EASTERN OREGON
MINING ASSOCIATION
JULY 2026
VOLUME 442
President……………………………………..Ken Alexander…… alxk@ortelco.net ……541-446-3413
Vice-President……………………………..Dan Johnson……………………………………..1-503-510-3281
Director of Governmental Affairs……… Terry Drever Gee……………………… 541-523-6228
Editor…………………………….. Jan Alexander………. alx@ortelco.net ….541-446-3413
Mineral Policy Director………………Jan Alexander………. alx@ortelco.net ….541-446-3413
EOMA MEMBERSHIPS FOR 2026
If your mailing label doesn’t indicate 1/1/27 your dues are not paid up. You can send your payment to: EOMA, PO Box 932, Baker City, OR 97814. Or you can pay at the meeting. You can also sign up and pay with a credit card on our website: EOMA.US Please contact Ken if there is a question about your dues payment. Thank you for your support.
JULY 3rd, 2026 MONTHLY MEETING AT ELK CREEK ENTERPRISES
The EOMA monthly meeting is at the Elk Creek Enterprises building located at 890 Elm Street in Baker City. The Executive Board Meeting starts at 6:00 PM and the General Meeting follows at 6:30 PM. Don’t forget, someone will win a 1 oz. silver medallion at the end of the meeting.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
DEQ has finally set a date to meet with miners concerning issuing a new general WPCF permit. The meeting in Baker City will be on the 24th of June, and Jan e-mailed a lot of local miners in the hope that they can attend. But instead of providing copies of the proposed new permit, as was earlier indicated, DEQ will only be talking about protocol (whatever that is).
I am hoping to see a lot of miners at that meeting. Whether you have a current permit or not, it is wrong that people are required by law to have this permit to use water to process minerals, but DEQ has not issued a new permit for nine years. It is obvious DEQ is having difficulty providing a permit that allows small scale mineral mining and exploration to take place in Oregon.
Oregon is really missing the boat here. Small scale mining is good for the economy. Mining provides jobs, and miners spend money in our local communities on equipment, fuel, tires, parts and more. They buy food and support local restaurants. Mining is good for Oregon.
HAVE YOU CONTACTED BETH MOORE AT DEQ?
Update your contact information with Beth, especially your e-mail address, so when the new 600 permit comes out, she can contact you with the information you will need to apply for the new permit. I am assuming the information on how to apply for a new permit will go out to current operators via e-mail.
Contact Beth by e-mail at Beth.MOORE@deq.oregon.gov. Her phone number is 503-229-6402.
MEETING WITH THE FOREST SERVICE AND LAURA PERRIGAN-Jan Alexander
Laura was well prepared for this meeting. Ken and I attended, as did Chad Williams, Jeff Young, Gloria and Dale Pappan, Dan Johnson, Supervisor Shaun McKinney, Geologist Mark Spindal, Ranger Jeremy Aujero, as well as field geologists Keifer Nace and Robert.
Laura went through the history of how the Forest Service seized her brother’s bond money, tore up her road and completely ruined her underground workings, when this was an active mine and a new plan of operation had been submitted. The Forest Service contractor even tore out the portal door and buried it on site or else they stole it.
There was a lot of discussion, including the fact that the Forest Service modified Laura’s recent Notice of Intent and voided her proposal to use mechanized equipment to improve her trails so she can access her portals.
The result of the meeting was Shaun’s commitment to having his minerals staff take a critical look at what happened, learn what they did wrong, and what they did right. Shaun promised EOMA members that this analysis would take place, and we will be provided a copy of their findings.
SUBMIT YOUR NOTICE OF INTENT TO THE FOREST SERVICE-Jan Alexander
Do you have a claim on the National Forest that you have tested with hand tools, and now want to do some testing with mechanized equipment? Several members have reported that the Forest Service has been willing to authorize one season of testing to help miners understand their deposit, and make a plan for mining.
The FS has long had a way to authorize testing without going through many years writing Environmental Assessments. Category 8 covers Short-term (1 year or less) mineral, energy, or geophysical investigations and their incidental support activities that may require cross-country travel by vehicles and equipment, construction of less than 1 mile of low standard road, or use and minor repair of existing roads. Examples include, but are not limited to:(iii) Trenching to obtain evidence of mineralization and: (vii) Approving a plan for exploration which authorizes repair of an existing road and the construction of 1/3 mile of temporary road; clearing vegetation from an acre of land for trenches, drill pads, or support facilities. Submit your Notice of Intent. The FS might well authorize you to test this summer.
