EASTERN OREGON
MINING ASSOCIATION
APRIL 2022
Volume 391
PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR MINING ORGANIZATION BY SENDING IN YOUR DUES FOR EOMA MEMBERSHIP
THIS MAY BE YOUR LAST NEWSLETTER
APRIL 1ST, 2022 MEETING AT ELK CREEK ENTERPRISES
We will have a meeting on APRIL 1ST, 2022 at the Elk Creek Enterprises saw shop located at 890 Elm Street in Baker City. The Board Meeting will begin at 6:00 PM with the general meeting following at 6:30 PM. We are expecting a candidate for the Commissioner’s race, and a presentation about an active mining project at this meeting. As usual we will give away a 1 oz. silver medallion at the end of the meeting.
EOMA MEMBERSHIP DUES WERE DUE JANUARY 1ST
If you can’t pay in person, please send your $35 dues ($40 for a family) to the EOMA, PO Box 932, Baker City OR 97814. You should also be able to pay with a credit card or pay pal on our website. www.h2oaccess.com The EOMA will be working on electing people who realize the importance of providing local minerals for the well-being of our country.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE-Ken Alexander
This will be an important year for the mining industry in the United States of America. The radical environmentalists are firmly entrenched in the current Biden Administration. They have been able to stop several mineral development projects. They seem to have little regard for the effect on our ability to be self-sufficient when it comes to mineral and energy development. If we don’t obtain a balance in at least one branch of government, the future of U.S. citizens being able to provide minerals, lumber, food, and other products from local resources, doesn’t look good.
ANNUAL MSHA REFRESHER APRIL 26, 2022
There is still space available in the April 26 Annual refresher. The cost of the annual refresher is $40. Class will begin at 8:00AM. at the Elk Creek Enterprises saw shop located at 890 Elm Street in Baker City. Give Jan a call at 541-446-3413 if you need this class.
GOOD AND BAD NEWS RIVER DEMOCRACY ACT-Jan Alexander
Many thanks to Bill Harvey for Baker County’s FOIA to the United States Department of Interior about the rivers included in this proposal. Thanks also to a lot of interested publics and Baker County Commissioners, who wrote letters about the lower Burnt River, Bull Run Creek near Unity and the upper North Fork Burnt River north of private land upstream of the headwaters have been removed from this proposal.
The bad news is that the lower North Fork Burnt River, south of Antlers Guard Station to Unity Reservoir is still included. Also still included is the South Fork Burnt River, Rock Creek, Killimacue. and other mineralized areas. EOMA will work with Baker County to get these waterways removed from designation.
EOMA ELECTIONS MARCH 4, 2022
The results of voting for President, Vice-President, Executive Director, Director of Government Affairs and Mineral Policy Director were that all these executive Board Members were reelected. Elected to the position of Recording Secretary was Michael Browning, elected to Sergeant of Arms was Stan Baker, elected to Corresponding Secretary was Michelle Henrikson., and elected to Treasurer was Jenny Kast. Board Members reelected included, Jim Haney, Scott and Becky Guthrie, Keith Magnuson, Craig Monpas, Jacob Rhinehart, Tork Ballard. These Directors will serve a two-year term.
POWDER MINING PROJECTS EIS-Ranger Kendall Cikanek
The EIS should be out April 29, 2022. Delays by the Biden administration have been resolved, the Tribes have been consulted, and the Regional Office has reviewed the document.
SENATOR RON WYDEN SUPPORTS DOMESTIC MINING-Bradley Parks
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden is proposing a $50 million grant program to support domestic mining, processing and recycling of lithium and other critical minerals. The Oregon Democrat introduced the idea in a bill this week. He says the program would help decrease the country’s reliance on foreign imports of minerals used in electric vehicles, cellphones and solar panels. “It’s past time the United States became a competitive producer of critical minerals and weans itself off of both foreign oil and gas imports and the critical minerals that are essential to building the next generation of clean energy products like batteries,” Wyden said in a press release. The senator’s pitch comes as exploration continues in Southeast Oregon on what could be the nation’s largest known lithium deposit. Lithium is the world’s lightest metal and is a key ingredient in batteries.
