The Ouray County Planning Commission denied a request to allow mineral extraction and processing in the Valley Zone, which would have opened up about 45 square miles of the county for mining operations.

The citizen-initiated amendment was sought by Thomas C. Anderson of Paonia, who intended to prospect for gold, diamonds and heavy minerals on Bureau of Land Management property about 3 ½ miles north of the city of Ouray. His “Yukon Kiss” project intended to extract or move about 2,000 cubic y...