SEARCH FOR BURIED TREASURE : COMPANY PROPOSES GOLD MINE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

The last Soledad Mountain gold mine closed more than 50 years ago, but a British Columbia firm believes a rich vein remains there ready for mining.

Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd. of Vancouver is seeking to establish a mine on 950 acres at Soledad Mountain, about five miles south of Mojave, just west of the Antelope Valley Freeway. Plans call for the mine to be an open pit, cyanide heap leach processing operation.

The company expects to mine between 3.5 million and 4 million tons of gold ore a year, and there are at least 42 million tons of ore, said company Vice President Richard Graeme.

``There is still an opportunity for finding ore,'' Graeme said. ``We don't know how deep it goes.''

An environmental impact report is being prepared as part of the federal permitting process. A separate environmental statement will be prepared for Kern County, Graeme said.

Company officials hope to obtain the necessary government permits by next spring. It will take about six to eight months of construction before the operation will be ready, Graeme said.

The company will hire between 144 and 150 full-time workers. Wages will start about $12 an hour, Graeme said.

``This is going to be a very positive impact on the area,'' Graeme said.

Not everyone agrees the project will be beneficial.

Some residents of Rosamond and Mojave are concerned about the mining operation's potential affect on ground water, their drinking wells, air quality, traffic, and on the look of the desert.

``They are destroying a huge natural feature,'' said Jane Williams, a member of Desert Citizens Against Pollution.

Opponents also are concerned about the noise, dust and vibration from the blasting that will loosen the gold ore from the mountain, and about the cyanide that is used in modern gold processing to remove the valuable mineral from the crushed rock.

The company will loosen the ore with an ammonia nitrate explosive, then place the crushed ore on leaching pads on top of clay covered with synthetic liners. The ore is mixed with cement and lime. A cyanide solution is added, pulling the gold out of the ore. The solution is then processed and the gold recovered.

Because the solution contains the gold, there is a financial incentive to make sure the cyanide solution does not seep into the ground, as mine opponents fear, Graeme said.

``We don't want the solution to go through,'' Graeme said. ``That's where the money is.''

Graeme said the rock will be loosened in a delayed blasting technique in which the charges are detonated in sequence, rather than simultaneously, aimed at reducing the amount of dust generated. The company also plans to use a binding agent on its roads and will water its site to keep dust down.

Gold was first discovered at Soledad Mountain in 1894. In 1935, a subsidiary of a South African firm consolidated various claims and constructed a 400-ton-a-day cyanide mill.

The company is estimated to have processed 1 million tons of ore at grades of approximately .23 ounces of gold and 2.5 ounces of silver per ton before the War Production Board shut down the operation in 1942, according to a company profile.

``Once again it's an ore deposit,'' Graeme said.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color in AV edition only) Richard Graeme of G olden Mining Co. visits the mine shaft at Soledad Mountain. Gold was found there in 1894 and mined until 1942.

(2--ran in AV edition only--color) The 950-acre site for the proposed gold mine is about five miles south of Mojave.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News