SENATOR RON WYDEN APPLAUDS PRESIDENT BIDEN’S REJECTION OF THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE-Bradley Parks
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. released the following statement after the White House denied TransCanada a construction permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline to carry oil from the tar sands in Canada. “President Obama did the right thing by putting Keystone XL out of its misery. I’m thrilled this spigot for dirty tar sands is finally welded shut and no longer threatens the climate, endangered wildlife and drinking water,” Wyden said. “Now it’s up to Congress to get to work on the real issues facing our environment and our economy: taking bold action against climate change, keeping energy prices low for American consumers, boosting renewable energy and the low-carbon economy, and getting a fair shake for taxpayers.” Wyden voted against the Keystone XL pipeline every time it was considered on the Senate floor.
SOUTHEAST OREGON AND LITHIUM-Bradley Parks
An Australian company has started drilling at a site in southeast Oregon that could eventually host a large lithium mine. Jindalee Resources Ltd., a mineral exploration company based in Perth, announced earlier this week that it’s working to determine the extent of a lithium deposit in southern Malheur County. The company said in a release that the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) has approved drilling of 39 holes to shore up Jindalee’s estimate of how much lithium exists at the site. Jindalee has said the deposit west of the Oregon-Nevada border town of McDermitt is among the largest lithium deposits in the country. Bob Brinkmann with DOGAMI’s Mineral Land Regulation and Reclamation office said this appears to be the first application the department has received to explore for lithium in Oregon.
In an interview with the financial media outlet Proactive this spring, Jindalee executive director Lindsay Dudfield called the McDermitt Lithium Project “an absolute monster.”
Lithium is an extremely lightweight metal seen as critical to a global transition off fossil fuels to renewable energy. The element is foundational to lithium-ion batteries used to power electric vehicles and store power generated by things like wind and solar, among other uses.
The Biden administration has made clear that it wants to significantly increase the amount of lithium sourced and processed in the United States. Jindalee says the McDermitt Lithium Project has potential to do both.
“The key outcomes of the [scoping] Study highlighted the potential of the Project to support a viable standalone lithium mining and processing operation and reinforced the significance of McDermitt as a potential long-life source of future supply to the rapidly growing US battery manufacturing industry,” the company release states.
The project is located on the northern edge of the McDermitt Caldera, which formed following a massive eruption more than 16 million years ago. Lithium-rich sediments have been found near the caldera’s perimeter.
GOOD INFORMATION ABOUT BATTERIES-Larry Coon
Batteries, do not make electricity, they store electricity produced elsewhere, primarily by coal, uranium, natural gas-powered plants, or diesel-fueled generators. So, to say an EV is a zero-emission vehicle is not at all valid. Also, since forty percent of the electricity generated in the U.S. is from coal-fired plants, it follows that forty percent of the EVs on the road are coal-powered, do you see? The only question again is what produces the power? To reiterate, it does not come from the battery; the battery is only the storage device, like a gas tank in a car.
There are two orders of batteries, rechargeable, and single-use. The most common single-use batteries are A, AA, AAA, C, D. 9V, and lantern types. Those dry-cell species use zinc, manganese, lithium, silver oxide, or zinc and carbon to store electricity chemically. Please note they all contain toxic, heavy metals.
Rechargeable batteries only differ in their internal materials, usually lithium-ion, nickel-metal oxide, and nickel-cadmium. The United States uses three billion of these two battery types a year, and most are not recycled; they end up in landfills. California is the only state which requires all batteries be recycled. If you throw your small, used batteries in the trash, here is what happens to them.
