EASTERN OREGON
MINING ASSOCIATION
SEPTEMBER 2021
Volume 384
SEPTEMBER 3rd, 2021 MEETING AT ELK CREEK ENTERPRISES
Many thanks to Alice Knapp for letting us continue to meet at the saw shop while City Hall is not available for meetings. We will have a meeting on SEPTEMBER 3rd, 2021 at the Elk Creek Enterprises saw shop located at 890 Elm Street. The Board Meeting will begin at 6:00PM with the general meeting following at 6:30PM. Don’t forget, we will give away a $50 dollar silver medallion at the end of the meeting. Come to the meeting, buy a ticket, and support EOMA.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE- RIVER DEMOCRACY ACT
On Thursday, Senator Cliff Bentz hosted a town hall in Mt. Vernon for Grant County. Citizens voiced their concerns about many of the issues facing our nation, and one of the topics of concern was federal legislation that would impose wild and scenic designations on vast areas of land in rural Oregon, the River Democracy Act.
Bill Harvey, Baker County Chair has sent two letters to Senators Wyden and Merkley, but this is not enough. We miners need to explain to people, how removing three million acres from mineral entry under Wyden and Merkley’s River Democracy Act, will stop development of mineral resources, and also stop future development of water and mineral resources. This will not benefit the people who enjoy living and working in Oregon. Private property rights will be affected when claimants are unable to develop mineral values that extend beyond their present claim boundaries. Mineralized areas should be left out of this bill. Studies should be done before the streams are nominated, not afterwards. Senator Wyden will host a virtual townhall on August 31 to listen to concerns about this Act, it starts at 1:00.
https://ktvz.com/news/government-politics/2021/08/13/wyden-sets-aug-31-virtual-town-hall-on-bill-to-greatly-expand-oregon-wild-and-scenic-rivers/
TIME TO FILE ANNUAL ASSESSMENT WORK WITH BLM
The deadline for paying fees or filing your small miner waiver is September 1, 2021. If you missed this date, you will lose your claims and will have to refile.
Miners have until the end of the year to file their affidavits of annual assessment work, but this work must have been completed by September 1, 2021.
After your affidavit is filed with the County, mail your affidavit and a check in the amount of $15/claim to BLM.
Bureau of Land Management
Oregon State Office
P.O. Box 2965
Portland, OR 97208
OREGON DEQ AND THE 700PM SUCTION DREDGE PERMIT
DEQ is moving the annual invoice date for the 700PM in-stream placer mining water quality general permit. The invoices will be issued on or about February 15th of each year.
DEQ is making this change so that invoicing occurs after the date when DEQ’s updated impaired waters list [303(d)] and Department of State Lands (DSL) Essential Salmon Habitat (ESH) designations are effective.
The invoice timeframe will allow 700PM permit holders to make a more informed decision about continuing permit coverage based on the eligibility of mining sites. For your convenience, the invoice will contain information on where to find DEQ’s impaired waters list and DSL ESH designations.
Please direct questions about this email to 700PM@deq.state.or.us
NEWS ON URANIUM
Morgan Stanley has placed uranium at the very top of its Metals and Mining Commodity Thermometer.
Uranium was assigned a ‘most bullish’ thesis of 17 mined commodities under the bank’s coverage.
“Further price upside near term as commercial inventories are drawn down, investment demand continues, and mine supply remains below 2019 levels. Longer term, growth continues to push price higher,” reads a slide shared by a social media user.
ASTEROID FILLED WITH PRECIOUS METALS ENOUGH TO MAKE EVERYONE ON EARTH A BILLIONAIRE-Becca Monaghan
NASA is launching a mission to study an asteroid worth more than $10,000 quadrillion – which is said to contain so much precious metal that everyone on Earth would be a billionaire if its precious cargo was divided among mankind.
Psyche 16 - first spotted back in March 1852 - is a 124-mile-wide space rock that will be the primary focus of NASA’s project, which is set to launch in August 2022. The spacecraft would arrive at the asteroid four years later in early 2026.
It will be the first exploration into a world of metal rather than rock and ice. NASA said, “Unlike most other asteroids that are rocky or icy bodies, scientists think the M-type (metallic) asteroid 16 Psyche is comprised mostly of metallic iron and nickel similar to Earth.”
The asteroid is nestled between Mars and Jupiter. According to the Daily Mail, it is believed to be the “remnants of a protoplanet destroyed by ‘hit-and-run collisions’ when the solar system formed.” A team in California has since created a new temperature map to help NASA understand the asteroid’s surface properties. Usually, infrared images of a space rock only provide a fragment of data equivalent to a single pixel, but researchers could get 50-pixel resolution.
“The findings are a step toward resolving the mystery of the origin of this unusual object, which has been thought by some to be a chunk of the core of an ill-fated protoplanet”, researchers from the recent study said. They discovered that its surface was made up of at least 30 per cent metal, with further rocks on the surface containing metal grains.
INFRASTRUCTURE BILL PASSED BY US SENATE-Becca Monaghan
U.S. Senate passed a US$1 trillion infrastructure bill. In a rare (dare I say hopeful?) bi-partisan move, nineteen Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined 50 Democrats to approve the bill, which is good news for mining companies that produce ‘future-facing commodities’ like nickel, copper, silver, lithium, cobalt, and rare earths. The bill includes US$65 billion that will be allocated to improve the electrical grid and energy production and about US$7.5 billion for building charging stations for electric vehicles.
According to Reuters, about US$6 billion in the bill is dedicated for battery materials processing and manufacturing projects and roughly US$140 million for a rare earths demonstration plant. The bill also earmarks about US$100 million a year through 2024 “in grants for developing, processing and recycling critical minerals.”
