Washington state mine, conservationists reach accord

Dave Kliegman, executive director of the Okanogan Highlands Alliance, said the agreement with Crown Resources Corp. ends 18 years of disputes over the project east of Oroville near Chesaw, just south of the Canadian border. Crown Resources is a subsidiary of Kinross Gold Corp. of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The agreement calls for improved monitoring and mitigation, including third-party water quality monitoring and other environmental protections above those called for by state and federal regulatory agencies, Kliegman said.

"We thought we had a good case, but we could get more by settling than we could get in court," Kliegman said by telephone from his home in rural Okanogan County. "The company wanted it really bad now, so they were willing to give us more than we could get from federal and state regulations."

Crown Resources Vice President Lauren Roberts said the agreement means the project will move forward, with ore scheduled to begin moving from the mine in August.

"With the settlement language, it's the final step along the way of the project becoming a reality," he said by telephone from Republic. "It removes any uncertainty with respect to jobs and economic benefits in this area, which you know is a fairly depressed region."

Crown Jewel's owners have watched as gold prices climbed to near-record levels in the past year. Gold traded Thursday for about $950 an ounce.

"We'd like to have the mill running right now," Roberts conceded.

Key to the agreement is independent third-party monitoring of water quality and water levels in Buckhorn Mountain creeks, as well as other environmental and post-closure mitigation, Kliegman said.

Crown Resources will hire its own water quality expert and will pay to hire an expert for the Okanogan Highlands Alliance, according to Kliegman, Roberts and documents filed with the state Thursday.