After years of controversy, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors unanimously struck down a Grass Valley gold mining project.
“It’s clear that this community wants to move forward to a cleaner economic future and not go back to mining,” said Heidi Hall, a member of the board, during the meeting last week. “And notwithstanding past board decisions, this board has the obligation to look at what the community needs and wants today and in the future.”
Rise Gold first submitted an application to resume gold mining operations at the Idaho Maryland Mine, which is in Grass Valley, in 2019. The site had been inactive since its closure in the 1950s, but Rise Gold said it had untapped potential.
But the company was quickly met with mass opposition. Christy Hubbard, a Grass Valley resident and volunteer for a couple local groups opposing the project, said the mine’s possible revival concerned locals for many reasons, ranging from potential environmental hazards to noise pollution.
Hubbard said she was particularly concerned with the potential for mining operations to contaminate or otherwise negatively impact local groundwater supply. As a member of the Wells Coalition, a local group of well owners, and an owner of a well herself, she worried mining could reduce water flows or contaminate them.
She said she was thrilled to hear the board’s decision and proud of her community’s collective efforts.
“It really has been a ride,” Hubbard said. “When we were out doing tabling and gathering petition signatures, we knew we were on to something because it was so rare to find somebody who actually thought the mine was a good idea.”
Grass Valley’s golden history
The Grass Valley region has a long history with gold mining. One of the largest mining projects in the area was Empire Mine, which today exists as a state park.
Jean Rhyne, an interpreter for the park, said the Empire mining project and others like it marked the beginning of the industrialization and settlement of the area. Beginning during the Gold Rush era in the mid-1800s, many people arrived in town with the hope of finding gold — sometimes by purchasing or leasing property in order to mine it, or through gold panning in nearby rivers.
“Empire Mine was one of the richest, longest-producing and deepest mines,” said Rhyne. But beyond Empire Mine, she added that in the region, there were “mines all over the place.”
As time went on, Rhyne said most of the gold buried closer to the surface had been harvested. The remaining gold lay much deeper, making it more expensive to excavate.
“It ended up getting more expensive to mine than they were able to sell the gold for,” she said.
Rhyne said the rising costs associated with mining for gold and a shrinking workforce led to the eventual closure of Empire Mine’s 367 miles of tunnels in 1956. Today, the California State Parks maintains its grounds and allows for visitors to tour some of its old buildings.
California State Parks has taken no formal position regarding the Rise Gold project.
Rise Gold’s potential lawsuit
Rise Gold has previously stated that a rejection of their project would mean the company has “suffered a compensable, unconstitutional taking” and showed interest in suing the county for compensation. In a written statement sent to CapRadio on Friday, Rise Gold CEO Joseph Mullin reaffirmed this stance and said the county “must compensate Rise for the value taken.”
“By denying the Company the ability to reopen the Mine, Nevada County has effected a taking of the Mine,” Mullin said in the statement. “Based on comparable mines and the historic yield at the Mine, we estimate our mineral estate to be worth not less than $400 million.”
Although Hubbard said any lawsuit would be strictly between Rise Gold and the county, she said she and others would “absolutely be there to support the county.” But she described such a case as “questionable.”
She said many of Rise Gold’s arguments had been debunked in a legal brief written on behalf of Community Environmental Advocates Foundation, one of the local groups opposing the mine that Hubbard volunteers for. In the brief, lawyers said Rise Gold “received all the process that it was due” and that the company’s claims would be “dead on arrival in court.”
“I do believe they’re going to sue,” Hubbard said. “Do I think they’re going to be successful? Highly unlikely.”
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