EASTERN OREGON
MINING ASSOCIATION
OCTOBER 2020
Volume 373
OCTOBER 2, 2020 MEETING AT VERN’S ELK CREEK ENTERPRISES
Many thanks to Alice Knapp for letting us meet at the saw shop while City Hall is not available for meetings. We will have a meeting on October 2 at the Elk Creek Enterprises saw shop located at 890 Elm Street. There is a big TIMBERUNITY sign in the window-you can’t miss it!
The Board Meeting will begin at 6:00PM with the regular meeting following at 6:30PM. Come to the meeting and let’s catch up before many miners will be closing down their operations and heading south. Don’t forget, we will give away a $50 dollar silver medallion at the end of the meeting. Come buy a ticket, support EOMA and who knows, you may get lucky!
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE-THE BRIDGE IS IN!
The old bridge is in the County yard, and the new East Eagle Creek bridge is in place. Hunters, hikers, campers, miners, guides with pack strings, will soon be using the bridge. The only cell phone coverage in that area is across the bridge, so those who use the area are now safer.
Many thanks to Bill Harvey and the Baker County Road Department, and all the others who helped make this happen.
LOSS OF ANOTHER GREAT MINER, ED SINNER HAS PASSED
Dan Brown reported that our long time MSHA instructor passed away last month. Ed trained hundreds of us over the years, and was a huge part of our mining community. He worked closely with all the miners in this area, putting on multiple new miner and annual refresher classes each year. Ed was an underground miner and worked on a mine rescue team. He had a way of making this mandatory training both interesting and useful at our operations. He will be missed.
WPCF PERMITS STILL NEEDED-Jan Alexander
EOMA is getting a lot of new miners into our organization, and these new miners must have WPCF 600 permits to be legal under Oregon’s State law. The last time DEQ issued these “process permits” was 2017. At that time, any miners who wanted to continue mining, extended their permits.
DEQ has made available, an emergency 60 day permit with a fee of $733 and an application fee of $2,522 (annual fee), making the total $3255, if I am understanding this correctly. This is not at all reasonable.
Anyone who currently has a 600 permit, but is no longer mining, is encouraged to transfer this permit to a new miner. Call me at 541-446-3413 and I can help with the transfer.
DEEDS -Jan Alexander
A deed is a legal document which conveys title (ownership) to real property A deed is recorded at the County Recorder’s office in the county in which the real property is located, conveys title to the real property and identifies the owner of a particular parcel of real property
As general information, there are many types of deeds. For transfer of mining claims it is common to use a quitclaim deed. These deeds transfer any interest that the grantor might possess in the property. The quitclaim deed transfers to the grantee any and all of the legal rights the grantor has in the parcel of real property, but the deed makes no warranty about the extent of the grantor’s interest in the parcel of real property. It is wise to consult a lawyer for legal questions.
With unpatented mining claims, quitclaim deeds usually apply to the real property in the mineral estate, but does not transfer the surface. Federal law and mining regulations give miners the use of the surface which is reasonably incident to the mining taking place.
BONNANZA MINING WILL MOVE ONTO THE NATIONAL FOREST
Tom Bonn, mining engineer for the Bonnanza mining operation near Cornucopia, attended our last EOMA meeting. Tom and Dan Johnson are working with the Forest Service as the mining operation continues upstream along Pine Creek onto the National Forest. The “big hole”, a large unreclaimed, water filled mining pit, which was left by a prior mining company, is a reclamation priority for the Forest Service. Tom and Dan have designed a Plan of Operation which includes both mining and reclamation of the “big hole” pit.
Many of us remember in the 1980s when Tom mined and reclaimed an area downstream from where he is working now. He received reclamation awards from DOGAMI and Terry Drever Gee was instrumental is directing the outstanding reclamation that took place after mining was through.
Tom and Dan are looking forward to many more years of mining in the Halfway area.
FINAL NEPA RULE-NO ACTION ALTERNATIVE
Have you ever tried to read an Environmental Assessment on a proposed mining operation (maybe your own?) and found the first alternative was the “No Action Alternative”?
“No action” means your current mining activity would continue and your proposed activity would be denied. When an EA is for a mining operation, this alternative is not even legal, since miners have a statutory right to mine. The Final NEPA rule, which was just published, does not require this useless and confusing analysis, which can never be chosen anyway. The EA will now only analyze the effects of the mining proposal.
