Crown gets environmental nod for Crown Jewel

Battle Mountain Gold (BMG-N) and Crown Resources (CRRS-Q) have won a legal victory regarding the Crown Jewel project in Washington state: the U.S. Federal Court backed conclusions made by the U.S. Forest Service, and granted summary judgment on the behalf of the Forest Service and Battle Mountain.

In its ruling, the court upheld the adequacy of the final environmental impact statement (EIS) and the Forest Service’s record of decision to proceed with the gold project. The court also denied all motions against the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs, consisting of environmental and special interest groups, alleged that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Organic Administration Act and various trust obligations, and sought the withdrawal of the Forest Service’s record of decision, as well as a revision of the final EIS.

“This ruling represents a major step in the Crown Jewel project’s move toward production,” said Crown President Christopher Herald.

The project, which is 54%-held by Battle Mountain, still needs three additional permits before construction, scheduled for the second quarter of 2000, can begin. The first is the water quality permit, which is expected in the next few weeks; the wetlands permit is expected by the end of February; and the waste water discharge permit is slated for April or May.

Battle Mountain will provide all necessary funding to develop the deposit, which is estimated to contain 1.6 million oz. gold. At 3,000 tons per day, the underground operation is expected to crank out 185,000 oz. gold at an estimated cost of US$160 per oz.

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