Bootheel groups say Canadian gold mining threatens lizard haven, dark skies

In recent years, a subsidiary of the Canadian mining company Almadex Minerals, has filed at least 132 claims for gold and silver in what the company is calling the “Big Sky Project.” The majority of those claims lie within Antelope Pass, an area set aside by the Bureau of Land Management as a Research Natural Area, a designation that bans mineral and oil extraction and limits vehicle access in order to protect “biological and research values of the land.”