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FRIENDS OF PANAMINTS ALERT LETTER 3/25/03 |
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The following Email was sent to all on Tom Budlong's Friends of Panamints Alert List. Let Tom Budlong know if you want to get on the List |
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Tuesday, March 25, 2003 To the Friends of the Panamints The SMGB needs support letters Apologies for the short notice. Letters must be received by Tuesday, April 1 As reported in previous emails to the Friends of the Panamints… California’s State Mining and Geology Board has been working up a set of regulations to require open pits created by mines to be refilled (backfilled) after mining is complete. This substantially increases mining costs, requiring a higher market price for gold to make a mine economically feasible. The regs would increase the likelihood that CR Briggs would lose interest in exploring the Cecil-R/Jackson area north of their current Panamint mine, and putting a mine there. On April 10, the Board will vote on making these regulations permanent. The Board needs to hear from the public, such as you, to know the public is watching, is interested and in favor of the regs. I know this is short notice, but please write. The SMGB has stated: “The written comment period closes at 12:00PM (Noon), April 1, 2003. The SMGB will consider only relevant comments received at the SMGB office by that time.” What to say: Points: § You support the proposed regulations. § Without the regulations, mines can leave land that is hazardous and unusable or unnatural for any purpose, essentially forever. § An example is the current Briggs mine in Panamint Valley. The pit will remain as useless land. The waste rock piles and the leach piles will remain as unnatural features. These effects will last effectively forever. § You, personally, recreate in these areas. You are also concerned for others who recreate there, now, and for as far in the future as you care to look. The important thing is to provide a supporting letter. Keep in mind that it looks better to say it in your own words. Add anything else that seems relevant. Emails are easier for the SMGB to process—send to: smgb@consrv.ca.gov And, if anyone would like to attend the meeting in Sacramento, that would lend even more support. Email me (address at the end of this letter) if you would consider going, so we can coordinate. Other News March 13 State Mining and Geology Board Meeting On March 13 in Sacramento the State Mining and Geology Board held a public hearing to take comments on the proposed backfill regulations. In response to testimony from the Friends of the Panamints and several other environmental groups, the board chairperson stated that the intent of the Board is that any new Briggs mine would be required to completely backfill new open pits. Your emails can reinforce that stated intent. Permitted Exploration I was in Panamint this weekend. Exploration at the BLM-permitted Cecil-R/Jackson area has not started. Looking at the target, it still boggles me that the BLM considers the impact of dozing 20-40 miles of roads on that steep slope to be insignificant. Ten Most Threatened Areas in California Panamint Valley was included on the list of the ten most threatened areas in California for two reasons: § the threat posed by exploration and a new mine in the Cecil-R/Jackson area § off-road use of the free-flowing Surprise Canyon. The California Wilderness Coalition maintains this list. Their website is: http://www.calwild.org/ Gold Price Drops Gold is below $330/oz—a dip from its recent high in the $360-370 area. The historic low, a few years back, was $260. Where it will go is anyone’s guess. Of course, gold miners lose interest with low prices. Canyon Resources Stock Price Drops It closed March 25 at $1.09/share. It got up as high as $2.50 a year ago. Their stock symbol is CAU. Websites of Interest
Tom Budlong, TomBudlong@Adelphia.net (Email comments, and to be added or removed from the list.)
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| back to Briggs Mine Main back to Leave NO Pits | ||||||||||||||||||||