Paramount Gold’s Grassy Mountain project near Vale seeks final permits; estimated output of 380,000 ounces of gold could be worth hundreds of millions, while environmental and reputational risks press U.S. buyers and investors to weigh supply and stewardship.

  • Estimated value: Hundreds of millions of dollars (combined gold & silver)
  • Estimated output: 380,000 ounces gold; 554,000 ounces silver
  • Location / origin: Grassy Mountain, Malheur County, Oregon (about 20 miles SW of Vale)
  • Public comment deadline: Feb. 6, 2026 (5 p.m. MST); public hearing Jan. 29, 2026, 5 p.m. MST

Context

Paramount Gold, a Nevada-based company, has restarted a long-running push to open Oregon’s first cyanide-processed underground gold mine. The proposal would place an underground operation on under 7 acres of disturbance, with roads, processing facilities and tailings infrastructure extending across roughly 488 acres of primarily Bureau of Land Management territory. The plan calls for blasting and drilling ore 500–1,000 feet below surface, comminuting rock to a fine, aqueous slurry, and recovering gold with cyanide — a method that yields a fine, vitreous luster in bullion but leaves a gritty tailings residue that requires containment.

State agencies issued draft permits and opened a formal comment window; written feedback is due by Feb. 6, 2026, and a public hearing is set for Jan. 29. The operation would draw a permitted 72 gallons per minute of groundwater, run a two‑year construction phase, seven to eight years of active mining, four years of remediation and two decades of post‑closure monitoring, according to agency filings.

Why the cyanide method matters in 2025

In today’s market, where buyers prize provenance and low‑impact sourcing, cyanide leaching introduces two vectors of risk: environmental and reputational. Environmentally, residual cyanide and unknown concentrations of heavy metals in tailings compel long‑term containment and water‑management strategies. Reputationally, retailers and investors face heightened scrutiny from consumers and project finance underwriters who now factor ESG screens into price discovery. At a time when lab‑grown alternatives and recycled metals are eroding the simple association between scarcity and premium, mined gold must now carry traceable safeguards to command the same buyer confidence.

Impact for retailers and investors

For U.S. jewelers and bullion buyers the immediate calculus is practical and reputational. Practically, 380,000 ounces of gold is a meaningful increment to regional supply — enough to exert a downward influence on short‑term premium in niche markets for locally sourced metal, though not enough to sway global bullion prices alone. Investors should price in a regulatory timeline and remediation liabilities: the project’s lifecycle includes prolonged monitoring and the potential for permit adjustments driven by public comment or litigation.

Reputationally, stockists that cannot verify chain‑of‑custody or who do not disclose sourcing policies may face consumer and NGO pressure. Retail buyers who prioritize a tactile narrative — the substantial heft of a gold bar, the vitreous luster of a finished piece — increasingly demand clarity on how that material was extracted and managed. The presence of strong local opposition and a vocal Sierra Club chapter underscores the need for retailers to refine supplier due diligence and for investors to model contingent remediation costs.

Operational and economic details

Paramount projects the mine could produce approximately 380,000 ounces of gold and 554,000 ounces of silver over its operating life, create roughly 270 jobs, deliver up to $10 million in annual wages and contribute about $15 million in yearly taxes to the region. State and federal agencies assert that the drinking water supply for nearby Vale sits in a different basin and is unlikely to be affected, while agency filings note that no processing chemicals should remain onsite after closure — claims that will be central to public comment and any future permit conditions.

Commenting is open through Feb. 6, 2026 (5 p.m. MST); a public hearing is scheduled for Jan. 29, 2026, 5 p.m. MST, both online and in person at the Vale Senior Center. Retailers and investors assessing exposure should monitor permitting developments, request chain‑of‑custody documentation from suppliers, and consider ESG contingencies when valuing metal sourced from projects that rely on cyanide leaching.

For trade buyers, the choice is practical: factor potential supply gains against a growing cost of capital and reputational premiums for responsibly sourced metal. For investors, the key variables are regulatory drift, remediation obligations and the evolving premium consumers place on low‑impact provenance.

Image Referance: https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/12/09/state-seeks-public-input-on-oregons-first-cyanide-processed-gold-mining-operation/