Nevada County court denied Rise Gold’s vested mining rights claim at the Idaho-Maryland Mine but recognized a historic right existed until abandonment in the 1960s. Rise plans to appeal while repositioning the project as a strategic tungsten asset amid national security concerns, pointing toward eventual negotiated resolution.

“In complex public-law disputes, that kind of pragmatic equilibrium—rather than total victory—is frequently where events ultimately converge.”

“[The outcome] emerged from a sequence of decisions: early approvals without clear vesting analysis, an environmental review that struggled to build public confidence, internal reversals of staff recommendations, and final actions that shifted the dispute from regulation to litigation.”

On December 14, 2023, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors unanimously opined that Rise Gold does not have a vested right in the Idaho-Maryland Mine. Following one entire day of public comment as well as the two hours of discussion prior to the vote, each supervisor voted to deny Rise Gold’s Vested Rights Petition filed with the County on September 2, 2023, setting up a likely court battle.

On the steps of the Nevada County administrative building, a huge crowd gathered both for and against the Rise Gold mining proposal.

Being observant, I inquired of my friend as to why there are no pasty restaurants in the old mining town of Nevada City just a few miles away.

William Bowers Bourn was the original owner of the Empire Mine Company. According to Roger A. Lescohler in The Story of the Empire Mine, 1850-1956, Bourn was a descendant of Jared Bourn “who came from England in 1630 with John Winthrop, the founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.”