The Snake River weaves through numerous counties in the southern portion of the state, and it would be incorrect to assume the river has been mostly depleted of minerals such as gold from roughly a quarter-century (1860-1885) of mining in the region.
The company says "the area contains about 825,000 ounces (23.4 million grams) of gold. The company in a summary of its plans says it would like to get the gold by digging an open-pit mine."
U.S. government officials are moving forward with a plan to block new gold mining claims in the mountains north of Yellowstone National Park with Thursday's release of a draft analysis of the proposal's effects on the environment.