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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Thousands of acres of land designated for open space in western Salt Lake County could have some activity going on below.
Kennecott Utah Copper owns the mining claims beneath the land purchased by the county. The company filed 70 mining claims with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to explore mineral deposits under the Rose Canyon Ranch in the hills west of Herriman.
Salt Lake County knew Kennecott owned the mining rights before the purchasing the 1,700-acre Rose Canyon Ranch in November and went ahead with the deal.
"If it is not invasive to the property, I don't have a concern," 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."
Kennecott has requested the county's permission to remove brush, install temporary survey wires, improve existing roads and possibly constructing up to five drill sites for sampling, according to documents obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune through an open-records request.
If Kennecott goes through with plans to survey the deposits underneath the open land, the company has promised to restore the property to its natural condition -- a federal requirement.
Kennecott spokesman Louie Cononelos described Kennecott's interest as routine.
"We are always looking for ore bodies that we can potentially bring on line," Cononelos said. "But the success ratio of finding those ore bodies is extremely small."
Voters approved a $48 million bond for park and open-space development. About 4,000 acres will be a preserve in the rugged Oquirrh Mountain region for hiking, horseback riding, backcountry bicycling and other activities.
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
