Wheels turn slowly for Crown Butte Res.

Slow progress is better than none at all for Crown Butte Resources, which is still waiting for the U.S. government to provide compensation for the expropriation of its New World gold project in southern Montana.

A House-Senate committee has reached accord on a plan whereby the U.S. government will buy, from Crown Butte, property interests in the New World mining district.

Crown Butte’s chairman, Karl Elers, says the plan is part of a larger bill that would have to be passed by both Houses of Congress before it could be presented to President Bill Clinton.

Elers notes that the President can either sign or veto the bill.

In August 1996, Crown Butte agreed to a land exchange that had the effect of blocking further development of New World, which had come under intense scrutiny over the perceived threat of a tailings spill. In particular, environmental groups were concerned about the effect such a spill might have on the ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park, some 5 km distant.

The agreement calls for the company to exchange its interest in New World for property from the U.S. government valued at US$65 million. Up to the time of expropriation, Crown Butte had spent US$37 million on exploration and site preparation at the property.