Opponents of exploratory gold drilling near Spearfish Canyon share concerns at press conference in Rapid City [Video]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Mining company Solitario Resources plans to search for gold in a drilling project near Spearfish Canyon known as Golden Crest Exploration Drilling.

On Solitario’s website, they describe the gold targets on their 33,000-acre land as some of the most promising they have ever developed. However, not everyone in the Spearfish area is enthusiastic about this project. In particular, the environmental activism group Black Hills Clean Water Alliance has campaigned against the project, citing concerns about contamination in nearby groundwater streams.

The group met Thursday at Rapid City Public Library to discuss their perspectives.

“The livelihoods and lives of many people will be affected if we have a large flood event and these contaminations get washed down,” said Mike Stracco, a craft brewer at Crow Peak Brewing Company and panelist at the press conference. “It has the potential to contaminate the groundwater through those wells.”

Stracco stressed the importance of clean water in …