Plan for drilling near Mount St. Helens advances

Drilling planned 12 miles north of the volcano would not have a major impact on the environment of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, the agency said Tuesday.

If the Bureau of Land Management agrees, drilling could begin at 23 sites as soon as next summer, The Daily News reported (http://is.gd/iMRM4c) Wednesday.

Further study and more permits would be required to develop a working mine.

"This is definitely not about whether there's going to be a mine of any kind," said Cowlitz Valley District Ranger Gar Abbas. "That's a whole different review process."

Two federal agencies must approve because the Forest Service regulates the surface and BLM regulates underground land use.

Ascot Resources, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, will use the test drilling to assess whether mineral deposits are rich enough to warrant mining. Holes bored in the 1970s showed high levels of copper, gold, silver and molybdenum, which is used in making steel alloys.

Ascot has said it would mine below the surface, but critics fear Ascot would seek an open pit mine.