Mission

Take conservationists and Idaho media over the CuMo Mine Exploration site to learn about the project located in the headwaters of Grimes Creek and the threats it poses to Boise's drinking water.

The CuMo Mine Exploration Project, short for copper (Cu) and molybdenum (Mo), proposed by Idaho Copper, a new “shell company” for the Canadian mining company MultiMet, is located in the Boise River watershed in the headwaters of Grimes Creek. Idaho Copper hopes this project will eventually be the world’s largest open-pit accessible molybdenum mine in the world. Two previous exploration efforts were stopped by a Federal Court after it was determined that the Forest Service had not completed the required level of preliminary analysis. Conservation groups are concerned that exploration and mine development could degrade the watershed and threaten rare plants like the Sacagwea’s bitterroot. The exploration project alone includes 8 miles of new roads and 122 drill pads with up to 250 drill holes in the Boise River headwaters. The Boise River supplies over 30% of the City of Boise’s drinking water supply and irrigates 300,000 acres of cropland.

The Forest Service is currently building the final environmental analysis, and its release is expected within the next month.

Click for photos from the flight, geo-referenced photos (download and open in Google Earth), and aerial GoPro footage.