APRIL 2008: AROUND THE STATE
Oregon gold
rush isn’t what it used to be
STATEWIDE
There may be gold in them thar Oregon hills, but nobody’s
mining it. Even with gold prices hovering at all-time highs in
the neighborhood of $1,000 per ounce, the same dozen or so
mining companies that have held mining claims for years
continue to pass on Oregon while looking elsewhere, usually
overseas, to capitalize on the global gold rush.
Gold spurred the settlement of northeastern and southwestern
Oregon in the 19th century, but the industry has never
recovered from high labor costs, tightening state regulations
and the downfall of gold prices. Those prices have bounced back
spectacularly as the dollar has weakened, but there are no
mining companies in Oregon positioned to capitalize, says Gary
Lynch of the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral
Industries.
“There’s very little exploration going on in the
state, and without exploration you won’t see much
mining,” says Lynch. “The industry went overseas
about 10 years ago, and they may be hesitant to come back
because of permitting requirements.”
Richard O’Brien, the CEO of Newmont Mining, the
second-largest mining company in the world, was born in
Portland, but his Denver-based company has ventures further
overseas each year. Newmont formerly leased a property called
Grassy Mountain, southwest of Vale, but the company wrote off
its $33.8 million investment in Oregon in 1996 in favor of
development in countries such as Ghana, where Newmont is
building schools near its mines to train future workers.
Oregon’s days as a gold producer are long gone, but that
doesn’t mean there aren’t companies cashing in on
the skyrocketing metals prices. One example is Esco Corp. of
Portland, a privately held manufacturer of heavy mining
equipment that has seen sales growth in South America and
Africa.
“We’ve definitely been benefiting from these strong
prices and from the increase in global demand,” says Jon
Owens, Esco’s vice president for mining and construction
products. “There’s been a lot of expansion of
existing mines, and when production increases we
benefit.”
BEN JACKLET
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