Published on January 20, 2019
Midas Gold has been your neighbor for almost a decade. Many of our team members have lived here their entire lives. You know us, and you know this company. Those who know us, know that we share the deeply held belief of many Idahoans that we are stronger when we work together. From this belief, we proposed a community agreement to bring the region together and to follow through on our promise and commitment to work collaboratively with you.
We are grateful to formally be working with eight of our neighbors. However, the process to adopt a regional community agreement has not always been easy. It has been filled with a fair amount of misinformation and mischaracterizations of our intent and of our people. As we move forward, I believe it is important to set the record straight – one more time.
We developed a community agreement because, as a company, we wanted to do the right thing.
We know we are stronger, and will design a better project, when we work side by side with our neighbors. We see formal agreements with the communities closest to us as a vehicle for input on the project design and for communication and accountability throughout the life of the Stibnite Gold Project. This format also allows us to give everyone an equal voice and influence over the future of the Stibnite Gold Project – regardless of community size or opinion.
The Stibnite Gold Project will undoubtedly have impacts on the region. We believe many of these impacts will be positive for local communities, but we recognize a project of our size could also bring some unforeseen challenges. This is why we wanted to create a place where communities in the region could come together to address concerns and opportunities that require regional collaboration directly with Midas Gold.
We look forward to having meaningful conversations with Adams County, Cascade, Council, Donnelly, Idaho County, New Meadows, Riggins and Yellow Pine around how we can plan for transportation needs, workforce development, safety and economic impacts. These communities will have a direct line of communication with our company to advocate for their needs and promote issues important to them for the life of the project.
We will establish a foundation to make good on our promise to be a part of the solutions for needs in the communities we live and work. There is no impropriety in being a good corporate citizen by creating an endowment for the future.
Doing the right thing is not a public relations campaign, a bid to attract more investors to our project or an attempt to win local support for our project. However, a small vocal group continued to make these false accusations and insults against our people instead of learning the facts or speaking with us personally.
The City of McCall decided they did not want to join the community agreement at this time. We respect the city council’s decision. However, we find it bizarre that some people in the community are choosing to celebrate this as a victory. Is it a win to stay siloed and not work with other communities in the region? Is success not having a forum for local communities to raise matters of interest with Midas Gold?
To us, it is a loss not to have McCall represented. Naturally, we are disappointed the city has elected to stand on the sidelines and pass on the opportunity to shape the future of a major project in its area. But we are continuing to move forward.
I am proud of the work we are doing in Idaho. I am proud of the possibility we can bring hundreds of family-wage jobs to the area. I am proud we are doing things differently by voluntarily working with our neighbors. And I am proud of our team who work so hard and hold us accountable to create a project that will positively benefit their communities.
If you want to move forward with us, or if you have questions about Midas Gold, please come stop by our office or send us an email. Each month, we host office hours on the second Friday in Donnelly. But you can always reach us by emailing [email protected].
