Can you believe mining companies?

Mining companies seem to tell the same story when they're in the promotional, permitting and construction phase of a new mine. They're concerned about the community, about the environment and they just want to provide jobs and local economic benefits. This is seldom—if ever—how the story ends.

Chromite mining at South Seven Devils,  October 12, 2012 (Oregon Coast Alliance photo).

In the Pacific Northwest we have two recent examples—a chromite mine at Coos Bay, Oregon and the Buckhorn Mine in Washington's Okanogan Country. These are stories of broken promises, violations of law and environmental degradation.

We've written about the chromite mine between Coos Bay and Bandon here, here and here. And here's a June 2010 quote from the president of Oregon Resources Corporation who owns the mine and processing facility:

“The jobs that are created by this project are across the board,” Wilson said. “Anytime you have a completely new industry coming into an area from the ground up, it is going to have a large, positive economic impact.”

As with most mines, the chromite mine was primarily opposed by local citizens. Associated Press reported on the lawsuits filed against the ORC chromite mine. You can read the CRAG Law Center's post here. The citizens group legal battle was not successful in stopping it.

In August of 2011, Industrial Minerals Corporation, the parent company of ORC, announced the first shipment of what they call high quality chromite:

Industrial Minerals ("IMC") (OTCQX: ILMCY) (ASX: IDM), a minerals processing company focused on developing the Southern Oregon Mineral Sands Project, announced today that it has processed and shipped the first 1,000 tons of its high-quality chromite to North American and European customers from its Coos Bay processing facility. The extraction and processing is undertaken by IMC's wholly owned subsidiary, Oregon Resources Corp. (ORC), and is the only chromite sand operation in the U.S.

However, the chromite operation was short lived and its status now uncertain. In December of 2012 the Oregon Coast Alliance wrote this in their newsletter:

Oregon Resources Corporation announced in early December that it was suspending all chromite mining operations in Coos County indefinitely. Only a skeleton crew of fifteen workers will remain, to "continue mineral exploration, marketing and commitments to state regulators," according to The World newspaper article.

This action was easy to see coming: ORC's stocks began plunging in the fall, and in early October IDM, ORC's parent company, suspended trading on the Australian stock exchange. Just the week before, Coos County had granted ORC an access lease on more than 400 acres of County forest whose mineral rights are owned by Kimberley Clark and leased by ORC... ORC stated that it hopes to resume mining in six months to a year. It is just as likely that ORC sell its assets to another corporation, with mining then starting up in the future under a different company. But for now, it is important to ensure that Oregon's waters and landscapes are not permanently damaged by the mining that has already taken place.

Oregon Coast Alliance Photo

OCA's June 2013 newsletter reports little change and no reclamation at the mine site.

Oregon Resources Corporation folded up its Coos County chromite strip mining operation in 2012, and it looks like the situation will stay that way in the foreseeable future. The company has told the Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) that mining and processing will remain suspended until at least the middle of 2014. However, the company is maintaining their DOGAMI permits, and have a bond in place to perform reclamation, though they are not present performing any active reclamation. So, though the mining is halted, the site remains with 25 acres of mined, disturbed land, not reclaimed or revegetated. DOGAMI hopes to inspect the site this summer. ORC will probably explore some of the recently leased Coos County/Kimberley Clark tracts in the near future. ORC may or may not mine for chromite again in Coos County but the leases, processing plant and mine site, with the intact permits, could all be sold to another company at any time

In the 1990's there was a huge struggle over Crown Resoures' proposed open pit gold mine at Buckhorn Mountain. The principle group leading the charge against the mine was the local Okanogan Highlands Alliance. After Crown Resources filed for bankruptcy, it was acquired by Kinross Gold.

Surge pond a Buckhorn Mountain Mine. Okanogan Highlands Alliance Photo.

When permitting failed on the open pit proposal, an underground mine was proposed and permitted. Read more about the history here.  OHA has been monitoring water quality in streams near the mine and reporting violations in water quality permits for years.

On June 14, 2013, Okanogan Highlands Alliance submitted a notice of intent that it may file a citizen's lawsuit against the mining companies under the Clean Water Act unless violations are stopped. The press release states:

“OHA has tracked the water monitoring data from the mine as well as the on-the-ground conditions and made constructive suggestions to address the issues and concerns,” states David Kliegman, Executive Director of OHA. “If the regulatory agencies will not take adequate enforcement action, then citizens must take legal action to protect the water quality from degradation by mining activities.”

in April 2009, Crown Resources was issued a penalty of $40,000 by Ecology for failure to establish and maintain the capture zone, as well as AMP requirements related to capture zone failures. In July 2012 Ecology issued the largest penalty in WA State history to the mining company ($395,000), for well-documented water quality and permit violations in 2011 and 2012, which the company subsequently appealed. OHA alleges that Kinross has been in violation of its NPDES permit almost since the mine began operating, for more than 2,191 days. Citizen suits can bring penalties of up to $37,500 per day per violation.

Read the full press release here.

Meanwhile Kinross Gold is proposing exploratory drilling to expand the Buckhorn Mountain Mine. The drilling is in the Jackson/Cedar Creek Roadless Area on National Forest Land. The company is proposing 965 drill holes at 675 new sites, with the construction of about 72 miles of new road. Read about the mineral exploration project on OHA's website.