By: Citizens Looking at Impacts of Mining in Grass Valley (CLAIM-GV)
Emgold Asks for Another Delay
GRASS VALLEY Calif. December 9, 2011 – The Idaho-Maryland Mine Corp. (IMMC), a subsidiary of Canadian Emgold Mining Co., has requested that the City of Grass Valley put their mining project application on hold due to a lack of funds. The City is requiring a $440,000 deposit from IMMC for independent consultants before continuing with the project, and IMMC will need another $3-4 million to complete the permitting process.
As per financial reports on September 30, 2011, Emgold had a working capital deficit of $695,764 and an accumulated deficit of $49,327,646. CEO David Watkinson earns $185,000/yr. According to a recent statement by Emgold, the most recent stock offerings are specifically to be used for projects other than the Idaho-Maryland Mine. It is not known when or if financing will become available for the Grass Valley project.
Statement from CLAIM-GV:
“For the last 3 years, parent company Emgold has claimed that they are in the ‘advanced stages of permitting’. It seems irresponsible to keep saying this to investors, knowing that they are basically starting over with the process and that they lack any means of funding.”
“In addition, their project depends upon sales of massive quantities of tile created by fusing mine tailings, a process that has never been used on a commercial scale. Basically, this Canadian Corporation has almost no working capital, has no regular source of revenue, and has no track record of ever even running a mine or a tile factory. It’s hard to believe they are serious when they claim they can sell 48,000 sq-ft of tile per day retail in Grass Valley, and 480,000 sq-ft of tile per day regionally.”
The last public hearing on this project was in January 2009, when the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was reviewed by the Planning Department and the public submitted comments. The draft was subsequently deemed inadequate. Since then the project has undergone some minor revisions and been resubmitted. On November 8, 2011, the Grass Valley City Council approved contracts for hiring new consultants to start the process again and prepare a new Draft EIR. The process will take at least a year.
