Mount Winfield, named in honor of the mining company's board chairman, is a glaring example of the destructive nature of pit mining. Photo by Max Winthrop

Corrado De Gasperis, CEO of Comstock Mining Inc. appeared at a meeting of the Silver City Town Advisory Board. He announced that his company had acquired some 6,000 acres of mining claims on and around the Comstock, running in a 4-mile-wide swath from beneath the V on Sun Mountain eight miles south across US 50. One of those claims, he said, pointer tapping the Powerpoint presentation on the screen, was the Dayton Consolidated near the Y on Silver City's south side.

Drilling would begin shortly and even though it would create noise and dust, the company would do everything in its power to mitigate the annoyance. In any event, he told the astonished audience, the company had a 25-year plan to pit mine the Comstock and we'd better get used to the idea.

Before the gavel fell at the end of the meeting the Comstock Residents Association was being formed in the back of the room. Because so many communities would be directly affected by the CMI plan, the CRA formed a board of five members, One from Dayton, two from Silver City, one from Gold Hill and one from Virginia City.

We created a list of working groups — Fundraising, Public Information, Legal, Environmental, etc — and set to work.

Overheard at Main Street Shops in Austin: "I'm telling you, Larry, you don't have to be smart to be a clear thinker, but you do have to be brave."

Happy Highways,

David W. Toll

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