Capabilities
What we handle, and what it takes to get a project approved.
Requirements vary by property, jurisdiction, agency, and land status. This page describes the pathways and the work most commonly involved in moving a mining project through review and toward development across the Western United States.
Core capabilities
Where we are engaged.
Technical review
Independent examination of geology, sampling, resource work, and engineering assumptions, with specialists engaged where a project requires them.
Resource evaluation support
Coordination of the work that supports a defensible resource picture, including sampling programs, data compilation, and qualified professional review.
Site and project advisory
Field assessment of access, workings, water, waste handling, and site constraints that determine what an operation can practically do.
Development strategy
Defining the sequence, schedule, and capital path from an approved project to a producing one.
Operational planning support
Staffing, equipment, compliance programs, and reporting systems established before startup rather than after.
Stakeholder coordination
Managing the relationship between owners, agencies, counsel, consultants, neighbors, and partners so a project keeps one schedule.
Regulatory pathways
The approvals that decide the schedule.
Which of these apply depends on land status, disturbance, water, and the county involved. Establishing the correct list early is one of the most valuable things an owner can do.
- Federal ground
- Plans of Operations and notices for operations on Forest Service or BLM administered land, including the surface management rules that apply to locatable minerals.
- SMARA
- Reclamation plan and financial assurance under the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act, filed with the lead agency, reviewed by the state, and maintained annually.
- CEQA
- Environmental review through the lead agency, from initial study to the adopted document and its mitigation conditions.
- Water quality
- Regional Water Quality Control Board authorizations, including waste discharge requirements and industrial stormwater coverage where applicable.
- Air and county
- Air district permits and county use permits, grading, and conditions attached to local approval.
- Health and safety
- MSHA startup and restart readiness, Part 46/48 training systems, written safety programs, Part 50 reporting procedures, workplace examinations, contractor compliance, and inspection preparation, together with applicable Cal/OSHA requirements.
- Reporting
- Feasibility analysis, business planning, and technical reporting prepared to the standard a lender, buyer, or partner requires.
Project experience
Relevant experience is discussed privately.
We do not publish client names, property names, or transaction details. Where it is useful to a prospective client, we describe comparable work and provide references directly, with the permission of the parties involved.
If you are evaluating whether the firm fits your project, the fastest path is a short confidential conversation about the property itself.
Inquiries
Tell us about the property.
Initial conversations are confidential and cost nothing. If a project is outside what we do, we will say so early.