Hike Tri-Cities: Palouse Falls

Palouse Falls is an awesome geologic feature out in the middle of nowhere northeast of Pasco. To get to the trailhead, take Highway 395 north from Pasco. Go about 32 miles and [...]]]> Where are we headed as soon as the ice breaks in the Tri-Cities area in Washington:  Palouse Falls

Hike Tri-Cities: Palouse Falls

Palouse Falls is an awesome geologic feature out in the middle of nowhere northeast of Pasco.  To get to the trailhead, take Highway 395 north from Pasco.  Go about 32 miles and exit right at Connell.  Turn right at the stop sign onto highway 260.  Go about 24 miles, past Kahlotus, turn right on Highway 261 (watch for signs to Palouse Falls).  Go 8.7 miles to the Palouse Falls turn-off on the left.  Go about 2 miles on the gravel road to the park.

Andrew Bentz and Andy Gaudielle of Calico Resources USA stand atop an estimated 425,000 ounces of gold in the bowels of Grassy Mountain south of Vale. The company hopes to win over environmentalists and get permission to sink mine shafts into the mountain to claim the rich lode, which geologists [...]]]> Reposted from The Oregonian

Andrew Bentz and Andy Gaudielle of Calico Resources USA stand atop an estimated 425,000 ounces of gold in the bowels of Grassy Mountain south of Vale. The company hopes to win over environmentalists and get permission to sink mine shafts into the mountain to claim the rich lode, which geologists say could include an additional 500,000 ounces of gold.

ONTARIO — Sprawling Malheur County could soon be in the spotlight as a mining hub — or a battleground ofuranium and gold mining interests vs. environmentalists trying to protect its lonesome sagebrush landscape.

Australian-owned Oregon Energy LLC hopes to mine 18 million pounds of yellowcake uranium from the southeastern Oregon high desert 10 miles west of McDermitt near the Oregon-Nevada boundary. The go-ahead to mine the so-called Aurora uranium deposit could bring up to 250 construction jobs to the county, followed by 150 mining jobs.

Meanwhile, Calico Resources USA Corp., a subsidiary of a Vancouver, B.C., company, may seek permits this month to chemically extract microscopic gold from a high desert butte south of Vale called Grassy Mountain, a project likely to create another 100 jobs.

The proposals will be the first real test of the 1991 chemical processing mining law passed by the Legislature in response to a debate over mining’s future in Oregon, said environmentalist Larry Tuttle. The law ushered in tough new bonding requirements to weed out marginal operators and guarantee environmental cleanup.

An open-pit uranium mine is proposed on this high desert site in southeastern Oregon's Malheur County -- the same ground where the old Bretz Mercury Mine (shown here) once stood. Uranium, mercury, silver, gold and other heavy metals often are found in the same areas, geologists say. Mercury was discovered here in 1931, and state mining records show that 152,000 tons of ore were mined in 1937. More mining took place during the 1940s and '50s, and at one point the Bretz was one of the largest high-grade mercury mines in the nation.

Approval of the Grassy Mountain project could trigger a deluge of new chemical mining in Malheur County. Up to a dozen gold deposits similar to Grassy Mountain dot the high desert between the Snake River town of Huntington and Jordan Valley.

The county, sparsely populated with only 31,313 people, could use new jobs, said County Commissioner Dan Joyce. Its unemployment rate in November was 10.3 percent, compared with 9.1 percent for Oregon and 8.6 percent for the nation.

Mining companies have passed up the county in the past because of Oregon’s environmentally conscious reputation, Joyce said. But this time, the sluggish local and state economies, higher mineral prices and technological advances in mining and cleanup could open a door to mining, he said.

“I’m thinking people are a lot hungrier now than they were,” Joyce said.

Uranium mine plan 

Oregon Energy’s proposal calls for extracting ore from a mile-long, 600-foot wide, 250-foot deep open pit 10 miles west of McDermitt and 3 miles north of the Oregon-Nevada border. The mine, adjoining the former Bretz Mercury Mine, a contaminated open-pit site from the 1960s, would cost $200 million to develop and uranium extraction could continue for up to 20 years, said Oregon Energy President Lachlan Reynolds.

Plans call for the ore to be crushed and mixed with an acid solution in enclosed vats to leach out the uranium, he said. The acid would bond with the uranium and when dry become a sand-like powder called uranium oxide concentrate, or yellowcake. Yellowcake would bring $52 per pound and could fuel nuclear reactors or be processed into weapons.

