Colvilles reject mining proposal

Members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation defeated a referendum to allow a large-scale molybdenum mine on the reservation.

According to official results, 1,254 people voted against the measure; 847 voted for it. Results of the March 18 election were released Thursday night.

“Word is spreading across the reservation right now,” said Sonny George, co-leader of United Visions for Our Future, a group opposed to the mine.

The referendum would have overturned a 1995 ban on mining on the reservation and allowed the Colville Business Council to seek requests for proposals to develop a molybdenum mine on Mt. Tolman, which is near Keller, Wash. The mountain is a spiritual place for the San Poil Indians, one of 12 bands that make up the Confederated Tribes. Pigments from the mountain were used for face paint and rock paintings.

George said that many members of the tribe were also concerned about the environmental and health risks of open-pit mining on the reservation.

“Even though many members are living far away, it’s their home, where they come from,” George said. “At some point they’ll come back.”

Molybdenum is an industrial metal, used to harden steel and dye plastics orange. The metal is currently trading near historic highs of $30 per pound. Proponents of the mine noted that it could bring hundreds of high-paying jobs to one of the most economically depressed areas of the state.