A new underground goldmine is being proposed for the area northeast of Burgdorf, near Canada Saddle, at the old Walla Walla mine site in Idaho County.
The proponent of the new Walla Walla Mine Project is F&H Mining, LLC, said Dan Anderson, a land-management planning specialist with the Payette National Forest.
F&H plans to work along a mineralized vein system that has been mined in the past, but since reclaimed following the 2000 Burgdorf Junction fire.
Anderson estimated this exploratory process could last two or three mining seasons, depending on ore quality and quantity. Further, more intensive mining operations could follow.
The mine would consist of excavation of an underground, horizontal shaft along the mineralized vein. Explosives and mining equipment would loosen ore from the vein, which would be trucked to an on-site trailermounted processing plant, where it would be crushed, milled, and classified.
Gold recovery would also take place on site using mechanical means and no chemicals.
Milling operations and tailings removal would require an estimated 4,000 gallons of water per day, which would be obtained from on-site streams and ponds.
Tailings would be stored in excavated trenches on site, which could then be reclaimed after use.
Existing access roads would be used and maintained to accommodate equipment travel, drainage, and runoff.
Operations would conclude each fall with seasonal reclamation measures, with final reclamation procedures implemented at project's end.
Environmental projections measures are designed to keep pollutants from entering streams, and Forest Service inspectors would make regular site visits. F&H Mining is comprised of a
three-way partnership of Payette resident and businessman Phil Hyatt; Eagle resident and general contractor Carl Funk; and Emmett-based Roy Stearns, who works in the medical field.
Hyatt, 50, said he started looking for a workable claim around four years ago, as a hedge against retirement.
Around 2000, I figured gold and silver commodity values would start to go up, so I started snooping around," he said. Hyatt looked at many various claim sites, but only the Walla Walla site seemed to have any potential.
"A lot of (the sites) are just a pile of rocks with a dream," he said.
The partnership of friends came together after positive quartz samples were taken, coupled with a jump in market gold prices.
Hyatt seemed confident the mine would produce a break-even amount of not less than one-quarter ounce of gold per ton of ore. He added his company is committed to protecting the surrounding environment.
"We're local people, born and raised in and around Washington county," Hyatt said. "I've been hunting and fishing in this state all of my life. I'm concerned about our environment on a daily basis."
