Cloudy property titles have sent the possible mining deal in Rico into a flatspin.

Bolero Resources Corp. CEO R. Bruce Duncan did not elaborate on specific shortcomings in the deal with landowners Rico Renaissance LLC. But he did allege that some of the land titles were murky, and that legal ownership of some land was unclear.

Duncan said Bolero was still in negotiations but that the price would need to change in order for Bolero to buy.

“We’re not paying a full $10 million,” he said. “It’s not going to happen.”

The listed telephone number for Rico Renaissance in Rico did not work, and a local representative did not return phone calls.

“It’s a very, very fluid situation right now,” Duncan said. “The whole structure of the deal could potentially change.”

But how it could change — or if it could fail entirely — is unclear.

The initial deal was slated to close around Nov. 16. According to the Dolores County Clerk’s office, no transactions have been filed under the Bolero name.

After the news broke online of Bolero’s intent to purchase the mining properties up Silver Creek, tiny Rico rattled.

Residents crowded into town hall, carrying concerns and questions. Most weren’t shy: Mining wasn’t welcome in a town with mining in its roots but off its wish list, and a recent master plan calls for no mining in the area.

The stalled land deal sparks uncertainty over a bold mining agenda that Duncan said would have added as many as 1,000 workers to a town of 250. Telluride, he said, could grow in excess of 1,000 people.

Molybdenum is an element used to harden steel alloys and can withstand extreme temperatures without expanding or softening, making it useful for tasks where intense heat is present, such as aircraft ports and industrial motors.

The Anaconda Company pegged the mineral deposit outside Rico at 198 million tons, representing up to 1.2 billion pounds of the element.

The price of the element has ridden the wave of emerging powers India and China, from $2 per pound in 2002 to more than $40 in 2005. Currently, the mineral trades at $28 as of the third quarter of 2007.