.
"We would be very conscientious of not interfering with the surface use, except to any extent that is required to do the exploration at the appropriate stage," Kennecott representative Erik Best wrote in a Feb. 29 e-mail to Salt Lake County Council Chairman Michael Jensen. "As you are aware, Kennecott has high environmental standards. We believe our exploration efforts can be facilitated in a respectable fashion."
The company has promised to restore the property to its natural condition - a federal requirement for such exploration.
While some county leaders shrug off Kennecott's request - "I don't see it, in any way, harming the property or our value in the property," Councilman Jim Bradley remarked - others are downright resistant.
"I'm going to fight tooth-and-nail along the way to prevent them from mining that ground," Councilwoman Jenny Wilson said. "As a council, we value open space."
Kennecott already faces increased county scrutiny after reports that the company concealed in the early 1990s the risks of its Magna mine-waste pond rupturing during a massive earthquake and inundating a nearby neighborhood.
At Kennecott's request, the county will oversee an independent investigation of the tailings impoundment.
As for Rose Canyon Ranch, the property represents a preservation coup for the county. Officials snatched up the land in November as part of a voter-approved $48 million bond for park and open-space development.
By combining the ranch with the county-owned Yellow Fork Park and a neighboring BLM parcel, the county created its largest wedge of preserved wildland on the valley's west side.
The parcels cover nearly 4,000 acres - about the size of Holladay.
But county officials didn't scoop up the mineral rights to the entire property. Instead, they chose to continue with the transaction after learning that Kennecott wanted to hunt for ore beneath the surface.
Kennecott filed documents with the BLM in September and October - weeks before Salt Lake County bought the Rose Canyon Ranch - to locate mining claims on the property, according to agency records.
"We were aware of their interest before we made the purchase," open-space coordinator Lorna Vogt said. "We chose to go ahead because we have high confidence that we can protect this area as open space."
Why the confidence?
"This area has been explored many times in the past," Vogt explained, "and has not shown any viable minerals."
But times have changed.
Prices for copper, gold and silver have skyrocketed in recent years, making those hard-to-mine Oquirrh Mountain regions a little more appealing. Mineral-exploration technologies also have improved.
Kennecott already has stepped back from its expansive west-bench development plan - which included 41,000 acres of homes, businesses and office complexes - to focus first on mining.
Even so, company spokesman Louie Cononelos described Kennecott's interest in Rose Canyon Ranch as routine mineral exploration.
"We are always looking for ore bodies that we can potentially bring on line," he said. "But the success ratio of finding those ore bodies is extremely small."
How small? Only one out of every 270 Kennecott drill rigs finds a mineable mineral bed, according to Cononelos.
"We support the concept of open space," he said. "We have our own history of open space. But, at the same time, we are interested in mineral exploration. If there is a target there, we would like the opportunity to look for it."
Kennecott has asked county leaders for access to Rose Canyon Ranch and promised to consult them about any future drill sites.
But the company really doesn't need the county's nod. The BLM will grant Kennecott access without the property owner's consent if the mine submits an acceptable exploration plan and sets aside enough money for land reclamation.
"Obviously, you would like them to do it with the landowner's consent," BLM spokeswoman Megan Crandall said, "but it is not required."
Vogt, the county's open-space coordinator, isn't worried.
"All I know is that [Rose Canyon Ranch] is a fantastic, beautiful open space," she said. "It has incredible value, and we will work to protect it for the residents."
* More than 70 percent of Salt Lake County voters in 2006 approved a $48 million bond to be split evenly between parks and open space.
* That money funded the county's $8.7 million purchase of Rose Canyon Ranch near Herriman.