NEDERLAND - The fate of the Caribou and Cross Mines, located just four miles above the Town of Nederland, hangs in the balance as an upcoming public hearing of the Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (DRMS) will decide whether the Cross Mine can be considered a Designated Mining Operation or if it will face its “end of life.” 

Over the next 20 days, following the publication of this article on March 13, 2025, area residents can submit their feedback on this matter in writing to the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, 1313 Sherman St. Room 215 Denver, CO 80203, as well as https://dnrlaserfiche.state.co.us/Forms/DRMS_Comment.

The following is a brief recapitulation of the complex history of the mines and nature of the governance involved in this matter.

The Caribou and Cross Mines were first discovered in 1869 and operated into the late 1950s; nearly two decades passed before Caribou resident Tom Hendricks and his Hendricks Mining Company revitalized the “dead” industry, introducing environmentally-conscious methods to successfully mine copper, gold, lead, silver, and zinc for the next 43 years.  

Grand Island Resources LLC (GIR) acquired the mines in 2017 and appointed Hendricks as their president. GIR’s business model includes using private capital to buy mines that are in dire need of infrastructure investment, improve them with modern technologies, and get them operational and profitable again. 

The Caribou and Cross Mines were meant to be GIR’s “pilot project,” with their expansion to include a new ore processing facility and septic system, as well as a new road connecting the two mines.

Disaster struck in December of 2019 when the operation’s Idaho Tunnel collapsed, which halted any mining and caused Caribou Road to become dangerously unstable. GIR later reported that the tunnel cleanup and reinforcement of Caribou Road cost them $4.1 million and 20,000 man hours.  

Then, on January 6, 2020, Hendricks passed away. Hendricks was not only GIR’s president for the Caribou and Cross Mines, but he also served as the trusted liaison between the company and the Town of Nederland. 

In the fall of 2021, the DRMS were notified of GIR’s non-compliance for zinc, cadmium, lead, copper, and silver exceedances in the discharged water from Cross Mine, which filtered through settling ponds that released water into Coon Creek Track and North Beaver Creek.   

At the start of 2022, GIR responded to criticisms made by Nederland’s then-Mayor, Kristopher Larsen, the Nederland Board of Trustees, and current Town Administrator Miranda Fisher. 

The criticism include the accusation that GIR was making water from valley wells unsafe to drink, food grown in gardens irrigated from North Beaver Creek unsafe to eat, the City of Boulder’s drinking water unsafe to drink, and that GIR was actively mining gold with harmful extraction methods. 

A letter from GIR attorney Edward Byrne claimed that this criticism from Town officials was malicious slander. The Town of Nederland was threatened with a $5 million lawsuit if any further allegedly libelous statements were to continue to be made against the mining company. 

Directly following this incident, a joint letter from representatives of the City of Boulder was submitted to the DRMS directly opposing GIR’s application for a discharge permit. The letter stated evidence that GIR had failed to communicate with the City critical issues related to discharge from the mines, and that GIR had not been compliant with its discharge permit since 2019. 

In February of 2022, just as the DRMS had reached a preliminary determination that the Cross Mine met the definition of a Designated Mining Operation (DMO)—a designation that allows the mine to operate using chemicals for metallurgical processing on-site, under regulations and oversight—a cease and desist order was immediately issued to GIR. 

The order was issued for several pollutant violations from December 2020 to August 2021 involving excessive and toxic traces of copper and lead found in the watershed. The order was also imposed because GIR failed to submit pollutant reports in March and April of 2021.

Despite several requests made to lift the cease and desist order, GIR were forced effectively to cease operation of their mines from February 18, 2022 into 2023. They were also prohibited from reapplying for DMO status at that time. During this time the Caribou and Cross Mines experienced unfortunate layoffs. 

With GIR providing successful results from hydrologic monitoring, and completing corrective actions, which included submitting quarterly reports, the Mined Land Reclamation Board found GIR to be compliant and lifted the cease and desist order on January 18, 2023.

The lifting of the cease and desist order also marked the start of the 180-day period during which  GIR needed to submit their new DMO application. After requesting extensions in February and December of 2023, GIR were given until January 17, 2025, to submit their application. 

The application was submitted on February 6, 2025.

Once the DRMS deemed the application “complete for the purposes of filing,” the period of public notice and comment began, with the official public notice first posted and published on February 20, 2025. 

(This history was covered in depth in the article “Status of the Caribou and Cross Mines,” published on February 22, 2024: https://www.themtnear.com/stories/status-of-the-caribou-and-cross-mines,12436.)

On March 4, 2025, the Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met to discuss drafting an official statement to the DRMS regarding the Town’s official position on the Cross Mines’ DMO application. By drafting this letter the BOT will be formally stating Nederland’s standing as a party of interest to take part in an upcoming public hearing. 

During the meeting, Trustees recommended  hiring a subject matter expert to assist Town staff in gathering data on the ecological impact of GIR’s plans. Concerns were also raised about the inevitable increase in heavy vehicle traffic traveling through Town should the mines reopen. 

The lengthy DMO application, which the DRMS had stated was complex, left Trustees with several unanswered questions pertaining to the proposed increase of Cross Mines’ permit area from 9.99 acres to 205.7 acres.

Town Administrator Jonathan Cain hypothesized that GIR plans to expand their mining for gold and other minerals, and that the expansion would include the possible creation of a new processing mill. There are no formal plans for a new mill within the DMO application, though GIR states their intention to create a mining operation to last the next 50 years.

The Town’s approach is not to oppose the DMO application for the sake of opposing it, and is intended to state concerns about the potential impact to water resources, public health, and community welfare.

In addition to potentially hiring a subject matter expert to prepare for the public hearing, the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB), with the Town’s Sustainability Coordinator Cass Grady and Community Planner Britt DeMinck, have been holding special meetings in order to pore over GIR’s application and draft their letter of opposition, which the BOT hopes will advise their own letter.

The BOT’s discussion was covered in depth in the article “Will Nederland’s mines reopen,” published on March 6, 2025:  https://www.themtnear.com/stories/will-nederlands-mines-reopen,32496.

During the March 4 BOT meeting, Rich Orman, Co-Chair of the SAB, stated that GIR’s application mentioned the use of cyanide in the leaching process of their ore. Following the publication of that article, The Mountain-Ear was contacted by the Mined Land Reclamation Board, which issued the clarification that the Cross Mine DMO application does not include or mention the use of cyanide. 

On Monday, March 10, during a special meeting of the SAB, Orman officially retracted his statement made to the BOT. 

At that special meeting, the SAB, along with Cain, DeMinck, and Grady, detailed their concerns about the DMO application, which includes the potential impact to environmental and public health; the lack of detail on the supposed upcoming new mill; and the hazards to wildlife, especially during moose calving season. 

The biggest concern was about Nederland’s watershed and how GIR’s mining expansion and reclamation plans may affect it. Though the application specifically notes that GIR feels there is no danger of any hazardous runoff getting into Nederland’s streams from the discharge site, SAB members questioned whether there was potential for runoff in any other unsuspected areas.  

Cain asked for the SAB to lean on their best instincts when drafting the letter of opposition, which is to be reviewed by the BOT and Town Attorney, so the letter can be sent to the DRMS before the deadline of April 2. 

The Mountain-Ear will continue to investigate this issue and update the community as more details emerge and the DRMS public hearing approaches.

The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety reached out to The Mountain-Ear after the publication of “Nederland weighs opposition to mines reopening” stating that the Cross Mine application does not include or mention the use of cyanide.