Mt. Fitzherbert

A proposal for a mine near Mount St. Helens took a step forward today when the Bureau of Land Management announced it plans to issue a lease for land critical to the project.

The BLM said it will grant Spokane-based Idaho General Mines the lease to 217 acres on the northern edge of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument for mining. But it said it wouldn't allow any work there until further environmental studies showed it could be done without causing too much damage to the surrounding environment.

The land is inside the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and was originally acquired by the Forest Service in a deal with the environmental group the Trust for Public Land. The BLM has authority over mining activity on federal lands.