DENVER – A troubled Mancos gold mining company was dealt another blow Wednesday, losing the bond for a mine it owns near Silverton.
Red Arrow Gold Corp. has already been sanctioned for building an illegal mercury mill just outside the Mancos city limits. The state undertook a costly cleanup of the site, and the company still has not corrected numerous violations found by the Mined Land Reclamation Board at the mill and its associated Out West mine.
Wednesday, the mining board seized Red Arrow’s $8,685 bond for the Freda mine, which is northwest of Silverton.
Previously, mining inspectors had found several violations at the mine – mostly related to erosion and potential water pollution from the mine site – and ordered a cleanup.
Red Arrow owner Craig Liukko has not attended any of the several hearings the mining board has conducted about his company, and he did not attend Wednesday’s proceeding, either.
The board seized Red Arrow’s bond after it failed to post a new $19,000 bond to cover cleanup costs at the Freda claim. It also did not pay a $100 fine the board levied.
Red Arrow is embroiled in a complicated bankruptcy case with partner company American Patriot Gold and a New York hedge fund, Maximilian Investors.