The U.S. Forest Service expects to close its public comment period in mid-June on a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Roca Honda uranium mine near Mount Taylor.
Strathmore Minerals Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. of Japan propose to sink one or two shafts to depths of 2,000 feet or more below three sections of Forest Service and state lands about 22 miles northeast of Grants.
The proposal has plenty of support from the local business community, but faces strong opposition from environmental and Native American groups.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that a final environmental impact statement and approval of a plan of operation by the Forest Service, perhaps later this year, would keep the project fixed on a path to open in several years.