Miners exaggerate Rogue's rare earth mineral potential

The newly formed Jefferson Mining District has written to the Josephine County Commissioners opposing the legislation Peter DeFazio recently introduced to add Wild and Scenic Rivers and Wilderness to the lower Rogue River. The district's letter follows the long held Western tradition of exaggerating mineral wealth. The boast that large quantities of rare earth minerals (elements) have been gleaned from Galice Creek and surrounding hills is particularly questionable.

They state that,

"... over 5 million ounces of gold were gleaned from Galice Creek and the surrounding hills, both placer and lode, as well as large quantities of copper, platinum, chrome, manganese, iron, silica and rare earth minerals,"

This is at odds with information provided by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). In a 2010 Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5220 entitled "The Principal Rare Earth Elements Deposits of the United States—A Summary of Domestic Deposits and a Global Perspective," the agency emphasizes that:

Although rare earth elements are relatively abundant in the Earth’s crust, they are rarely concentrated into mineable ore deposits.

See the report's map of "Principal Rare Elements Deposits of the United States on page 2. None are shown for Oregon.

The photo of the Mountain Pass Mine in California, where mining began in 1940, shows a commercial scale rare earth element mine.

Large quantities of rare earth elements have been removed from the Mountain Pass Mine.