Forum Energy Metals Corp. and Golden Share Resources Corp. jointly said July 3 that their recently acquired 32 mineral claims over the Afton vanadium deposit in Wyoming are not open to mineral exploration and development.

The operator, Forum Energy, noted that the claim area is subject to the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, part of a much larger piece of federal legislation called the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009.

The Wyoming act withdraws land in the Bridge-Teton National Forest from resource exploration and development. The company noted that it is looking at its legal options, however "it is currently of the position that the claims are invalid."