Nevada County Board of Supervisors votes against reopening Grass Valley gold mine
The Nevada County Board of Supervisors voted Thursday against reopening a gold mine in Grass Valley that has been closed for almost seven decades.
The gold mine’s owner, Rise Gold Corp., had argued that it had a vested right to extract gold from the Idaho-Maryland Mine that closed in 1956. Rise Gold purchased it in 2017.
The supervisors found that the mine was abandoned in the mid-1950s leaving the mine’s owners no vested rights. Rise Gold lawyers argued that the 67 years since gold mining had occurred was only a pause.
“We’re disappointed with the decision,” said Joseph Mullin, president and CEO of Rise Gold.
Mullin said his company will ask the Board of Supervisors at a new hearing next year to issue a conditional use permit to reopen the mine. The decision Thursday focused only on whether Rise Gold had an automatic right to reopen the mine.
The Nevada County Planning Board rejected the mine’s reopening last May after large community opposition.
Homeowners are concerned that the mine will cause their wells to fail and create noise.