All batteries are self-discharging. That means even when not in use, they leak tiny amounts of energy. You have likely ruined a flashlight or two from an old, ruptured battery. When a battery runs down and can no longer power a toy or light, you think of it as dead; well, it is not. It continues to leak small amounts of electricity. As the chemicals inside it run out, pressure builds inside the battery's metal casing, and eventually, it cracks. The metals left inside then ooze out. The ooze in your ruined flashlight is toxic, and so is the ooze that will inevitably leak from every battery in a landfill. All batteries eventually rupture; it just takes rechargeable batteries longer to end up in the landfill.
In addition to dry cell batteries, there are also wet cell ones used in automobiles, boats, and motorcycles. The good thing about those is, ninety percent of them are recycled. Unfortunately, we do not yet know how to recycle single-use ones properly.
But that is not the half of it. For those of you excited about electric cars and a green revolution, I want you to take a closer look at batteries. A typical EV battery weighs one thousand pounds, about the size of a travel trunk. It contains twenty-five pounds of lithium, sixty pounds of nickel, 44 pounds of manganese, 30 pounds cobalt, 200 pounds of copper, and 400 pounds of aluminum, steel, and plastic. Inside are over 6,000 individual lithium-ion cells.
All those toxic components come from mining. To manufacture each EV auto battery, you must process 25,000 pounds of brine for the lithium, 30,000 pounds of ore for the cobalt, 5,000 pounds of ore for the nickel, and 25,000 pounds of ore for copper. All told, you dig up 500,000 pounds of the earth's crust for just - one - battery."
SOLAR PANELS AND WINDMILLS TO POWER LARGEST BATTERY IN THE WORLD-Larry Coon
California is building what they call the largest battery in the world near San Francisco, and they intend to power it from solar panels and windmills. They claim this is the ultimate in being “green,” but it is not.
The main problem with solar arrays is the chemicals needed to process silicate into the silicon used in the panels. To make pure enough silicon requires processing it with hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrogen fluoride, trichloroethane, and acetone. In addition, they also need gallium, arsenide, copper-indium-gallium-diselenide, and cadmium-telluride, which also are highly toxic. Silicon dust is a hazard to the workers, and the panels cannot be recycled.
Windmills are the ultimate in embedded costs and environmental destruction. Each one weighs 1688 tons (the equivalent of 23 houses) and contains 1300 tons of concrete, 295 tons of steel, 48 tons of iron, 24 tons of fiberglass, and the hard to extract rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium. Each blade weighs 81,000 pounds and will last 15 to 20 years, at which time it must be replaced. We cannot recycle used blades. There may be a place for these technologies, but you must look beyond the myth of zero emissions.
"Going Green" may sound like the Utopian ideal, but when you look at the hidden and embedded costs, you can see that Going Green is more destructive to the Earth's environment than meets the eye.
WESTERN MINING CAUCUS-Chairman Dan Newhouse
Throughout the month of March, the Western Mining Causes is highlighting the broken permitting processes throughout the federal government and outlining ways we can improve them to benefit rural communities, American energy security, healthy ecosystems, and more. This week, we hosted a joint Member Lunch with the Conservative Climate Caucus, with special guests former Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Deputy Secretary Kate MacGregor. They both discussed the very real permitting challenges they witnessed at Interior. I encourage you to stay tuned over the next few weeks to see what our members have in store on these important issues.
The Western Caucus continues to speak out against the Biden Administration's failed energy agenda, which is now contributing to the highest gas prices Americans have seen since 2008. In light of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, blocking imports of Russian oil and gas was the right move – but we must supplement this action with domestic production. Immediately after his announcement, President Biden visited Texas, and I joined our Texas Members in expressing our disappointment that he did not meet with Texas energy producers who are helping lead the charge toward a secure energy future.
