Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 30

Thread: Haile Gold Mine

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    448

    Default Haile Gold Mine

    Any of you live around Kershaw/Pageland/Jefferson - close to Haile Gold Mine and have any idea what is going on in that area with mining operations - just in general? Read in an article that there was speculation that another mining company was coming in to a site near Jefferson, but don't know anything else about it. If there are articles online that any of you have seen or if any of you have local knowledge - would be curious to know what the latest rumor or news is. Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    York Co
    Posts
    4,825

    Default

    I have heard the same rumor too. Another company is taking samples in the area.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Sandspur capital of the world
    Posts
    446

    Default

    This is the group that is working in Jefferson, it's been kinda quiet but they have setup an office in the original smokehouse building.

    http://www.pancongold.com/Newsroom/N...O/default.aspx

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Edisto/Camdenshire
    Posts
    8,387

    Default

    We catered a luncheon up there a few weeks back. That operation is unreal.
    Quote Originally Posted by walt4dun View Post
    Monsters... Be damned if I'd ever be taken alive by the likes of faggot musslims.
    Quote Originally Posted by 2thDoc View Post
    I am an equal opportunity hater.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Posts
    1,500

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by sandhills deer slayer View Post
    This is the group that is working in Jefferson, it's been kinda quiet but they have setup an office in the original smokehouse building.

    http://www.pancongold.com/Newsroom/N...O/default.aspx

    Yup. It's been low key but words finally getting out about them.

    Haile on the other hand is ridiculous. They own almost everything from 265/601 to the town of Kershaw. Good friend of mine is in water management out there and says it's non-stop. One example he told me about this week, was they hired a bird specialist to come in and conduct studies on the different species out there. Said that he's making around 10-12k a trip, every month, and he's supposed to finish the study in a years time.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Banks of the Wateree
    Posts
    41,927

    Default

    The Aussies and New Zealanders buy nice shit, I like them.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Wateree, South Carolina
    Posts
    48,810

    Default

    Remind me in a decade or so how much you like it when they file Chapter 11, walk away, leaving us with a giant hole in the ground surrounded by cyanide filled ponds to clean up. Of course, maybe we will have wised up and moved to New Zealand by then...

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    448

    Default

    I own a small tract in the area and haile approached me a few weeks back about buying it. The timing seemed a little interesting to me, and wondered if they are trying to snap up more in anticipation of the other group starting up operations close by. From what I read they have some processing capability at Haile that previously was only done in Alaska and could be used by others, so would seem they would want others close by in order to have another revenue stream, but who knows.
    Last edited by gamecock1974; 08-04-2017 at 09:36 AM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Sandspur capital of the world
    Posts
    446

    Default

    Haile is pumping a lot of money into the local economy buttering everyone up so they will ignore all those facts!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    15,733

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JABIII View Post
    Remind me in a decade or so how much you like it when they file Chapter 11, walk away, leaving us with a giant hole in the ground surrounded by cyanide filled ponds to clean up. Of course, maybe we will have wised up and moved to New Zealand by then...
    Nonsense. DHEC has this under control.

    http://www.scdhec.gov/HomeAndEnviron...act/mindex.htm

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Diameter at Breast Height aka "DBH"
    Posts
    3,291

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gamecock1974 View Post
    I own a small tract in the area and haile approached me a few weeks back about buying it. The timing seemed a little interesting to me, and wondered if they are trying to snap up more in anticipation of the other group starting up operations close by. From what I read they have some processing capability at Haile that previously was only done in Alaska and could be used by others, so would seem they would want others close by in order to have another revenue stream, but who knows.
    You should be able to hit a HOME RUN on a sale to them. They paid dearly for a couple tracts I've been associated with in the area.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ghetto View Post
    A larger caliber will help you with your deer kills. Try it.


