News From Lee Creek

[bj aurora]

It is with regret that I pass along the news that there will not be a Fall 2010 season at PotashCorp Aurora (as PCS is now called). Curtis Ormond retired as of July 1, and they have not filled his position yet. The public relations department announced there will not be a fall season this year due to safety concerns, and they will meet later this year to determine if there will be a Spring 2011 season. Let's all keep our fingers crossed for next year!

BJ Blake, Aurora

[Auspex]

Please convey to Curtis our gratitude for all he's done over the years, and our best wishes in his retirement.

[bj aurora]

Will do, Auspex (in fact, I already did in advance)

[FossilForKids]

As I learned when Bob Ernst's land was no longer available we should alway approach a truly great fossil site as a breath of Spring air......enjoy while it lasts cherish it when it's gone.

FFK

[PaleoRon]

I will be surprised if collectors are allowed in again.

[RickNC]

Too bad. After a visit to the museum rekindled my interest I would love to go in there.

[AeroMike]

From what I understand, it took a lot from the museum and fossil people to get PCS through the redtape to gain access to mine a new area and this is how they are repaid? ..."Hey thanks for helping us out, now go away!" Too bad, I was really hoping to go there for the first time.

[siteseer]

It's a headache keeping track of visitors having nothing to do with their daily operations and I once asked a friend who had collected there and knew the situation, why have they bothered letting people in at all? He said it was good public relations. I would say that collectors will be let in again for that reason, but beyond safety (the liability concern), I would think that the new mining company would rather save some money during an economic downturn than pull their people off their regular work to secure and maintain an area where people can pick up fossils for a couple of months. I advise patience.

I have a similar problem in central California. An oil company used to let groups in to collect fossils on their property in the Kettleman Hills but all requests have been refused over the past few years. I was once with a group that spotted and reported a newly-leaking pipe but we couldn't expect a single deed to buy us a lifetime pass. You can find a lot of nice fossils in those hills - worth the wait.

I will be surprised if collectors are allowed in again.

[PaleoRon]

My understanding is that they recently got their final permit to mine the remaining area of their land tract, backed by a huge amount of support from the fossil collecting community. If that is correct the equation is simple, no further need for public support to help them get a permit equals no further need for fossil collectors in their mine.