Boiseans target gold mining company 

Boise residents last week urged the Boise City Council and Mayor David Bieter to throw up regulatory roadblocks to a gold mine proposed south of Atlanta in Elmore County.
Atlanta Gold Corp., a Boise subsidiary of Twin Mining Co. in Ontario, Canada, would build and operate the mine at the headwaters of the Boise River. The open-pit mine would use a weak cyanide solution to leach gold from piles of ore. Atlanta Gold Corp. General Manager Bruce Thorndycraft said the solution is safe for humans and animals. Mining trucks would bring in supplies using roads along the river.
At a town hall meeting, Pam Conley said the city should work with Elmore County to hold the mine financially responsible for any accidents.
“The only way we can stop it is if we can make it so expensive that they can’t afford to do it,” Conley said.
Gail Bray asked the mayor and council members to adopt a clean-water resolution, work with legislators to tighten insurance requirements and other regulations, and seek so many safeguards that the mine becomes economically unfeasible and investors are scared off.
Bray has a cabin on the North Fork road, which would be used by mining trucks to haul undiluted cyanide, diesel fuel and other chemicals. The road is treacherous, especially in rainy weather after logging trucks have used it, she said.
“There is an art to driving the road, a vigilance that is required on each and every trip,” she said.
Cathy Thomas said she’s driven heavy equipment as a member of the 321st combat engineers. She also knows what it’s like to drive on the North Fork Road.
“Having unsuccessfully tried to transport a wedding cake in a very light car, I can tell you these heavy trucks are going to have trouble,” she said.
Fourth grade students at Riverstone International School in Boise did a class project on the mine and made a presentation to the city council.
They interviewed Bruce Thorndycraft, the general manager of Atlanta Gold; Bruce Schuld, mine project coordinator for the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality; Terry Hardy, project manager for the U.S. Forest Service in the Boise National Forest; and John Robison, public lands director for the Idaho Conservation League.
When they interviewed Thorndycraft, he told them the mine wouldn’t have been financially viable a few years ago when gold prices were lower, according to the students’ teacher, Jane Kaserman. The students made graphs of gold prices and asked what would happen if prices went down again — would the company be able to pay for cleanup?
Nine-year-old Katie Beltrami said she learned a lot about the environment and harmful chemicals during the class project. Finn Brown, 9, said he learned how a cyanide heap leach mine works.
“I don’t want the mine,” Brown said. “It’s a good idea, just not in that place.”
Atlanta Gold Corp. still needs approval from the Forest Service, as well as cyanidation and reclamation bonding from the state, sanitation permits from Elmore County, water quality certification permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and possibly other permits, Hardy said.
Atlanta Gold hasn’t finished its environmental impact statement for the Forest Service, Hardy said. They’ve stopped work on it while Atlanta Gold reorganizes and focuses on financial issues, he said. The company requested a delay until spring.
Twin Mining’s CEO and chairman of the board, Hermann Derbuch, left the company earlier this year. The company appointed an interim CEO in August. Another board member, Alfred Powis, left and was replaced in November, according to press releases.
In September, one of Twin Mining Corp.’s equipment suppliers filed a claim against the company seeking more than $900,000 in damages, according to a press release.
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To contact the author of this story, send email to: lora.volkert@idahobusiness.net.

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