Tuttle, spokesman for the Portland-based Center for Environmental Equity, foresees environmental problems.

The likelihood of sulfuric acid being used in processing the ore means it could remain in the mine tailings after milling, he said. The snag is that sulfuric acid tends to continuously leach out heavy metals that occur naturally in waste rock and tailings, contaminating ground water.

“Just because you are through with the processing, years later you still have the issue with that interaction,” he said.

But probably the biggest environmental hurdle for the Aurora mine would be the release of mercury, Tuttle said. “The whole Owyhee Reservoir has been affected by naturally occurring background mercury,” and uranium mining could release more, he said.

Gold mine proposal 

Environmental considerations first thrust Grassy Mountain into the consciousness of Oregonians in the late 1980s and early ’90s when Newmont Gold Co. proposed introducing Nevada-style open-pit cyanide heap-leach gold mining there.

Low gold prices ultimately prompted Newmont to write off its $33.8 million investment and abandon plans to mine Grassy Mountain in 1995, but only after the site came to symbolize the conflict between economic development and environmental activism in eastern Oregon.

Calico Resources would take a dramatically different approach, said Andrew Bentz of Ontario, spokesman for Calico. The company proposes to sink an 850-foot underground shaft or tunnel to remove 1,000 tons of ore per day from Grassy Mountain, he said.

The operation expects to remove at least 425,000 ounces of gold from the mountain. The company’s investment and exploration costs probably will total $100 million before mining begins, said Calico project manager Andy Gaudielle.

Mineral-bearing rock would be milled for microscopic gold in a closed chemical process that wouldn’t include the bird-attracting open settling ponds of diluted cyanide that worried Newmont’s opponents, said Bentz, a retired Malheur County sheriff.

Mining and reclamation of Grassy Mountain would take about 12 years, unless new gold discoveries are made, he said.

Bentz believes Calico won’t face the level of environmental opposition that attended Newmont’s proposal.

Reynolds, the Oregon Energy chief, said mining companies no longer can operate in ways that caused the environmental problems of the past. Improvements in mining technology result in more efficient and environmentally responsible operations, he said.

“We will have to post substantial financial bonds to ensure that there is full reclamation of the site to an approved plan when mining ends,” Reynolds said.

Only 5 percent of the nation’s domestic-use uranium is produced within U.S. borders, although the United States takes more than 20 percent of its electricity from nuclear power plants, Reynolds said.

The most likely buyer of Aurora uranium would be a U.S. electricity utility, he said. He estimated the mine could become the source of up to 30 percent of uranium produced in the U.S.

What’s next 

Public hearings will be held after the companies apply for permits to begin mining, said state geologist Vicki McConnell of Portland.

Sixty-one acres of Grassy Mountain is patented, private mining land, but substantial portions of both sites are on federal land administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Both sites are remnant volcanic regions where geothermal and hydrothermal activity has pulled heavy metals and other substances close to the surface, McConnell said.

Calico hopes to begin taking gold from Grassy Mountain in five years, but the regulatory pathway is likely to be longer for the Aurora mine because uranium is involved.

In addition to the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council, the U.S. Department of Energy and the federal Environmental Protection Agency must review the uranium mine.

BLM permits will be required for tailing piles and the use of desert roads for both the uranium and gold mining.

Oregon has a process in place to allow mining to proceed if resources can be extracted profitably and in a way that’s environmentally safe, McConnell said.

Whether that’s the case here has yet to be determined, she said. “Geologically, we know there is gold in Grassy Mountain and we know there is uranium in the McDermitt area,” she said.

A Coastal Helicopters flight lands at a mining site near the terminus of the Herbert Glacier in Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Interest in gold mining in Alaska has surged, buoyed by high gold prices and the lure of [...]]]>  

A Coastal Helicopters flight lands at a mining site near the terminus of the Herbert Glacier in Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Interest in gold mining in Alaska has surged, buoyed by high gold prices and the lure of a landscape that remains relatively unexplored.

Industry leaders don’t expect a gold rush, the likes of which this still-young state hasn’t seen in nearly a century, with hordes of miners looking to make their fortune. That’s because these days making it big – finding and developing a large prospect – can take years, if not decades, and billions of dollars in investment. Even recreational enthusiasts can spend hours in back-breaking labor with nothing to show for it but some golden flints.

For some, though, that’s all it takes to keep them trying their luck.

