In March 2022, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors (BOS) is expecting the results of an independent study regarding the economic impacts to Grass Valley should the Idaho-Maryland mine be reopened. Meanwhile, CEO Ben Mossman, based on reports commissioned by his company Rise Grass Valley, sent a spate of letters to local business owners in December 2021, claiming there would be various economic benefits to the local area and housing market and encouraging these businesses to show support for the reopening.
Victoria Penate, staff writer at The Union reports: "According to the contract, following a number of data collection and economic and fiscal analysis tasks, the firm will present a draft report [to the BOS] mid-March and receive the county’s comments on it through March 30. A final report is expected April 13, with the firm to assist the county with public comments from April 14 to May 12, as well as attend a public hearing April 27."
Rise Grass Valley — a subsidiary of Rise Gold Corp. which has proposed the reopening of the Idaho-Maryland Mine — asked in a letter earlier this month that local businesses “encourage the Nevada County Board of Supervisors to approve the project.”
Rise Grass Valley President Ben Mossman wrote in the Dec. 13 letter that the company’s plan to reopen the mine will spur the creation of over 600 new jobs in Nevada County — 312 of which would be people hired by Rise Grass Valley directly, while the rest are estimated to be created in the community “through local supplier spending on goods and services integral to the ongoing operation of the mine,” the letter states — as well as expand the county’s tax base and result in over $50 million per year in new local spending.
Mossman also wrote that the project “isn’t only about jobs and the economy,” listing a number of actions he says have been incorporated into the project proposal, including funds going toward the Ophir Hill Fire Protection District, a new Nevada Irrigation District water supply pipe and permanent connection for some homes near the mine to the district’s supplies, and the creation of 31 acres of “flat usable industrial zoned land.”
The letter asked local businesses, if they supported Rise Grass Valley’s efforts, to fill out an attached “support card” and send it back to the company.
UPCOMING INDEPENDENT ECONOMIC STUDY
Nevada County supervisors gave their unanimous approval Dec. 14 to a contract with Robert D. Niehaus, Inc. (RDN), which is set to conduct an independent study regarding the potential economic impacts of the proposed Idaho-Maryland Mine reopening.
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Victoria Penate is a staff writer with The Union. She can be reached at vpenate@theunion.com