Jon Barton, of those venerable purveyors of catastrophic local failures, FONSI and SCDC, as signed his name to a letter published in The World misrepresenting the amount of water ORC will need to conduct mine processing operations from the Seven Devils site. Probably penned by someone else the letter mentions some drivel about daily water consumption being “equal to two or three lawn sprinklers”.
Good luck with that but then these are the same people who pushed for the $51 million 12″ pipeline fiasco and the 2,900 jobs it would bring. There was the $30 million and change to expand the airport to serve the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort and all the jobs ‘enhanced’ air service would bring, as well. Consider the source…
Oregon could create more jobs recycling metals, precious metals like platinum, rhodium and paladium than ORC will ever provide.
Rhodium (Rh), platinum (Pt) and paladium (Pd) are today trading at $2,425, $1,850 and $800 per ounce respectively. According to Platinum Today, 84% of global Rh production, 33% of Pt and 53% of Pd are used in automotive catalytic converters.
An environmentally benign solution has been developed that will separate these metals from various substrates without smelting simply by dipping them in. Oregon could take the lead and establish this industry with minimal capital as most of the infrastructure is in place and create 500 direct jobs and 2,200 ancillary positions… if it will take the lead.
Thanks, Ron, for helping keep the facts straight.
Just the latest Barton bulljive. He’s not a dumb humanoid. Why does he permit himself to be used signing these less than factual letters to the editor. Take a few minutes Bart and study the letters content before signing. Nobody takes this profesional politicain seriously. He’s been into everything and nothing he has touched has brought benefit to the people of Coos County. I do have a question though thanks to Bart’s letter. I’ve never heard it explained how the huge amount of water to be used at the processuing facility will be cleaned before sending it into the local estuary. There does not appear to be water treatment facilities in the ORC plans. Splain pls.
There are conflicting numbers given for how much water is needed for the mining and processing. The processing is not planned to take place on the mining site, that will occur at the processing plant using water purchased from the municipal supplier. On site, water will be needed for dust abatement, not for actual mining. The license that was denied by the State was to be used on site. In either case, both volumes are far more than could be delivered through “Two or three lawn sprinklers.” Unless, of course, ORC is planning on using rather large “lawn sprinklers.” Just one more example of foot in mouth. Perhaps Mr. Barton should consult his physician about being fitted for a corrective hat.