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A Canadian company’s plans to mine for copper and cobalt on Utah lands that were cut from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by President Trump are angering conservation groups that are suing to keep the lands under monument protection.

Conservation and paleontology groups called attention this week to plans announced earlier this month by Glacier Lake Resources Inc. The company said in a news release it would begin surface exploration this summer.

But officials from the Bureau of Land Management and Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining tell the Deseret News that the company hasn’t filed any paperwork seeking permission.

A phone call and email message left for the company were not returned.

There’s been no known extraction work on lands cut from Grand Staircase and the Bears Ears national monuments since the window opened for request in February.

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