BLUE MOUNTAIN FOREST PLAN MEETING IN BAKER-FAFA
The meeting in Baker City was probably one of the sharpest and most direct meetings yet in the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision process. Several major issues that have been simmering beneath the surface finally got openly challenged in front of the Forest Service.
One of the biggest moments of the night centered around the early release of the draft DEIS to the Blues Intergovernmental Council (BIC), while the general public still does not officially have access to the document. Multiple members of the public openly challenged the fairness of the process and questioned why the public is being asked to attend meetings and discuss alternatives before:
• the DEIS is officially released,
• maps are available,
• appendices are published,
• and the effects analysis can actually be reviewed.
The Forest Service confirmed that the BIC was provided an early draft because it is considered a cooperating governmental entity. That explanation clearly frustrated several attendees, who argued the broader public should have had equal access before these meetings were held.
Another major issue tonight involved motorized access and Travel Management. Commissioner Christina Witham opened the meeting by specifically mentioning:
• the recent executive order involving motorized access,
• the possible rescission of the Roadless Rule,
• and broader concerns surrounding access management moving forward.
Later in the meeting, one of the strongest questions asked so far in this entire process was raised directly to the Forest Service: If future Travel Management decisions must still conform to the Forest Plan under the National Forest Management Act, how can the agency simultaneously claim motorized access is “not being addressed” in the Forest Plan Revision while the very framework future access decisions must tier to is being established right now?
That question goes directly to the center of what many people have been worried about.
Supervisor Shaun McKinney again responded that:
• the Forest Plan and Travel Management are “two different things,”
• the Forest Plan operates at a broad “20,000-foot level,”
• and the Forest Plan “does not constrain” future Travel Management decisions.
That contradiction remains one of the single biggest unresolved issues in this process.
The broader issue of why access and Travel Management were separated from the Forest Plan Revision process also continued surfacing.
SPECIES OF CONSERVATION CONCERN-FAFA
Another major discussion involved the 2012 Planning Rule and Species of Conservation Concern.
Several attendees raised concerns that:
• the 2012 Planning Rule itself heavily prioritizes resource protections,
• large riparian buffers,
• watershed protections,
• and species considerations,
while potentially limiting local management flexibility, timber production, grazing, mining, and other traditional uses.
Questions were also raised regarding:
• how Species of Conservation Concern could affect future projects,
• whether those species create additional procedural hurdles,
• and whether those requirements could slow or stop future timber sales, grazing projects, or restoration work.
The Forest Service responded that the Species of Conservation Concern list is not an endangered species list, but acknowledged those species are considered within the planning framework.
The Forest Service appears to be trying to separate the politically difficult access fight from the Forest Plan itself, while still building the long-term management framework future access decisions will ultimately depend upon.
That is exactly why people need to stay engaged.
The official DEIS release and 90-day public comment period are still expected soon. People should continue to stay engaged; because once this Forest Plan is finalized, the framework established now will shape these forests and future management decisions for decades.
TRAVEL MANAGEMENT PLAN-Jan Alexander
I e-mailed Shaun McKinney about my concerns and questions on the Travel Management Plan that will come soon after the Blue Mountain Forest Plan is approved.
I asked him about the document; would it be in the form of an Environmental Assessment? He replied that it would. I imagine there would be at least 3 alternatives (a) no action-leave the Forest as an open forest with no road closure unless there was an environmental concern about the road and the public got an opportunity to comment on the closure, (b) turn the forest into a closed forest where the FS would decide which roads to leave open for the public to use (c) some sort of environmentalist alternative where it would be a closed forest with whole areas closed to any access. These might be the tip of the iceberg, the restrictions of the last decades indicate the Forest Service can think of more ways to keep us out of our Forests. Just stay involved.
MINERS JUBILEE JULY 17-19-Jan Alexander
We have two trommels for Jubilee. Dave Kast is letting us use his production trommel and Alice Knapp is letting us use. her family trommel, formerly owned by Roy Valentine. I have a high banker and sluices, Laura Perrigan will let us use her dry washer. Chad Williams let us use Chuck Chase’s rocker box last year and hopefully we can display it again.
No luck on finding a suction dredge. If anyone knows of a dredge that we can display, please let me know. Set up for Jubilee will be on July 16, at 1:00 p.m.
For the drawing we have a gorgeous Eagle Quilt, donated by Laura Perrigan, a gold nugget from our Gimlet claim, and a set of pans, screens and small-scale mining tools donated by Keith Magnuson. The gold for the kids’ panning tubs is donated by Ashgrove Cement. There will be gold specimens, nuggets, bags of pay dirt ready to pan. There will also be mining equipment for sale.
