In 1968, the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) discovered a molybdenum deposit at the base of Castle Peak, the highest peak in the White Cloud Mountains. ASARCO filed paperwork with the Forest Service to construct roads and to allow for an open pit mine below Castle Peak to extract the ore. The proposed mine would have been deep, wide, and long. About of material would be processed daily with 99.5 percent being deposited in waste piles and settling ponds. ASARCO estimated that the mine would create 350 jobs and $1 million ($ today) in taxes per year, while the roads would open up opportunities for further exploration. The Forest Service would not be able to stop mining and protect the White Cloud Mountains because the General Mining Act of 1872 gave mining rights to anyone who had located a lode or placer. Nationally, opposition to the mine mounted, while Republican Governor Don Samuelson voiced support for the mine in 1970, saying that ASARCO was not, "going to tear down mountains. They are only going to dig a hole." He also characterized Castle Peak as, "nothing but sagebrush on one side and scraggly trees on the other." Samuelson lost his reelection bid that November in a rematch with Democrat Cecil Andrus, a supporter of preserving the forest who later (1977–81) served as U.S. interior secretary in the Carter Administration.