Final environmental review issued for proposed gold mine

September 14, 2006

from ECOLOGY-NEWS@LISTSERV.WA.GOV

YAKIMA On Friday, Sept. 15, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) will release a final supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) that evaluates a proposed underground gold and silver mine near Chesaw in Okanogan County.

Crown Resources Corporation, a subsidiary of Kinross Gold USA, plans to extract approximately 1.2 million ounces of gold and silver from beneath Buckhorn Mountain over an eight-year period. As part of the project, the company plans to develop roads and haul the mined ore to be processed at the existing Kettle River Mill and tailings disposal facility owned by Kinross near Republic in Ferry County.

The SEIS identifies actions the company must take to alleviate harm to the environment caused by the mining and milling operations, and identifies more than 30 permits required for the project. Agencies anticipate that decisions will be made on all of the permits by the end of 2006.

A copy of the final environmental impact statement including, a list of the permits, is available online at: www.buckhornseis.com. State and local permits issued for the Buckhorn Mountain Project will be reviewed under a "coordinated appeal process" as allowed under state law. Permits may be appealed to the state's Environmental and Land Use Hearings Board within 21 days of being issued.

The Environmental and Land Use Hearings board will schedule hearings on all of the appeals filed once the last permit decision has been made and the deadline for filing an appeal on that final decision has passed.

Copies of the EIS may be viewed at libraries in Colville, Grand Coulee, Okanogan, Oroville, Republic and Tonasket in Washington, and public libraries in Osoyoos and Midway, British Columbia, Canada.

Copies of the environmental impact statement are also available for review at the central regional office of the Department of Ecology, 15 W. Yakima Ave., Suite 200, in Yakima. Hard copies may be purchased for $30; CD copies are available at no cost. To make a request, call (509) 454-7664.

Media contacts:
Jani Gilbert, Department of Ecology, (509) 329-3495
Joye Redfield-Wilder, Department of Ecology, (509) 575-2610
Clyde Gillespie, Kinross Gold U.S.A., Inc., (509) 775-3157 ext. 131

"Pure water is more precious than gold!"