The U.S. Forest Service gave approval for Ascot Resources to move forward with its exploratory drilling program and I see this as a win for Southwest Washington. All this company is looking to do at this point is to determine if there is a significant mineral deposit of copper, gold, silver, and molybdenum. Let’s not lose sight that this company is just looking to explore right now.
Ascot has a sound plan for exploration and the Forest Service agrees. According to Ascot’s plan, it is seeking only to drill 63 directional bore holes at 23 separate drill pads. These bore holes would be very small (about three inches in diameter) and each drill pad is only 400 square feet. When you do the math, the area where they will be doing this drilling is less than a quarter of an acre.
We need all kinds of metals and minerals to support all the technology and infrastructure that make our daily lives possible, and minerals don’t grow on trees. They have to be mined, wherever they’re found.
And if there’s a potential for jobs to be created by mining some of the area’s minerals, then I’m all for that.