If you have time, please do join us at the booth, directly across from the museum.
Many thanks to all of you who donated equipment and prizes for the drawing. It all helps to showcase mining!
WHAT CONSTITUTES ASSESSMENT WORK?-ORS 517.230
To ensure that claimants are acting in good faith, with the intention of developing a working mine in a timely fashion, Congress required that claimants perform on each claim “not less than one hundred dollars’ worth of labor … or improvements … each year.” This requirement has come to be known as assessment work.
As a general rule, any work performed in good faith that tends to develop the claim and facilitate the extraction of minerals from it qualifies as assessment work. The work can be performed either on or off the claim site, but it must benefit the claim to which the work will be attributed. Thus, an access road, which allows the claimant to transport materials and ore to and from the site, qualifies for the claim or claims that it serves. Likewise, a shaft sunk pursuant to a general plan or scheme to develop a group of claims may qualify as assessment work for each of the claims benefited.
The cost of materials used on a claim may be included in the assessment work calculation, as may the cost of any equipment that is permanently attached to the property. However, tools and equipment that are used on the claim, and that can later be used elsewhere, qualify as assessment work only to the extent of the reasonable value for their use.
WHAT HAS PRESIDENT TRUMP DONE TO HELP MINING?- A.I.
1. Fast-tracking mining permits
In March 2025, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to identify mining projects that could be approved quickly and to expedite permitting and environmental reviews.
The administration also placed selected projects on the Federal Permitting Dashboard to increase coordination and speed reviews.
2. Prioritizing mining on federal lands
Federal agencies were instructed to identify federal lands containing mineral deposits and give greater priority to mineral development and related infrastructure.
The order encouraged leasing suitable federal lands for mineral production facilities.
3. Using emergency and defense authorities
The administration invoked Defense Production Act authorities and other emergency powers to support domestic critical mineral production and processing. This included removing some procedural hurdles and making financing available for strategic mineral projects.
4. Supporting financing for mining projects
The executive order directed agencies to use federal financing tools and loans to help develop domestic mineral supply chains.
In 2026, the administration also backed investments and loans for certain rare-earth and critical-mineral companies as part of efforts to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.
5. Reducing reliance on China
A major stated goal has been increasing U.S. production of minerals that are currently imported or heavily processed in China. Administration officials have repeatedly cited national security and supply-chain resilience as reasons for expanding domestic mining.
Supporters say
Supporters argue these policies:
• Increase U.S. mineral independence.
• Create mining and processing jobs.
• Strengthen national security and manufacturing supply chains.
• Reduce vulnerability to foreign export restrictions.
Critics say
Critics argue that faster permitting and expanded mining on public lands could:
• Weaken environmental review.
• Increase risks to water resources and wildlife.
• Reduce public input on projects.
• Prioritize development over conservation.
So, in practical terms, Trump’s administration has mainly tried to help U.S. mining by speeding permits, opening more federal land to mineral development, using federal financing and emergency authorities, and prioritizing critical-mineral supply chains.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET A SURFACE MINING PERMIT IN OREGON? For a standard DOGAMI Surface Mining Operating Permit, the official licensing directory lists a normal processing time of 2–6 months, but also warns that actual processing is currently likely to exceed 6 months, with recent processing times running about 10–18 months due to workload and application complexity.
AMERICA’S MINERAL DEPENENDNCE IS DANGEROUS AND UNNECESSARY-Tobias Russel, Megan Henkins
America is not heavily dependent on oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, yet disruption there has still shocked our economy. Imagine the consequences if we were more dependent.
In critical minerals, that vulnerability is real: The U.S. is heavily import-reliant for dozens of minerals essential to modern life. For several of them, more than half of America’s supply comes from countries vulnerable to conflict or regional turmoil, including China, Mexico and South Africa. A future disruption in or near these countries could send prices soaring, hurting everyday Americans. But this vulnerability is largely optional: America has substantial deposits of many of the very minerals it imports from abroad. Yet Washington makes it extraordinarily difficult to develop those resources.
New research from Pacific Legal Foundation shows how overlapping federal permitting regimes delays, and sometimes, outright prevents domestic mineral production. The result is a mine permitting process that is painfully slow, costly and uncertain. On average, it takes 29 years to open a new mine in the U.S., longer than anywhere in the world except Zambia.
In cases of extraordinary delay, the problem is usually not any one statute alone, but the cumulative effect of layered federal requirements. Each adds another round of review, consultation, paperwork, and litigation risk. Together, they create costly delays that deter investment, drive capital abroad, and deepen America’s unnecessary dependence on foreign suppliers.
