Photo: Elias Funez
One hundred and ten people signed up to protest at six different locations around Nevada County on Thursday to spread information about the potential risks of reopening the Idaho-Maryland Mine.
Tracy Sheehan helped organize the event to get petitions signed and distribute anti-mine signs, a yellow-and-black accessory for yards in the area. Sheehan, who worked to oppose Centennial Dam three years ago as coordinator for the Foothills Water Network, said the public-facing event was meant to counter any traction Rise Gold may have gained after publishing survey results she said are the antithesis to the community’s true, overwhelming opinion.
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Photo: Elias Funez
The sound of drums, chanting and car horns honking filled the Glenbrook Basin Thursday afternoon as about 60 demonstrators protested the proposed reopening of the Idaho-Maryland mine.
The reopening plan proposed by Rise Gold calls for dewatering the flooded mine, rebuilding the existing mine shaft and constructing a second one, and creating a water treatment plant. The company expects to excavate around 1,000 tons per day and produce gold concentrates from the extracted rock using gravity and flotation concentration methods.
Protesters gathered at the intersection of Brunswick Road and Sutton Way said their biggest concerns about the mine were its potential risks to the environment, including wastewater run off, its effect on surrounding well water, as well as air and noise pollution.
California gold fever still reigns. New prospectors seek to reopen giant mine
California gold fever still reigns. New prospectors seek to reopen giant mine
The 150-year-old Idaho-Maryland mine produced 2.4 million ounces of gold before it closed. A Canadian company wants to pull out more. And that makes some Grass Valley neighbors unhappy.
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Nevada County Historical Society 1937
GRASS VALLEY, Nevada County It’s been a long time since California’s Gold Country has churned out any big mining fortunes.
The rush of prospectors and the blasting of ore have given way to small towns comfortable in the quiet of the foothills. The glory of the Mother Lode today lives largely in history museums, local tourism ads and an occasional bar named the Mine Shaft or Golden Era.