“It’s the thrill of finding that gold,” said Bill Dunlevy, who’s been prospecting for about 46 years and wears his greatest find, a 5-¼ ounce nugget, as a necklace. “When you start finding little specks of gold, definitely you want more and more.

“It is gold fever,” he said.

It’s not clear how much gold there is yet to be found in Alaska, partly because the state’s geology is still being learned. But what is known points to great potential across Alaska for a variety of metals, including gold, copper and platinum, said David Szumigala, a senior minerals geologist with the state.

Over the last 20 years or so, about 200 million ounces of gold have been discovered, he said, and there’s likely potential for at least a couple hundred million more.

That prospect, combined with gold prices nearly quadruple what they were in 2005, about $1,720 an ounce earlier this week, is driving renewed interest in searching for gold in Alaska. There’s even a reality TV show, Discovery’s “Gold Rush,” centered on the phenomenon.

The state reports that the number of placer mining applications, those generally indicative of smaller family-run operations, rose from about 350 in 2005 to 581 this year. The number of mining claims on state and federal lands is up over the last five years, and a fall state lease sale for gold in the shallow ocean waters off Nome generated $9.3 million in bids, a demonstration of considerable interest, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

At least two major mine projects are in the works in southwest Alaska, Pebble Mine and Donlin Gold, both considered among the world’s largest undeveloped projects. The Pebble prospect, which faces stiff opposition for its proximity to a premier sockeye salmon fishery, claims 107 million ounces of gold. (Residents of an area borough recently passed an ordinance that could stop the project – an issue now in court.) Donlin Gold has about 34 million of proven and probable reserves.

The group promoting Pebble Mine is working to complete a prefeasibility study next year. It was announced this summer that a prefeasibility study for Donlin Gold was being updated and that the process of seeking permits could begin early next year.

Some existing mines, like Fort Knox near Fairbanks, have been able to take advantage of the market. The mine has been using a method known as heap leach to extract gold from lower-grade ore. While recovery is lower than using the traditional mill, the mine also is getting gold that it otherwise wouldn’t because running the milling process is far more expensive.

The Kensington Mine near Juneau, which went on line last year, is planning construction projects in the coming months aimed at making it more efficient and competitive.

One of the major challenges for a mine project in Alaska, aside from finding the gold, is developing it: It costs more here than in many other places, Szumigala said, noting that remote mining sites require infrastructure like roads and power lines to be built. Plus, work during winter months is limited.

“You’ve got to have quite a war chest of money to go out today and find something,” said Steve Borell, executive director of the Alaska Miners Association. “It’s not easy. The easy stuff has been found.”

But the payoff, for those who hit it, can be huge.

Dreams of gold draw an increasing number of people to prospecting clubs, like the one Dunlevy helps lead in Anchorage. He estimates there are eight to 10 new members a month and he fields calls regularly from people from around the world, hoping to find enough gold to pay for their lifetime trip to Alaska.

“And I tell them, ‘Better not count on that,’” he said. “I believe there’s gold in probably every creek up here but it’s not easy to come by.”

Many of the newcomers he never sees again. He’s not sure if that’s because they don’t like the club – a place to both socialize and learn how to look for gold – or because they didn’t like the work.

It’s hard, he said, and can entail being bent over for hours on end after hiking or snowshoeing into a claim carrying your equipment.

The thrill of the hunt keeps him going; the 72-year-old and several others recently bought 12 claims.

He found his prized nugget in the early 1990s on his claim south of Anchorage. It was late March, temperatures were below freezing and he’d been working through the ice. He said he’d been getting “good gold” all day but was shocked, after chipping away at clay and gravel, he found the whole nugget.

He said a jeweler in town offered him $10,000 for it, and he was later offered $20,000. He couldn’t imagine what he’d be offered today; then again, he said he could never sell it.

“I told the kids, I don’t know who will wind up with this when I go but I want to keep it in the family,” he said. “It’s like finding a five-carat diamond.”

The Advanced Expedition inflatable kayak has allowed me [...]]]> This is just a repost from Cool Tools, Ben Hanna about the Advanced Elements Inflatable Kayak.  I am wondering about getting around to do work in the spring and having this in my car instead of my sit on top for coning on top of it.

“The streets of 47th Street are literally paved [...]]]> Where in the world is the oddest place I have heard of recently for gold prospecting?  The sidewalks of New York.  This guy from Queens has discovered enough bits of diamonds, rubies, platinum and gold, on the gritty sidewalks of Midtown’s Diamond District to make a living.