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BSR/Fronteer Settlement Delayed

Written by The High Desert Advocate

Friday, 30 July 2010

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The settlement that will make Fronteer Gold one of the largest land owners in eastern Elko County was postponed at least two weeks to August 16 at the earliest.
   The postponement was granted last Thursday by Elko District Judge Andrew Puccinelli after Fronteer attorney Laura Granier said more time was needed to complete the title search for the sale of water rights of the Big Springs Ranch property.
   Fronteer filed the eminent domain lawsuit in March seeking access to mineral rights and roads on the ranch for its Long Canyon Project.
    A week before its suit against Big Springs ranch owners, Ray Koroghli, Reza Zandian and Fred Sadri was expected to begin, lawyers from both sides reached a settlement where the ranch owners agreed to sell their property and water rights for an undisclosed price.
    Puccinelli agreed to drop the suit but then issued a gag order on to the details of the deal until August 1st, that date is now also pushed back to a least august 16 and perhaps never.
   According to a spokesman from Puccinelli’s office the amount Fronteer agreed to pay could remain confidential indefinitely.
   As part of the purchase and settlement, Fronteer plans to purchase the ranch property about 35,000 acres, about 19,000 acre feet of water, and grazing rights. The project and the ranch between Wendover and Wells and also could include prime commercial property in Wendover.

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“It is a huge area,” said Jeff Secord of the Assessors office. “If Fronteer is buying everything they would become one of largest property owners in Elko County and one of the largest in West Wendover.”
        In an earlier hearing Fronteer subsidiary Fronteer Development (USA) President James Lincoln testified Long Canyon is the most advanced of the company’s Nevada gold projects, and “we’re moving rapidly as we can to bring it into production.”
    He said the gold prospect is “the best I’ve seen” in his 30-plus years of experience, and the company decided to go to court to “protect our mineral rights and access to public roads.”
    Lincoln testified the owners purchased the ranch in 2003 for $2.8 million, and Fronteer consulted an appraiser that put the value at $3 million. Fronteer initially offered $4.2 million for Big Springs Ranch, he said.
    Fronteer came back with additional offers over the course of seven or eight months, doubling and nearly tripling the original offer, Lincoln said.

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   Fronteer’s highest offer for the ranch was $12 million, according to unconfirmed reports and when turned down again Fronteer decided to sue but only after learning that other partners in the ranch were also taking legal action against Koroghli, Zandian and Sadri.
          The settlement specifically states that Big Springs Ranch owners withdraw all protests with public agencies over Long Canyon permits by Friday and withdraw objections to the BLM selling a portion of public land at the Long Canyon project area to Fronteer.
    Along with acquiring the property Fronteer also bought the economic and political clout that comes with it.
    “Personally I am thrilled,” said West Wendover Mayor Donnie Anderson earlier this month. “You don’t spend millions of dollars to get rid of a nuisance unless you are serious about your project. If this mine opens and remember the permitting process takes about four years it will change the face of Wendover.”

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