    Quote Originally Posted by Sportin' Woodies View Post
    I agree with timber22

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Banks of the Wateree
    Posts
    41,927

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JABIII View Post
    Remind me in a decade or so how much you like it when they file Chapter 11, walk away, leaving us with a giant hole in the ground surrounded by cyanide filled ponds to clean up. Of course, maybe we will have wised up and moved to New Zealand by then...
    Ha, no, I think it could end up as a huge mess. Hopefully not, I'm just talking about a few of the workers. Of course it brought them here, home company and such. They're pillaging. A couple of them have been buying some old rides to ship back home, restoration project.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Wateree, South Carolina
    Posts
    48,810

    Default

    Word. I love the people from down there as well, though. They know exactly how to have a good time, all the time, anywhere...

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Banks of the Wateree
    Posts
    41,927

    Default

    One of them pulled up in a black early 60s camaro last week, great shape. I'm not a car guy, but it was pretty bad assed.. he said it was going on a ship with some older f100. They're pleasant as heck, we joke around a bit.. but I know nothing how they are to work for. I've been told some of the numbers, loss amounts while idling to complete things. Outrageous figures honestly.

    I know it's right north from us, not our watershed on the Lynches, but I would hate it if something happened. It's still our state's land. I could go on, but I figured we probably agree on most of it.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Posts
    1,500

    Default

    Talked to my friend who works at Haile, they're scheduled to go to the Brewer mine this coming week to tour. Who knows, they might end up buying it as well.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Lexington, SC
    Posts
    14,522

    Default

    Are these the guys that had the fleet of off-road haul trucks just sit for a 1 1/2 years over at CAT, while they waited on a permit?

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Wateree, South Carolina
    Posts
    48,810

    Default

    Yep.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Wateree, South Carolina
    Posts
    48,810

    Default

    Who could have seen this coming?

    SC gold mine broke pollution law after pledging not to, DHEC says
    BY SAMMY FRETWELL
    SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 12:29 PM , UPDATED 4 HOURS 50 MINUTES AGO

    The historic Haile Gold Mine, in Lancaster County, SC, is now owned by OceanaGold, a global gold mining company. The company took the media on a tour of its facilities, Thursday, April 27, 2017. BY MCCLATCHY

    A gold mine that has stressed its commitment to environmental protection has run into trouble with South Carolina regulators over illegal discharges of a toxic metal in Lancaster County between Columbia and Charlotte.

    Regulators have slapped the Haile Gold Mine with an $11,200 fine after finding releases of thallium over legal limits. Thallium is a naturally occurring metal that in the past was used to make rat poison.

    The state fine is the first levied against the gold-digging operation since it began producing gold more than three years ago, following efforts to reopen the historic mine. The new Haile mine is near the town of Kershaw. The mine, operated by OceanaGold, is the largest in the eastern United States, officials have said.

    Haile’s violations drew concern from Department of Health and Environmental Control Board member Rick Lee of York County during Thursday’s agency board meeting. Lee said poor mining operations can have big environmental consequences.

    “The people of Kershaw were concerned when the mine was first proposed there, and there were a lot of assurances from the mine owner with regard to their commitment to environmental protection,’’ Lee said.

    “I’m worried about this long term.’’

    The wastewater violation, initially reported by the company, put the mine in “significant non-compliance’’ with federal environmental policy, which prompted the fine. DHEC said the wastewater discharge issues, discovered in late 2019, have since been resolved and the $11,200 fine has been paid.

    While the fine was the first against the Haile operation, it isn’t the first enforcement issue involving the Haile mine.

    A DHEC official said Friday the department issued an enforcement notice last year over violations of air pollution control rules. The notice lists at least five alleged violations of federal law, as well as multiple state violations. One of the violations is a failure to “limit mercury emissions,’’ the April 12, 2019 notice says.

    DHEC spokeswoman Laura Renwick said the matter is in negotiations, but Haile spokeswoman Heather Matthews said the issue has been resolved.

    Local news has never been more important
    Subscribe for unlimited digital access to the news that matters to your community.

