WILLIAMS — On Tuesday, August 23, Tom O’Halleran from the 1st District of Arizona held a town hall meeting at the American Legion Cordova Post #13 on Grant Street. He spoke unfavorably of the location of the pozzolan mining operation by the Peruvian-owned company Drake Cement.

Local residents are concerned that mining operations in the Bill Williams Mountain watershed area could pose problems for the limited water resources of Williams. There are also concerns over why the foreign-owned Drake Cement has claimed over 800-acres of area used by a variety of wild life. The area is also a hunting area and a popular hiking and camping area.

The Forest Service’s Role in Minerals Management
According to the Kaibab Forest web site, the Forest Service’s role in minerals management is twofold: 1) to make minerals from National Forest lands available to the national economy and, at the same time, 2) to minimize the adverse impacts of mining activities on National Forest System surface resources.

• United States mining laws, principally the Mining Law of 1872, confer a statutory right to search for minerals on public lands. The law provides US citizens the right to explore for and discover valuable mineral deposits on federal lands that are open to mineral entry.
• Unless an area is withdrawn by the Secretary of Interior or excluded by an act of Congress, National Forest System lands are open to mining claims. The FS does not have the authority to withdraw lands from mining.
• The Forest Service must consider all reasonable proposals for mineral operations on areas that are open to entry and complete the environmental review within a reasonable timeframe.
• The Code of Federal Regulations (36 CFR 228(a) – Locatable Minerals) sets forth rules and procedures for operating on National Forest System lands so as to minimize adverse environmental impacts on surface resources.

Drake Cement is owned by Peruvian company Cementos Lima through a company called Skanon Investment, Inc. Enrique Rozas is the CEO for Drake Cement and has been the agent for Skanon Investments, inc. since July 21, 2016, according to Internet sources.