Proposed Reopening of the Cherokee Mine

As reported by Randy Glass of the Feather River Canyon News last month, "Advanced Mineral Technology Inc., a mining company out of Idaho, is in the process of acquiring the rights to purchase approximately 900 acres including the old Cherokee Mine, and is proposing to open the mine once again." The plan is to mine silica sand, leftover deposits from the mining operations last century, over the course of the next 15 to 20 years. Representatives of AMT describe the mine as an open pit type covering 120 acres. There will also be a processing plant on the sight. After processing and drying the silica sand, much of it will be moved along a 4,000 foot long covered conveyor belt down to the railroad tracks and loaded onto train cars. Some of the material will also be trucked out. They state they will only be using surface water for the operations.

There are many environmental issues to be considered. They are: air quality from the dust, area wells, effects in the watershed downstream, mercury releases, noise, traffic on the small windy road and the state of disrepair the land will be left in when the project is completed. Some of the health concerns voiced by nearby residents are asthma and silicosis, a lung disease caused by long-term inhalation of silica dust. Evidently, there are twenty children living in the immediate area. There is also an elementary school just down the hill and across Highway 70 from the proposed railroad loading dock.

Watch for notices in the Oroville Mercury Register or the Chico Enterprise Record for meetings being held up at the old schoolhouse on Cherokee Road if you are interested in helping the residents living near the mine.

This column originally appeared August 31, 1999 in the Chico Examiner.