The CuMo Exploration Project aims to search for minerals that could lead to a mine years later in mountains outside Boise. (Kyle Pfannenstiel/Idaho Capital Sun)
A proposed mine exploration project in mountains outside Boise is advancing toward possible approval.
A 45-day objection period to the 2023 CuMo Exploration Project is open until Nov. 4. That’s after the Boise National Forest on Friday issued a decision notice and review document, finding that the CuMo project would have no significant environmental impact.
Proposed by the Idaho Copper Corporation, the CuMo exploration project would be a four-year test drill , slated in an area 14 miles north of Idaho City, a small town about northeast of Boise.
An analysis found the project area could have deposits of silver and critical minerals used in renewable energy, national defense and last-ditch efforts to expand drinking water availability.
The decision notice isn’t approval of the project plan, Boise National Forest Forest Supervisor Brant Peterson wrote in the notice. Whether the project plan is approved relies on the company accepting measures to mitigate the project’s impacts “on surface resources and the posting of financial assurance to ensure reclamation for project-related disturbance,” he wrote.