President Donald Trump opened the door to mine for coal, uranium and minerals across a massive swath of federal land in Utah on Monday after shrinking the footprint of two national monuments.
The rescissions open up nearly 3 million acres of land, including acreage that could be ripe for mineral exploration and development. That includes coal-rich lands within the footprint of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and uranium deposits near the Bears Ears National Monument, said Brian Somers, president of the Utah Mining Association.
“There’s definitely potential. The areas around Bears Ears are definitely part of Utah’s uranium belt and the lands around, in the Grand-Staircase are known to contain some of our largest coal reserves,” said Somers. “There’s also potential for other critical mineral development in those areas.”
But it’s unclear what the Trump administration’s actions will deliver for the industry, even with mineral potential and the strong support for exploration from state leaders in Utah. Political outrage over Trump’s move to shrink the monuments — which fly in the face of years of lobbying for protections from a coalition of Native American tribes — could dampen industry’s appetite.
