<<The folks in Northern California, especially the Sierra Foothills, tend to be environmentalists. The permitting process could be a nightmare, taking years.>>
I though that was gold country and that they would support the development of mines, especially reviving a previously operating mine.
I found the following in an old writeup:
<<EMGOLD has applied for and been granted all permits necessary for
re-opening the New Brunswick shaft, de-watering the mine and completing a bankable feasibility.>>
Message 5430264
Also from the same report:
<<Between 1862 and 1894, the Idaho #1 shoot produced over 1,000,000
ounces from less than one million tons of ore, a production record that has only been exceeded by one mine in the entire world (the Oroya oreshoot of the famous Kalgoorlie Golden Mile in western Australia).>>
I believe they expect to find more of this type of high grade ore.
<<Gold Resources
A 1992 study by James Askew and Associates Inc. estimated that the remaining gold resources between the 2000 and 3280 levels of the
Idaho-Maryland mine are 9,117,500 ST @ 0.326 oz Au/ST (containing 2,972,305 oz Au). This resource estimate excludes both the potential for large, bulk tonnage targets identified by EMGOLD in 1997, as well as mineralization below the 3280-foot level.
Based on historic mining depths in the adjacent Empire mine (below 5000 feet) and the fact that all mineralized structures developed on the lowest levels of the Idaho-Maryland mine remain open at depth, EMGOLD believes that an additional 10 million tons of ore at similar grades (containing 3 - 4 million ounces of gold) could be delineated between the 3280 and 5000 levels of the Idaho-Maryland mine.>>
Possiblity of over 5 million oz remaining in this mine. |
