Gold mine ruling may come Monday

RENO -- A federal judge intends to rule Monday on a complicated legal battle that pits religious and environmental concerns against the economic interests of hundreds of Nevada miners and the world's biggest gold mining company.

Conservationists and Western Shoshone tribal members are seeking a preliminary injunction to halt part of a huge gold mine project they claim would desecrate a sacred landmark where many have worshipped for centuries on Mount Tenabo in northeast Nevada.

"This case is about one very big, very destructive mine and about one special, unique and very important place, so important that people come hundreds of miles to pray there to their creator," said Roger Flynn, a lawyer for the tribe and the Great Basin Resource Watch.

"You can't pray in a blast zone," he said Friday at the close of the fourth day of a hearing.

Lawyers for the Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp. and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management counter that the 6,700-acre Cortez Hills project 250 miles east of Reno in Crescent Valley has been properly approved under the Mining Law of 1872.

They say any delay in digging the 2,000-foot deep open pit would cause an undue financial hardship on the company and its workers during tough economic times.

"Barrick is prepared to spend $640,000 a day for the next 15 months and a lot of that money will remain right here in the state," said Francis Wikstrom, a lawyer for Barrick.

Thirty workers already have been laid off and another 250 to 300 will be out of work and unlikely to find other jobs if the project is halted, he said.

"This is basically the only game in town in Northern Nevada," Wikstrom said about a state that produces more gold than any other, trailing only South Africa, Australia and China internationally. "People need to feed their families."

U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks said he will announce his ruling at 3 p.m. Monday.

"All of us know it is a very difficult issue for many people," Hicks said Friday.