    The department dropped an enforcement case last year against the Haile mine over water pollution discharges after determining the case was not valid, records show.

    In the most recent case, the Haile mine — which discharges treated wastewater to a small creek — showed excessive releases of thallium in September, November and December 2019, Renwick said in an email. The agency said Haile also failed to provide certified reports on mercury, a hazardous metal long-associated with gold mines.

    Thallium, a naturally occurring metal, can cause liver, kidney, heart and lung damage for people exposed in sufficient amounts, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It once was used as a rat poison, but has been banned from such use in the United States because of the risk of accidental exposure to people and wildlife, the CDC says.

    Haile Gold Mine managers thought the company’s wastewater treatment process was adequate to meet legal discharge limits on thallium, only to learn that it was not, DHEC staff members told the agency board Thursday. The company has now increased the treatment, DHEC officials said. OceanaGold reported the thallium violations.

    “The Haile Gold Mine team has always been committed to operating the mine in an environmentally responsible way,’’ the mine’s environmental manager, Scott McDaniel, said in an email. “This is the first correction action Haile has received from DHEC since reopening the mine in 2017.’’


    McDaniel said Haile officials self-reported the violations because “we are always going to err on the side of caution and operate in a responsible manner. That includes calling regulators like DHEC when we even suspect there might be an issue.”

    But after hearing concerns from Lee about the mine, department water pollution control director Randy Stewart said DHEC would take another look at the Haile operation.

    “Based on this, we have discussed going back and doing an inspection,’’ he said.

    The open-pit mining operation, which officials say has created some 600 jobs in and around the tiny Kershaw community, is on a 4,550-acre site. The company is currently seeking to expand the mine by about 900 acres.

    Haile’s recent troubles follow past concerns about how the mining operation would affect the air, water and land of rural Lancaster County. The company’s operation could destroy or degrade more than 1,000 acres of wetlands, an unusually large amount to be impacted for a development project.

    Gold mines have historically fouled groundwater and rivers across the country by using chemicals to extract the precious metal. The digging operations have been fraught with spills while also uncovering sulfide-rich rocks that then release acid into groundwater.

    In 2014, The State newspaper chronicled environmental troubles gold mines have caused from Montana to South Carolina, where two closed mines have been declared federal Superfund cleanup sites because of pollution. At the time, pollution cleanups at the two abandoned mines had already cost taxpayers $27 million, the newspaper reported. One of the main concerns was acid drainage from the mines.

    At the time, a Haile Gold Mine executive pledged to run a safe operation, telling The State “there’s not going to be any toxic legacy.’’

    Bob Guild, a Sierra Club lawyer who took the mine to court seeking more money for an eventual cleanup, said the $11,200 fine is a paltry penalty for a company that stands to pull billions of dollars worth of gold from the ground in Lancaster County.

    Despite that, DHEC’s first fine against the Haile Gold mine is a milestone that suggests future problems, he said.


    “I consider it a warning signal to the community, that this facility has a toxic impact on the environment and they will pose a hazard for a long period of time,’’ Guild said.

    The Haile mine operates 24 hours each day, every day of the week, the company said. It is at the site of old mining operations that had pulled easier-to-extract gold. The site was explored extensively about 10 years ago before mining began and Haile poured its first gold bar in 2017.

    The mine stands to earn billions of dollars worth of gold that previous mining companies were unable to dig from the rocky soil of Lancaster County. Gold prices are hovering at nearly $2,000 per ounce, up substantially from several years ago.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Wateree, South Carolina
    Posts
    48,810

    Default

    "Regulators have slapped the Haile Gold Mine with an $11,200 fine"

    I bet they were rolling on the fucking floor gasping for air laughing at writing that check...

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    3,316

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JABIII View Post
    "Regulators have slapped the Haile Gold Mine with an $11,200 fine"

    I bet they were rolling on the fucking floor gasping for air laughing at writing that check...
    That wouldn't even buy a tire on one of their dump trucks.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •