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Quaterra Considers Legal Action in Response to Withdrawal of U.S. Federal Land in Northern Arizona
Quaterra Resources, Inc. (TSXV: QTA) (NYSE-Amex: QMM) - A recently announced decision by the U...
About this update from Lion Copper And Gold Corp
[{"type":"text","content":"\nQuaterra Considers Legal Action in Response to Withdrawal of U.S. Federal Land in Northern Arizona\n\nQuaterra Resources, Inc. (TSXV: QTA) (NYSE-Amex: QMM) -\nA recently announced decision by the United States Secretary of the Interior may affect a portion of the uranium claims which Quaterra holds in the “Arizona Strip” of northern Arizona where it has spent in excess of $13 million in acquisition, exploration and development costs. Accordingly, the Company has retained legal counsel to advise upon its appropriate remedies related to the withdrawal which counsel advises appears to be legally defective in many respects.\nOn January 9, 2012, the Interior Department announced a Public Land Order to withdraw approximately one million acres of Federal land in northern Arizona from mineral entry for a twenty year period. Approximately 85% of Quaterra’s claims lie within these Federal jurisdiction lands and 15% lie within Arizona State land which are unaffected by the withdrawal.\nThe stated purpose of the Order is to withdraw the acreage from the location of new mining claims under the 1872 Mining Law. It does not, however, prohibit exploration and development on existing mining claims that are determined to be valid as of the date of segregation on July 21, 2009. Quaterra has, through exploration and development, identified over 200 targets on these federal lands which are now subject to a valid existing rights (VER) examination. \n“The withdrawal Order appears to be politically motivated rather than based upon an objective view of fact and law related to environmental risk,” says Quaterra President and CEO Thomas Patton.\nThis week’s decision has also been publicly denounced by both Arizona Governor Janice Brewer (www.azgovernor.gov/dms/upload/PR_010912_Mining.pdf) and Senators and Congressmen from Arizona, Utah and Wyoming (http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_ id=c39785b2-f77b-cf84-2ad9-2c7c549cc0e7). \nThe decision appears to disregard the Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 which was enacted after a thorough and comprehensive assessment of the compatibility of uranium mining with conservation interests. The Act, a compromise reached by Federal and state governments, environmental groups and mining companies, created a 650,000-...