A final decision on the Idaho Maryland Mine proposal will likely be pushed back even further. Hearings were scheduled, before the Nevada County Board of Supervisors, for October, on the conditional use permit. But, while asking the Board to increase the price of legal services related to the project, at Tuesday’s meeting, County Counsel Kit Elliott said Rise Gold is expected to file what’s described as a “vested rights” mining petition….

click to listen to KiA vested mining right is defined as 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. In May, the County Planning Commission rejected the conditional use permit and didn’t certify the final environmental impact report. Supervisor Heidi Hall was among Board members unanimously approving the increase of the legal contract price by another 125-thousand dollars, to 375-thousand dollars…

click to listen to Heidi Hall

Elliott also said that Rise Gold and the county were anxious to move the process forward, regarding the petition, as quickly as possible. And she hoped that would be before the end of the year. If the petition is rejected, she says the supervisors’ hearing on the conditional use permit would likely take place early next year.