For Immediate Release: Thursday, March 20, 2025

Contacts:  

John Robison, Public Lands Director, Idaho Conservation League, (208) 345-6933 x 213

Abby Urbanek, Communications & Marketing Manager, Idaho Conservation League, (208) 345-6933 x 214

Sydney Anderson, Mining & Policy Manager, Idaho Rivers United, (208) 343-7481

Cynthia Wallesz, Executive Director, Golden Eagle Audubon, (208) 995-7400

Will Shoemaker, Communications & Engagement Director, Advocates for the West, (208) 342-7024 x 210  

Lisa Young, Director, Idaho Sierra Club, (208) 841-8587

Mine exploration project approved in Boise River headwaters without recommended protections

The CuMo Mine Exploration Project in the Boise National Forest poses threats to water quality, fish, and wildlife and is the next step to an open pit mine.

BOISE, ID – Local conservation groups are speaking out against a recently approved mine exploration project proposal in the headwaters of the Boise River. The U.S. Forest Service authorized a four-year plan by Idaho Copper Corporation to construct up to eight miles of new roads and clear 122 drill pads on National Forest lands near Grimes Creek. Through the CuMo Exploration Project, Idaho Copper hopes to find sufficient copper and molybdenum to excavate one of the largest open-pit accessible molybdenum mines in the world—all within the Boise River watershed.

“Just the exploration alone poses threats to our water quality, recreation, traffic, public safety, and wildlife—and it is a dangerous stepping stone to massive amounts of pollution in the Boise River headwaters from an open pit mine,” said John Robison, Public Lands & Wildlife Director with the Idaho Conservation League. 

The Boise River is the lifeblood of the Treasure Valley. The exploration site is upstream of half of Idaho’s population, and the Boise River watershed provides approximately 30 percent of Boise’s drinking water supply and irrigates over 300,000 acres of farmland. An eventual open pit mine places the entire watershed—and all who rely on it—at unacceptable risk. Just last month, the tailings dam at an open pit copper mine in Zambia failed, spilling some 30 million gallons of acid mine waste that contaminated 60 miles of the Kafue River. 

“Copper is important, but so is clean drinking water for Idahoans,” said Sydney Anderson, Mining and Policy Manager at Idaho Rivers United. “We need to see more responsible mining practices so that we don’t put communities downstream at risk. Responsible mining means that some places are too valuable to mine.”

“The project site includes some of the best forest habitat remaining in the Boise Basin for sensitive species like great grey owl, American goshawk, and wolverine,” said Cynthia Wallesz, Executive Director of the Golden Eagle Audubon Society. “The exploration area also hosts a rare flower found only in the mountains of central Idaho, Sacajawea’s bitterroot.”

This isn’t the first time a variation of this project has been proposed, or that conservation groups have spoken out and taken action. A federal court struck down the project in 2012 because the Forest Service failed to adequately assess the risks that extensive underground drilling could contaminate groundwater. The court struck it down again in 2016 because of the project’s threats to Sacajawea’s bitterroot. 

“Despite the fact that this project is still in its exploration phase, it warrants incredible concern when you look at published documents from the company. If all goes to plan, this project will result in one of the largest open-pit mines in the Americas that has the potential to jeopardize one of Boise’s primary sources of drinking water,” said Nick Kunath, Conservation Director at Idaho Rivers United.

Another relevant development is the current financial situation of the mining company. Last fall, the Idaho Copper Corporation underwent a transition of ownership through a forced Sheriff’s sale, resulting in an investment company from Hong Kong as the new majority shareholder. Shifting control over the project raises concerns that cost-cutting measures could take precedence over responsible environmental stewardship. 

Hundreds of thousands of Idahoans rely on the drinking water, recreation resources, and habitat that this area provides. This project puts all of that at risk. 

B-roll footage of the project area can be found here, courtesy of EcoFlight.

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ICL’s mission is to create a conservation community and pragmatic, enduring solutions that protect and restore the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the land and wildlife you love. www.idahoconservation.org

IRU’s mission is to protect and restore the rivers and fisheries of Idaho. www.idahorivers.org

Golden Eagle Audubon is dedicated to building an understanding, appreciation, and respect for the natural world in order to conserve and restore natural ecosystems for birds and other wildlife. www.goldeneagleaudubon.org

Advocates for the West is a non-profit, public interest environmental law firm headquartered in Boise, Idaho, that works to defend public lands, water, fish, and wildlife throughout the American West. www.advocateswest.org

The Sierra Club is America’s oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization.  The Idaho Chapter of the Sierra Club works to build a movement of engaged residents to promote the conservation of Idaho’s natural environment and climate. www.sierraclub.org/idaho