In November 2022, the County published an an Economic Impact Report on the proposed Idaho-Maryland Mine. There are good reasons to take a very close look at the report.
CEA Foundation thanks the County for commissioning the report, which provided a good framework for assessing the impacts. In the estimation of many however, its conclusions were not definitive. Some of the results were good news because they corrected some of Rise Gold's previous outrageous claims, but several more raised real concerns.
Two events were hosted to help the community understand more about the report.
County Webinar - The event was hosted by Nevada County on December 15, and presented by the report's author, Robert D Niehaus, Inc. (RDN). Get links to the report, the event recording, and PowerPoint slides on the County's website here.
MineWatch Webinar - This event was hosted by CEA Foundation on December 20. It was comprised of a panel of community experts who came together to review the conclusions of the County's report. Watch the video and see the list of panelists.
Some findings are quite useful to know.
RDN “downgraded” some of Rise Gold’s most outrageous claims. Projections of generating more than $12M a year in local spending got reduced to less than $5M.
Promises about generating 300 “indirect” jobs turned into 163 instead.
The study assesses County revenues from a "low-end" scenario and a "high-end" scenario. On the high-end, revenue from the mine would only provide a 2.1% increase in County’s General Fund. On the low-end, it would provide only about 0.4% increase and the mine would close after year 11!
Other findings are cause for concern.
Some portions of the study which are very concerning. For instance, the study is based on the assumption that it would operate as proposed by Rise Gold and as documented in the project description in the Draft EIR. Also, RDN found “no conclusive evidence” to assert that the proposed project would have a significant impact on local property values.
Learn more about the community's response.
Read the Union article about the MineWatch webinar: Nevada County Community Weighs In On Mine's Economic Report
Read the YubaNet article: CEA Foundation Urges Caution Interpreting Mine’s Economic Impact Report
Watch the December 20 MineWatch Webinar to hear a community review.
See all MineWatch articles and posts related to economic impact of the mine.
Learn more about the County's report.
The County commissioned the independent Economic Impact Report, which was authored by consultant Robert D Niehaus, Inc. (RDN).