TO MODERNIZE INFRASTRUCTURE, START WITH NEPA REFORM-Rep. David Schweikert (AZ-06)
Arizonans have felt the burden of America’s fraying energy infrastructure for decades. As a state located in the desert southwest, the highly variable environment places an emphasis on the need for modernized infrastructure and energy innovation. Heat waves often cause blackouts here at home, and in places like Texas and New York, we have seen the energy crisis hit especially hard. The best path forward is to reform the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which continues to stifle progress and keep communities like ours in Arizona at a stalemate.
President Richard Nixon signed NEPA into law in 1970 as a procedural statute instructing agencies to consider the environmental consequences of their actions. NEPA requires federal agencies to produce a cost–benefit analysis in the form of an Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Congress may have wanted to protect the environment, but we didn’t intend to create regulatory bloat that stifles innovation. A 1981 guidance document from the White House Council on Environmental Quality estimated that the NEPA process would take a maximum of one year. Unfortunately, environmental reviews are subject to frequent legal challenges that halt permitting for projects, generally on the dubious claim of insufficient analysis. To avoid this charge, agencies spend years writing environmental reports spanning multiple volumes, containing hundreds or even thousands of pages of analysis. According to estimates from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, federal regulations, such as those imposed by NEPA, can increase a new energy or infrastructure project’s cost by as much as 20 percent.
In the fifty years since NEPA was signed into law, the process has become a bureaucratic nightmare. The latest data shows that completing an EIS takes an average of four and a half years, and a quarter of these statements take upwards of six years. Some projects drag on even longer: the approval process for a 12-mile expansion of Interstate 70 in Denver took 13 years to complete, with a final impact statement running 8,951 pages, not including an additional 7,307 pages of appendices.
That’s why I have introduced two pieces of legislation that address NEPA’s ineffectiveness. The first is the NEPA State Assignment Expansion Act, which would let the federal government delegate NEPA review authority to relevant state entities. The states would then carry out the reviews under the supervision of NEPA. We know this system works because Arizona is one of seven states that currently have a NEPA Assignment agreement in place with the Department of Transportation, and our state has been able to work through the process efficiently and effectively.
The second bill I introduced is the NEPA Accountability and Enforcement Act, which would expedite many of the burdensome delays the agency has caused. Specifically, this legislation requires federal agencies to complete the NEPA process in two years for proposed projects that need an EIS. It also imposes a one-year deadline to issue Categorical Exclusions and complete the entire NEPA process in a total of three years. Finally, it requires agencies to approve or deny permits within 90 days of completion of the NEPA process. We can’t modernize our infrastructure without modernizing our regulatory process. Reforming NEPA is the place to start.
Editor’s Note: the following story is by Brooke Myers, long time EOMA member and historian. She has a passion for our local mining areas and their historic past. -Jan.
WHAT DOES BIDEN’S PLAN TO CUT GREENHOUSE EMISSION GASSES, THOMAS EDISON, JUNEAU ALASKA HAVE IN COMMON? B.A. Myers
Answer: a mine group in Eastern Oregon formerly known as “The Standard Consolidated Mines.” “The Standard” is a long lived mine group located in the Quartzburg district of Grant County. In 1904, “The Standard” was touted as a “Metallurgical Wonder” by the Sumpter Miner. The property being rich in a variety of minerals but distinct from other mines owing to the presence of cobalt.
Not unlike many local mines, “The Standard” has withstood generations and its holdings transferred through a number of corporations. This article offers only a glimpse of its story.
In the early 1860s a French-Canadian prospector by the name of Joe Juneau located “The Standard.” Juneau spent but a short time seeking fortunes in Oregon before packing up camp, heading north, and eventually landing in Alaska. In Alaska he found his lasting fame; the town of Juneau being named after him. Of interesting note, the town was initially named Harrisburgh after
Juneau’s partner, Richard Harris, but the townsfolk decided that was an all too common name and another was pursued. It was next named Rockwell. Juneau did some campaigning (that may or may not have involved the provision of alcohol to the electors) and received the winning vote in 1881 at a miner’s meeting. During the time Juneau and associates worked the Quartzburg claim
they did so from the surface and reportedly put in the first known smelter in the area. Although primitive, it served its purpose. Their shipments were packed out by mules (the original environmentally friendly mode of transportation) to The Dalles, and then on to France by steam ship. Some reports state copper was the primary mineral shipped while others state it was cobalt.
