Protecting Smith River Drinking Water
Presentation to the City Council
August 2025
FACTS: Homeland Nickel has over 2800 acres of unvalidated mining claims within their Cleopatra project area in the North Fork watershed in Oregon.
Homeland Nickel’s August 2024 Corporate update states "Based on the above analysis we believe Cleopatra to be one of the largest undeveloped nickel resources in the continental United States. The resource sits at surface and is easily mined.” FACTS: The above referenced unvalidated mining claims in the North Fork Smith watershed in Oregon are upstream of drinking water intakes managed by the City of Crescent City, Gasquet CSD, and the Big Rock CSD (for Hiouchi).
FACTS: Strip mining is a form of hard rock mining and it is how the nickel and other minerals will be mined if the above claims are ever validated and mining is permitted. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), hard rock mining is the largest source of toxic pollution in the United States.
STRIP MINING IMPACTS ARE VAST: the PowerPoint I shared with the City Council in May 2025 highlights how strip mining results in vast impacts including water quality, air quality, metals contamination, wildlife, loss of public access, scenic impairment, and very high energy demands at the location where the minerals are processed.
FACT: On Jan 20, 2025, the Administration’s Executive Order 14154 “Unleashing American Energy” directs the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture “to reassess any public land withdrawals for potential revision” with the aim of “Restoring America’s Mineral Dominance.”
FACT: On Jan 12, 2017, the Bureau of Land Management announced a 20-year term mineral withdrawal over an area of approximately 100k acres including the North Fork Smith in OR “while Congress considers legislation to permanently withdraw those areas.”