Friday, April 11, 2003

To the Friends of the Panamints

 Things Are Looking Up!

 State Mining and Geology Board Votes to Make Backfill Regs Permanent

On April 10 California’s State Mining and Geology Board voted unanimously to make permanent its new regulations that require open pit mines to be refilled (backfilled) after mining is complete. The board received over two thousand letters urging passage of the regulations, and four against. Equally strong support came from Mary Nichols, the state’s Resources Department Secretary, as well as Governor Davis himself. Need for these new regulations was recognition of the threats posed by the potential for more destructive mining by CR Briggs in Panamint Valley, the open pit and unsightly rock piles that will be left by the current Briggs mine in the Panamints, and the threat of the proposed immense Glamis open-pit mine in Imperial County.

These regulations are not a ban on open-pit, cyanide heap-leach mining. But they do add enough cost to the process of mining to require either a much higher market price of gold, or much more concentrated ore to make mining projects profitable. The mining industry calls it an outright ban.

Both AP and NPR news organizations attended the hearing. They are interested in the story from a national perspective, since California is considered to be leading in legislation enforcing mining responsibility. It’s interesting to recall that California was the first to ban hydraulic mining – back in the 1880’s - in recognition of similar destruction to the landscape.

Unfortunately the Bush administration is not supportive. After the Clinton administration rejected the permit for the Glamis mine in Imperial County, Gale Norton, Bush’s Interior Secretary, reversed the decision.

Although this is not a ban on Briggs in the Panamints, more hope comes from the words of Richard DeVoto, president of Canyon Resources Corp., owner of the CR Briggs Mine. At the December 12, 2002 meeting of the State Mining and Geology Board he said:

“If your proposed emergency backfill regulations were adopted as currently drafted, it would bring all future activities for expansion of the mine or development of new target areas in that property to a halt, and absolute abrupt halt today. I’m the one that makes the decisions. I’m the one that signs the checks. We would stop.”

Well, the SMGB did adopt the backfill regs. If Richard DeVoto is a man of his word, Briggs will mine no more in the Panamints.

Los Angeles Times Article, April 9

Battle Lines Drawn Over Proposal for Mine Near Death Valley Park

The article tells the story of Briggs in Panamint Valley, in popular format.

The link is:   http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mine9apr09,1,7110011.story   (It may go into the LA Time Archives pages after April 16)

Quotes from the story:

J.T. Reynolds, DVNP Supervisor:	What kind of experience is this going to be for our visitors? They drive in from the west side. They come to Death Valley and they see that mine. They think it’s the Park. I don’t like that one bit.
Keith Hammond, California Wilderness Coalition	Panamint Valley … is the backdrop of Death Valley. It’s a terrible place for a mine.
Bob Strub, Searles Valley gravel pit operator:	It’s a good thing because it’s good for the town of Trona and good for the town of Ridgecrest.
Hector Villalobos, Field Manager of the BLM Ridgecrest office:	The firm [CR Briggs] has a good environmental record in California.
Richard DeVoto, president of CR Briggs:	We will not drill another hole if the regulations [the SMGB backfill] go through.

Again, lets hope Mr. DeVoto lives up to his word.

Websites of Interest

BLM Ridgecrest:	http://www.ca.blm.gov/ridgecrest/	Environmental Assessments, press releases, the FONSI decision.
Canyon Resources:	http://www.canyonresources.com/	Canyon Resources Corp. owns CR Briggs, the operator of the current mine. CR Briggs is technically the company proposing this exploration. The ‘Gold Mines and Projects’ page, and the ‘Exploration’ page describe their Panamint interests.
Bob Ellis’ website:	http://www.desertwilderness.net/BriggsMine.htm	Lots of interesting related info—pictures, simulations of potential visual impact to the landscape, past notices, the IBLA appeal to BLM’s permit to explore the new area...
State Mining and Geology Board	http://www.consrv.ca.gov/SMGB/	Board meeting results, and the proposed backfill regulations are here.
Great Basin Mine Watch:	http://www.greatbasinminewatch.org/	They watch-dog Great Basin mines – NV and CA mostly, and have taken serious interest in the Briggs situation. From the main page click on Stopping Bad Mining. Item 1 of the Stopping Bad Mining page is about the Briggs Mine and has a Click Here.
California Wilderness Coalition	http://www.calwild.org/	Keepers of the “Ten Most Threatened Areas in California” – including the Panamint Valley because of the Briggs mining threat.

Tom Budlong, TomBudlong@Adelphia.net (Email comments, and to be added or removed from the list.)