The mine had its heyday for gold and copper production in the early 1900s. Zoeth Houser, a lawman, held large interests in the mine along with promoters Killen, Warner, and Stewart, and promote they did! Full page adds encouraging investors to buy stock in the mine were often featured in local papers. A good degree of the mine’s ores were processed at the Sumpter Smelter. Cobalt from the mine was shipped during these years to Germany where the mineral was
largely used for glazes on pottery.
Circa 1906, the mine’s history intersects with Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison is best known for his improvements to the incandescent light bulb, but he was also a man of mining. Edison’s creations relied on having a supply of minerals. Not unlike today, this could be a challenge. Edison did his best to circumvent high costs and weak supply chains by purchasing his own mines or contracting directly with a mine. “The Standard” was one such mine; Edison Laboratories received at least a couple of cobalt shipments from “The Standard.” At the time Edison Laboratories were working on improving batteries, and this is what the cobalt was necessitated for. Batteries were a long held interest for Edison. He in fact is known for the first flameless miner’s light that was approved in 1915 by MSA. Edison also pursued the creation of an electric vehicle and briefly
partnered with the Ford Motor Company on this goal circa 1914. To this day Edison’s name still accompanies a mining company focused on minerals such as cobalt and lithium.
Fast forward to present day and the world isn’t necessarily so different. Companies are continuing to advance the electric battery. President Biden is pushing for an impressive reduction in greenhouse gases and a continual shift away from combustion engines to electric motors is being promoted. This in turn has bolstered a new mineral “rush.” Companies and investors are seeking out minerals such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel that are essential components needed for batteries used in electric vehicles or solar energy ventures. “The Standard” properties are of current interest to such corporations. As recently as 2018, mining companies were showing a renewed interest in exploration of the property for its values in cobalt.
References: “Standard a Mineral Marvel.” Sumpter Miner, 11/23/1904, pg. 2
“Many Old Smelters in These Gold Fields.” Sumpter Miner, 02/08/1905, pg. 6
Wagner, N.S., “Historical Notes on the Standard Mine, Grant County, Oregon.” The Ore Bin, Vol. 18, No.
9, Sept. 1956
“Mining Cobalt for Edison.” The Athena Press, 01/01/1907, pg. 1
Strohl, Dan, “Ford, Edison and the Cheap EV That Almost Was.” Wired.com, 06/18/2010
Stone, David B. & Hawly, Charles, “Joseph Juneau.” 1999, alaskamininghalloffame.org
“The Tenacity of Thomas Edison.”
EOMA ADVERTISING AND SALE LISTINGS
EOMA SILVER MEDALLIONS FOR SALE
EOMA still has silver medallions available. They are currently selling for $50.00 apiece plus $10.00 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 $10.00 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.
NINE UNPATENTED PLACER CLAIMS FOR SALE
These claims are in the Greenhorn Mining District, adjacent to the Parkerville and the Bonanza patented properties. Geiser Bowl- 60 acres, PW #1- 80 acres, PW #6 -100 acres, Black Beauty- 100 acres, Blue Mt Channel #3-100 acres, Carranza-80 acres, Dottie Two-80 acres, Mart Jones-60 acres, Wizzer-80-acres.
Contact LaRayn Rose for list prices, and of course, any reasonable offer will be considered especially for multiple claim purchases. (503) 317-6914
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.
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
WANTED-SMALL HARDROCK MILL
I need a jaw crusher or small hammer mill. Please call Pete at 541-910-9712 if you have one you want to sell.
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. 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 https://www.miningamerica.org/
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