NEW APPEAL REVIEW OFFICER APPOINTED FOR PEBBLE MINE-Henry Lazenby
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has assigned a new review officer to handle Northern Dynasty Minerals’ (TSX: NDM) appeal of a negative record of decision for the Pebble copper-gold project in Alaska.
The new review officer comes after the previous officer was promoted out of the position.
The new officer is expected to set a detailed timeline for the administrative appeal process, including scheduling a potential site visit and appeal conference in the weeks ahead.
Northern Dynasty’s US subsidiary, the Pebble Limited Partnership, says it has been advised that the administrative appeal process for Pebble could take a year or more given the complexity of the case. The administrative record contains 200,000 documents to date.
The Pebble Partnership submitted a request for appeal of the federal permitting decision in January.
“We have been, and continue to be, very concerned about USACE’s schedule and timeline for advancing our administrative appeal of the Pebble permitting decision, as we believe this does not accord with regulation,” said Northern Dynasty president and CEO Ron Thiessen in a media release this week.
“The new review officer has the power to help set the US down the path of strategic metals independence, which could enable the US to produce the copper, gold and silver it needs for a successful green economy transition. They can also help ensure that these metals are mined using industry-leading technologies under some of the strictest environmental standards in the world, while helping Alaska realize its right to manage its own resources for the benefit of its population.”
The project is considered one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits and has been through a roller coaster of regulation over the past 13 years.
The USACE in November denied a key water permit for the Pebble mine project.
Northern Dynasty shares trading in Toronto have cratered more than 75% over the past 12 months as the Pebble project continues to lay in regulatory limbo. Shares last traded on Tuesday at C$0.475 per share, giving the company a market value of C$243.63 million.
LODE VS. PLACER-Anatomy of a Mine USDA Forest Service Publication
The mining location laws authorize two main types of claims-lode and placer-depending upon the character of the deposit. Lode claims are staked on veins or lodes of quartz or other rock in place bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper or other valuable deposits. Placer claims are staked on all forms of deposit, excepting veins of quartz, or other rock in place.
Today, the distinction is not always so clear as outlined in the Mining Law of 1872. A lode is frequently considered as a zone or belt of mineralized rock clearly separated from neighboring non mineralized rock.
Placers are superficial deposits washed down from a vein or lode occupying the beds of ancient rivers or deposits of valuable minerals found in particles of alluvium in beds of active streams.
A lode claim is approximately 21 acres in size, being 300 feet on either side of the vein, and 1500 feet long. End lines must be parallel.
Placer claims can be no more than 20-acres in size for an individual, with associations of up to eight individuals locating multiple claims of 20 acres per person up to 160 acres. Placer claims must conform as nearly as practicable to regular legal subdivisions.
A placer location does not establish rights to any lodes within its boundaries. In the case of a dispute, courts have tended to find in favor of the first locator. Corporations are considered to be a single individual. There is no limit to the number of claims located by an individual or an association.
TUNNEL SITES- Anatomy of a Mine USDA Forest Service Publication
The law provides for tunnel sites where a horizontal excavation (adit) is made to discover lodes or veins not appearing on the surface. The owners of such tunnels gain the right of possession of any previously unknown veins or lodes discovered along the 3,000-foot distance between the portal and the face of the tunnel.
No surface rights are gained through a tunnel location, and the right to develop a discovered vein cannot be maintained unless the owner makes a lode location of the vein on the surface.
Tunnel sites are uncommon today.
Bush fix from Experienced Miner Ed Hardt;
To repair a hole in flat hose, cut a short section of the same hose, and slip it over the place where the hole is. No clamps or glue required. Pressurized inner hose will seal the leak.
EOMA ADVERTISING AND SALE LISTINGS
THE OREGON CONCRETE AND AGGREGATE ASSOCIATION
EOMA is a member of OCAPA. This is undoubtedly the largest type of mining in Oregon. They have a very interesting and informative website that also may be of interest to metal miners. They keep track of the bills introduced in Oregon’s legislature that may affect all mining in Oregon.
It will be necessary to remind the Oregon legislators, who mainly come from the Willamette Valley, that not all of Oregon has a moderate climate. A bill such as SB 715 which mandates higher percentages of biodiesel doesn’t work for the people who live and work at higher elevations.
Check out their website: https://www.ocapa.net
EOMA SILVER MEDALLIONS FOR SALE
EOMA still has silver medallions available. 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.
PUMPS FOR SALE
Two water pumps with belt driven clutch system (heavy duty) driven by a 2-cylinder Wisconsin gas engine for $250.
Also, a 5" intake 7" discharge Fairbanks and Morse high pressure pump. Driven by a 30 HP 3 phase electric motor for $450. Call Ken Anderson at 541-523-2521 or 541-519- 9497
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.
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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ACTION MINING SERVICES, INC.
AMS is selling out all assay supplies, screens, chemicals and labware! Call for quote and mention this ad for 35% off! Assay supplies, concentrators, impact mills, technical books (for the beginner to the advanced mill man), & more!
Call for our free catalog or visit us online! Check out their website for information on wave tables. Want to pick up an order in Plains Montana? We have moved to Plains, Montana…. please call 406.826.9330 to place the order on will call first, this way our staff can have it pulled and ready for pick up. Otherwise, we can always ship your order! sales@actionmining.com • www.actionmining.com
AMERICAN EXPLORATION & MINING
A lot of information in this newsletter was obtained from the American Exploration & Mining Association newsletter. To stay up to date on mining issues, you can become a member of AEMA.
by going to their website at info@miningamerica.org
SEND YOUR NEWSLETTER ITEMS
If you have informative or interesting articles about mining items to share in the newsletter, send them to Ken Alexander alxk@ortelco.net, or Chuck Chase CHASE3285@msn.com, or Jan Alexander alx@ortelco.net.
Be sure to indicate the source of the information you send.
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