Company could pull nearly $1 billion of gold from ground in Malheur County
If approved, a proposed gold mine in the middle of the remote Malheur County desert could produce more than 700,000 ounces of gold, according to estimates from the company seeking to build the mine.
At today’s current price of $1,290 per ounce, that would equal nearly a billion dollars, or $903 million, worth of gold in them hills.
The so-called Grassy Mountain gold mine, being proposed by Calico Resources, is still at least a couple of years away from actual production, but if all goes as planned, it could have a major impact on the region.
The Grassy Mountain mine site lies about 25 miles southwest of Vale and northwest of Owyhee Reservoir. The site of Calico’s claims covers about 62 acres. The total permit area is 270 acres, including a mill site and access road area.
Once up and running, Calico officials expect the mine to be in operation for eight to 10 years, but that could be longer if additional ore is discovered, according to Andy Bentz, the former Malheur County Sheriff, who is now public and governmental affairs officer for the company.
A resource of this size requires that mining and milling operations will process 1,000 to 1,500 tons of ore per day, the company said.
Bentz said that with an operation this size, as many as 130 to 150 people could be working at Grassy Mountain.
Currently, much of the work has been done by companies with which Calico has contracted, such as drilling companies and other specialists, he said. If the mine is approved, all kinds of workers will be needed. These include people to work in the mine, mill workers, electricians, pipefitters, truck drivers and equipment operators. Calico will hire locally as much as possible, Bentz said, and there is interest by local people who are working in mines elsewhere. But “Expertise has to be brought in,” he said.
Long process
Currently, Calico Resources is busy collecting environmental data that will go into its permit applications to operate the mine, a process that could take about year.
But before Calico could even begin collecting environmental data, the company had to put together an environmental baseline study work plan, which had to be approved by the various regulatory agencies. Bentz said that plan alone took about nine months to write.
The baseline data will describe the existing environmental, socioeconomic, historical, archaeological conditions, land use designations and special use designations in the study area.
The approval of the plan was issued in March, giving Calico the green light to begin collecting data that include such things as water, vegetation, geology, soils, air quality, wetlands, wildlife and transportation.
It will take a full 12 months to do all of those studies and collecting, which has to be done over the course of all four quarters of the year, Bentz said.
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