Opposition to the Prism Logistics’ gravel pit proposal in Casper has widened into a broader battle over the regulation of mineral development in Wyoming and now threatens to derail industry hopes to streamline small-scale mining operations for sectors, like gold, cobalt, nickel and lithium. 

Last week, the Legislature’s Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee tabled a bill that would expand eligibility for limited mining operations (LMOs), or mineral developments under 15 acres which are afforded a host of regulatory exemptions. 

Advocates, including the Wyoming Mining Association and the Associated General Contractors of Wyoming, say the bill would boost jobs and exports while helping bring needed materials to market. 

Legislators earlier this year appeared poised to move the bill forward until the proposed Casper gravel pit brought attention to the potential dangers faced by neighbors to the small mines. 

Caroline Griffith, a homeowner on Coates Road and chairperson of the Casper Mountain Preservation Alliance, told the committee the bill would invite negative impacts on communities proximal to LMOs. 

“The onus of demonstrating the inappropriateness of an LMO [falls on] residents who had no input in the approval process. This situation could exist anywhere in our state,” she testified during a committee hearing, adding she believes that “unvetted LMO permitting on land adjacent to neighborhoods, towns and city limits feels like nothing less than state-endorsed vandalism.” 

“The current situation in Casper has shed light on why it’s important to reevaluate the requirements for LMO’s rather than expand them further,” she said. 

Proponents counter that community concerns — including hours of operation, fugitive dust, setbacks, visual screening and water quality — are addressed upstream through administrative guidelines set by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, which oversees LMO operations. 

Travis Deti of the Wyoming Mining Association argues that despite lower oversight, many LMOs would roll into larger operations if shown viable, at which point they would undergo a comprehensive public comment and review process. He told legislators the bill is needed to diversify the state’s extractive economy. 

“The state runs on extraction,” he said. “Extraction and development of our natural resources means jobs, means revenue, and we need to make it easier to get some of these new sectors online.” 

The debate comes at a time when the price of construction materials — including gravel — are rising rapidly, according to recent data from the U.S. Geological Survey, lifting building costs and exacerbating the state’s housing affordability crisis. It underscores the challenge of balancing local quality of life with broader economic concern, a point made by Natrona County Commissioner Dave North. 

“I am pro-mining, but when we have an LMO that’s in close proximity to a municipality or a developed area … they should have to go through the same process they go through in a small mining operation. That way you can provide more security and operational control over those locations,” he said, saying he feared the bill could create a “loophole.”