For example, nearly four decades after the permitting process began at Rock Creek in Montana, a copper-silver deposit capable of powering millions of electric vehicles and smartphones remains stuck in the ground. Meanwhile, the U.S. imports almost half of its copper.
NewRange in Minnesota tells a similar story, having spent 21 years and counting in permitting limbo. It holds enough nickel, copper and cobalt to supply millions of new homes and electric vehicles, yet the U.S. still relies on foreign suppliers for 41 percent of its nickel and 79 percent of its cobalt.
Even Thacker Pass in Nevada, often cited as a permitting success story, spent 17 years in review and litigation before preliminary construction of the mine began in 2023. One of the largest lithium deposits in the world still has not begun producing, even as the U.S. imports more than half of its lithium.
EOMA ADVERTISING AND SALE LISTINGS
Edito’s note: The current policy requires you to be a paid-up member of EOMA in order to place an ad in the newsletter.
GOLD CLAIMS FOR SALE
Sale includes 6 placer claims (180 acres total) located on Elk Creek near Baker City. Sale also includes all the equipment and has a PoO with FS in place and A WPCF 600 permit that can be transferred. If interested, call Don at 509-860-1145 or email: donaldenright25@gmail.com
METAL FLOAT CELLS FOR SALE
There are 12 cells. These have been stored inside the Buffalo Mine Mill Building.
If interested call Tommy at 541-519-9611 or email me at tpartee46@gmail.com
MINING EQUIPMENT FOR SALE IN GRANITE
Trommel on 24’ trailer. Ten-foot by two-foot diameter barrel. Two cylinder Kohler engine with electric start. Seven foot by eight foot rock screen. A 400-gallon water tank on a heavy duty trailer. There are hoses and a small Briggs & Stratton engine driving a 2” discharge pump. Mike (541) 755-5028 leave a message. Or (503) 266-5739. strimble@pinetel.com
EASTERN OREGON PLACER MINING CLAIMS WITH ESTABLISHED RESERVES
FOR SALE – Two 20-acre placer BLM mining claims in Baker County, Oregon. Located in an established placer gold district. Established reserves at a very conservative 75,000 cubic yards at a grade of 0.58 grams (0.0186 ounces per yard). Reserves can likely be increased by additional testing.
Claims include a current Notice of Intent for sampling and bulk sampling. Excellent year-round access from maintained county road adjacent to the property. Normal operating season is April to October and often longer. Perennial stream Clarks Creek flows through the Lone Pine Claim. Mining geologist report is available. $300,000, or trade for private property. Will consider terms. Send inquiries to mjawine@comcast.net
WANTED-GOLD
Gold Specimens and Gold nuggets, mostly from Oregon mines. Fair prices paid. Also selling Gold nugget jewelry, specimens, nuggets and more. For an interesting and informative experience explore www.northernnevadagold.com Call Robert 775-455-6470
MINING EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
STILL AVAILABLE- 3” flat hose, sluice, Honda pump, scraper, clean-up table, road runner screen, screen, diesel tank and pump, two slurry pumps, clean-up room equipment, and additional flat hose. I can send pictures and can provide details on this equipment. I am willing to discuss offers. Call Bill at 503-781-4393. E-mail me at dei@teleport.com .
MINING CLAIMS FOR SALE
STILL AVAILABLE-I still have an association placer claim 40-acres in size, Gold Midas Association, and a 20-acre placer claim, Gold Midas 2. These are on Wilson Creek near the confluence with Elk Creek. I have moved out of the area and thus, need to sell these claims. They are up to date with BLM. Jan Alexander has some maps and information that I sent her on the claims alx@ortelco.net . For a price, please e-mail me at Rob Browning, robbrowning70@gmail.com .
CAPITOL PROSPECTING-METAL DETECTING AND MINING SUPPLIES
We are located in Baker City at 2801 Broadway Street. We buy used equipment and sell both new and used equipment. Come in and see what we have, or call me at 503-269-8640. My e-mail is CapitolProspecting@hotmail.com.
We appreciate your business. Gary and Christina Earle
AMERICAN EXPLORATION & MINING ASSOCIATION
EOMA is a member of American Exploration & Mining Association, and many of our members are also individual members. American Exploration & Mining Association is a 128-year-old, 1,400-member, national association representing the minerals industry.
With members in 46 states, AEMA is the recognized national voice for exploration, the junior mining sector, maintaining access to public lands, and represents the entire mining life cycle, from exploration through production to reclamation and closure.
You can become a member of AEMA by going to their website at https://www.miningamerica.org