POWDER MINING EIS
The Powder River watershed, which includes mining proposals from north of Sumpter all the way downstream to Salmon Creek, has many areas of mineral potential. Miners submitted Plans of Operation, many of them ten years or more ago, wanting to get to mining as soon as possible. In 2018 the Forest Service finally got around to publishing their NOI in the Federal Register and said the EIS would be out in May of 2020. Now the SOPA says it will be available in November 2020.
The Forest Service complains that they go to all this work for the miners, then many of the miners don’t post bond and go to work, Well, in ten years, some may have developed health problems and will no longer be able to mine, some may have lost their funding, some may even have died.
Under the new NEPA regulations, miners will no longer need to wait ten years to have their Plans of Operation approved. Miners on the N.F. are looking forward to being able to prospect, discover a viable mineral property, explore that property, and mine it in a timely fashion.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE F.S. REGULATIONS??-FS publication CI-14
The regulations are intended to protect the nonmineral values of the National Forest System lands against unnecessary or unreasonable damages from prospecting, exploration, development, mining and processing operations carried out under the authority of the Mining Law of 1872, as amended. They are intended to provide that protection without unreasonably inhibiting or restricting the activities of prospectors and miners.
WHAT IS MEANT BY “SIGNIFICANT DISTURBANCE ON THE F.S.?-FS publication CI-14
In general, operations using mechanized earthmoving equipment cause significant disturbance. Pick and shovel operations normally do not. Nether will explosives used underground, unless caving to the surface will result. Almost without exception, road and trail construction and tree clearing operations will cause significant surface disturbance. The determination of what is significant, depends on a case-by-case evaluation of proposed operations and the kind of land and surface resources involved.
EOMA ADVERTISING AND SALE LISTINGS
EOMA SILVER MEDALLIONS FOR SALE
As most of you know, EOMA did not mint 2019 medallions, nor will we mint 2020 medallions. However, we still have 2018 medallions available, as well as some medallions from previous years. They are currently selling for $50.00 apiece plus $5.00 shipping, handling, and insurance. (Prices are subject to change).
You can order your medallion from the EOMA website and pay by pay-pal. Or, you can send $50 plus $5.00 shipping and handling to EOMA, Medallions, PO Box 932, Baker City, OR 97814, or call 541-310-8510. Also, you can buy them at our EOMA meetings.
FOR SALE EARTH MAGNETOMETER
This magnetometer measures the amount of magnetics in the ground, such as magnetite. Since magnetite is associated with gold, the magnetometer can help greatly with prospecting, since it will show you the amount of magnetite that may well be associated with gold in the ground. The more magnetite, the more gold. $400 or cash $350. Call Chuck Chase, 541-310-8510.
GOLDEN ANGEL PLACER CLAIMS FOR SALE
Located on Pine Creek, adjacent to the High Bar (Gold Rush) claims, the four 20-acre Golden Angels have an approved Plan of Operation in place. Good County road access, water for processing, WPCF permit goes with the sale. For information, call John at 541-620-1177.
GOLD CLAIMS FOR SALE (3)
6 unpatented placer claims (180 acres) located on Elk Creek near Baker City.
Sale includes all equipment (2 excavators, dump truck, trommel, pumps, generators, etc).
Site was featured on the cover of ICMJ’s Prospecting and Mining Journal (August 2014).
Approved Plan of Operation with US Forest Service in place and can be transferred (expires 2021, but additional time can be applied for). DEQ WPCF process permit goes with the sale of the claims. For price, pictures and details, call Don Enright, 509-860-1145 or email: donaldenright25@gmail.com
NATIVE SPIRIT 60 ACRE CLAIM FOR SALE
This claim is located on McCully Creek on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest just west of the town of Sumpter. Good access, off-channel water is available for processing. DEQ process permit goes with the sale of the claim. Plan of Operation is scheduled to be approved in the fall of 2020. Call Charles Stewart at 541-910-5435 for more information. I will look at any reasonable offers.
WANTED-GOLD
Gold Specimens and Gold nuggets, mostly from Oregon mines. Fair prices paid. Also selling Gold nugget jewelry, specimens, nuggets and more. For an interesting and informative experience explore www.northernnevadagold.com. Call Robert 775-455-6470.
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