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Us Copper
 And the 
Moonlight-superior copper project

​US Copper is a Canadian junior mining company that controls the old Engels copper mine and surrounding claims in the North Arm of Indian Valley. Last year, Plumas County residents were successful in supporting our county officials in denying US Copper's ungrounded claim of vested rights. Had the county found the existence of vested rights, it would have allowed miners to develop an open pit mine on the property without being required to complete an environmental impact review or obtaining county permits to build, dig and divert water on the property. Plumas residents are now waiting for US Copper or mine operator to file the appropriate local land use permits with Plumas County.

US Copper not a mining company. They are an investment solicitation and land development company that will most likely sell the properties to a mining operator once all the permitting and mapping are completed. They have recently published a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the property which highlights what they intend to do on the property, how they intend to do it and what they know about our community. For and unhighlighted version of the PEA, click there.

While the community waits to defend its health and wellbeing from the intentions and false claims of safety from US Copper, they are keeping their eye on the Walker Mine property which is owned and controlled by subsidiaries of British Petroleum. Development of this site into an open pit mine would be equally life-threatening to our way of life and the natural world around us. PB is also in a much better financial position to be able to develop the Walker site than US Copper is to developing theirs. Vigilance is key.

To review the vested rights claim, subsequent public hearings and supporting documents, scroll down to the Vested Rights Section. 

Vested Rights hearing

US Copper SEEKS DETERMINATION OF Vested rights in ​
​Plumas County

Prior to October of 2023, US CCOPPER CORP (represented by ENVIROMINE) requested a DETERMINATION of vested rights for the Engels-Superior mines with Plumas County. County staff, after reviewing the request, wrote a REPORT recommending that the ZONING ADMINISTRATOR, Jim Graham approve the finding of vested rights. At a HEARING on October 11, 2023, due to concerns raised by Plumas County residents, Mr. Graham left the public hearing open and continued the determination to a later date. This decision was made in order to give both county staff and citizens more time to discover facts relevant to the determination of vested rights in this case. 

The hearing resumed at a MEETING on December 13, 2023. Again, a group of well-informed citizens raised concerns over the consequences of finding vested rights. The meeting concluded with the county expressing the need to hire professional support in making this determination and again continuing the determination to a future date.

In a MEETING on February 6, the Plumas County BOARD OF SUPERVISORS approved agreements between Plumas County and LAND LOGISTICS INC for SMARA permit management services and BEST BEST & KRIEGER LLP (BBK) for assistance in determining vested rights for US Copper. 

Plumas County will release BBK's independent analysis of the record on or around April 15, 2024. These findings will be posted on the Plumas County Website. Please submit public comment between now and the Zoning Administrator's determination hearing expected on May 8th.

Public comments are to be sent to Plumas County Planning Director Tracey Ferguson, at [email protected]. Please note in your email that you wish to submit it to the record of US Copper's vested rights request. 

Once Mr. Graham has made his determination, there will be a ten-day window to make an appeal. If Mr. Graham's determination is appealed, the matter will then go before the Plumas County Board of Supervisors. The supervisor's decision may be appealed as well. 

what are vested rights and why are they important?

According to DIEPENBROCK HARRISON, "a VESTED MINING RIGHT is a constitutionally protected property right to continue operating in a certain location and in a certain way without being required to conform to all current land use restrictions." While the intent behind this right is to protect pre-existing mining operations from new regulations once mining permits were required, corporate mining operations are now using them as a loophole to avoid expensive permitting and regulations - the only things preventing US Copper from leaving us with toxic water, air and land and consequently destroying our community. 

A finding of vested rights means that US Copper would NOT have to apply for a permit to mine or for permits to build roads, landing pads, staging areas, or to divert water. It would also mean that US Copper would be able to skip CEQA regulations and guidelines in the planning process of the mine. US Copper would still have to create a reclamation plan for the project. However, reclamation plans only involve "putting the land back" after it has been mined, not preventing DISASTERS during operations. 

While there are many opinions regarding the pros and cons of mining, one thing most of us can agree on is that if we are going to mine, we must do it without doing irreparable damage to the places we love and things which we need to survive. Another thing we can usually agree on is that activities which bring revenue to our county and its residents are good things. The vested rights determination is important. It will directly impact the revenues brought in through the permitting process and it will reduce the amount of oversight US Copper receives to encourage safe mining practices. You and I need a permit to build a deck or a carport, why would a foreign company who intends to extract billions of dollars of minerals out of our county while constructing chemical lakes in our drainage system not need a permit? 

Please remember, the determination of vested rights is not a determination of whether or not there may be a mine on the proposed site. It is a matter of giving away our control of the land, revenue opportunities and protections for our water, air and land. 

If you are interested in joining the Feather River Watershed Alliance and being part of the effort to support protecting our water, air, land and community, please email Dan @ [email protected].
FRWA Vested Rights Presentation Video, 3/28/24
2/22/24 Public Presentation SLIDE SHOW
​

​SM&W Letter to plumas co.

essential information for understanding this case



​​About the FRWA

Copy & Pasteable
​public comment template


​Please support our efforts to deny the vested rights request by US Copper. All donations go to associated legal work and sharing the information we discover. 

WE thank PLUMAS strong (a 501c3) for being our fiscal agent and accepting tax deductable donations for our cause. 

Important
 events & Dates 

Thurs 3/28/24 - Public Presentation by the Feather River Watershed Alliance (FRWA), 6:30 pm, Historic Taylorsville Hall
ZOOM LINK
Fri 3/29/24​ - Public Presentation by the FRWA, 6:30 pm, Westwood Community Center
ZOOM LINK
April 15, 2024 - County to announce recommendations for vested rights determination
​ZONING WEBSITE
Wed 5/8/24 - Zoning Administrator's vested rights decision
​​​ZONING WEBSITE

 news 

PLUMAS SUN ARTICLES
US COPPER AIMS TO DEVELOPE MOONLIGHT-SUPERIOR
​NEVADA COUNTY DENIES VESTED MINING RIGHTS TO RISE GOLD
NIH: CANADIAN MINING AND ILL HEALTH IN LATIN AMERICA
ARTICLE: UN REPORT SAYS EXTRACTION OF RAW MATERIALS TO INCREASE 60%
ARTICLE: FOREIGN-OWNED MINES OPERATE ROYALTY-FREE UNDER OUTDATED US LAW

   links   

ZONING ADMINISTRATOR'S WEBSITE 
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS' WEBSITE
US COPPER'S REQUEST FOR VESTED RIGHTS DETERMINATION
CURRENT COUNTY REPORT SUPPORTING VESTED RIGHTS
US COPPER'S WEBSITE​
ENVIROMINE'S WEBSITE
MOONLIGHT PEA & TECHNICAL REPORT