In early September, 2024, Barksdale Resources resumed drilling on its 1,800-acre Sunnyside Project, west and south of the Hermosa Project. For ease of access, Flux Canyon Road has been graded to its best condition in the last ten years.
In a September 12 press release, Barksdale’s President and CEO, along with VP of Communications Terri Anne Welyki, announced the strategy of what they call Phase II of the drilling program. They also announced that “the Company’s obligation [to Regal Resources] to complete $3,000,000 (Canadian) of work expenditures on the project has been met.” The overall project seeks to drill 30 holes over as much as seven years, as was reported by the PRT in May 2024.
A March 19 Barksdale press release announced their Phase I drilling assay results for zinc, lead, silver and gold, with about 0.5% copper occurring at the deeper of two levels, 1,653 meters (5,423 feet).
Barksdale has changed drilling companies, from Boart Longyear to Nevada-based Alford drilling. The resumption of drilling occurs at the end of Mexican Spotted Owl breeding season, as required in the Forest Service Permit.
There is a drill rig and supportive equipment placed at a site previously drilled in Humboldt Canyon, about three-quearters of a mile up the canyon, but the drillers are not reusing an older casing as Phase 1 of the drilling had done. The equipment (see photo) almost blocks the road, and drillers are not letting people pass because of safety reasons. Closure of Forest Service roads is within the project’s Plan of Operations.
At the site on September 14, a drill crew member mentioned that this one site would be the only one in use “for a while.” This suggests the upper half of Humboldt Canyon, accessed from Forest Service Road 4701 off Harshaw Road, just south of the Hermosa Project, will remain accessible to other Forest users at least through the fall.
The legal battle over the Coronado Forest Service’s issuance of the permit is continuing. Patagonia Area Resource Alliance (PARA) is among a collective plaintiff group in a lawsuit against the US Government for “wrongful issuance” of a permit, primarily over the issue of “cumulative impact,” a NEPA (National Envioronmental Protection Act) requirement for projects in close proximity. On August 20, the US District Court issued an Order revising deadlines for the Forest Service to complete a Supplemental Information Report by October 31. PARA and the other plaintiffs in the case sent the Forest Service a 10-page letter requesting that the Supplemental Information Report respond to specific issues of concern.