On the morning of April 11th, local mineral property development company American Mineral Research (AMR) sent the Grants Pass Tribune a media release with documentation revealing that they are initiating a multi-million dollar legal action against Josephine County. The company’s attorney delivered a legal notice to each of the three Josephine County Commissioners and Legal Counsel Wally Hicks, alleging damages exceeding $20 million caused by the County’s actions and inactions.
The timing of the announcement is significant, as the market price of gold reached an all-time high that same morning, which may imply the company is sitting on a literal and figurative gold mine. After speaking with Jay Meredith, AMR’s Board Chair and CFO, it appears both the County and the company are positioned atop multiple potential gold mines.
The details provided in the media release read like the beginning of a Hollywood thriller. Allegations include claim-jumping, with a neighboring mining company reportedly stealing gold ore from County-owned property and the County failing to properly investigate these theft claims. Furthermore, former Josephine County Commissioners John West and Herman Baertschiger are accused of disregarding local law when handling the company’s mining lease application and former mineral exploration permit. AMR also claims that Commissioner West retaliated by voting to sell the property in October 2024 without recognizing the company’s claimed mining lease rights.
While these accusations may sound complicated, the situation boils down to a simple issue. According to AMR, Josephine County Code 5.15 governs the process for mineral exploration permits and mining leases on County-owned forestry land. When a company invests significant time and resources under an exploration permit and discovers a high-quality mineral deposit on County property, the County is required to issue a mining lease if the permit holder applies for a lease before the exploration permit expires. AMR followed this procedure in May 2023, submitting over 200 pages of geological information demonstrating that the County-owned property contains substantial gold reserves.
Jay Meredith, CFO of AMR, asserts that during the anticipated micro-mining operations, the property could generate more than $100 million in local economic activity, just from the documented gold reserves. Additionally, the project may yield critical minerals as byproducts of gold extraction. Meredith argues that Josephine County stands to earn millions in royalty revenues, which could be used to support local law enforcement programs, all without any upfront investment from the County. However, Meredith and AMR’s attorney contend that if the County continues to overlook the County Code provisions and the company’s mining lease application, AMR could be entitled to over $20 million in damages.
This situation seems to stem from poor decision-making and possibly corrupt actions by former Commissioners West and Baertschiger, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill. Included in the media release was an email AMR sent to the County Commissioners and Legal Counsel Wally Hicks on October 17, 2024. In the email, AMR extended an olive branch to former Commissioner West, offering a chance for peaceful resolution. Rather than accepting this gesture, West allegedly led a vote to sell the County forestry property at the next property auction, all without holding a public hearing required by Josephine County Code 5.15. The company is still awaiting that public hearing.
AMR claims that despite multiple requests, neither the County Commissioners nor Legal Counsel Wally Hicks met with the company’s representatives in person to discuss the mining lease application. Although AMR representatives and a geologist made a brief presentation to the Commissioners in September 2023, the presentation was not a public hearing, as required by law, and company representatives were not allowed to respond to the Commissioners’ questions.
Instead of the possibility of millions of dollars in royalty revenue for Josephine County, which could be used to fund law enforcement programs, the County now faces the prospect of millions of dollars in legal fees and potential damages from the lawsuit. This situation illustrates why voters ousted Commissioner West in the December 2024 recall vote.
As stated in AMR’s media release, “The two-year delay has already cost AMR millions of dollars, and if the County sells the property without acknowledging AMR’s lease rights, the damages will exceed $20 million. Josephine County would also lose millions in future mineral royalty revenues that could benefit local law enforcement and justice programs. Since the property was obtained through a tax foreclosure in the 1960s, the proceeds from its sale cannot be used to fund County operations like law enforcement. However, royalties from AMR’s operations could be used for that purpose.”
The company further emphasized, “One of AMR’s main goals is to show Josephine County how responsibly utilizing its vast local mineral resources can enhance local safety and law enforcement revenues. AMR expressed this intent in our 2019 Mineral Exploration Permit application and reiterated it numerous times since.”
AMR’s CEO, Michael Cope, who has been recognized by an Oregon DOGAMI geologist for his discovery of high levels of the rare critical mineral tellurium in Josephine County and southwestern Oregon, said, “I believe Josephine County is the richest yet most financially strained County in the U.S. when it comes to untapped mineral resources, and this property is just one of many examples.”
AMR’s CFO, Jay Meredith, added, “We’ve perfected an environmentally friendly, small-scale mineral development process, and there are hundreds of high-quality precious metal and critical mineral projects in Josephine County alone. This presents an incredible opportunity for Josephine County, private businesses, and the local economy. Grants Pass was a mining community before it became a timber-based economy, and the region’s mineral resources remain viable. Josephine County and southwestern Oregon have a remarkable opportunity to become a supplier to the growing demand for critical minerals used in technologies like solar panels, particularly as trade tensions with suppliers like China intensify. The County is literally sitting on numerous gold mines, which often contain high concentrations of critical minerals, making our micro-mining strategy profitable for all involved.”
The company also stated, “AMR is committed to measuring our future success partly based on the royalties or other contributions we can make to local law enforcement and safety programs. Josephine County has a narrow window to do the right thing with our mining lease application, and AMR remains dedicated to supporting County law enforcement in the future.”
AMR hopes that the new 2025 Board of Commissioners will recognize the potential gold mine in this opportunity, rather than fight it in court. It doesn’t take a lawyer to see that former Commissioners West and Baertschiger did not treat the company fairly or legally when it submitted its mining lease application.
Josephine County’s new 2025 Commissioners seem to face a clear decision: secure millions in royalty revenues for law enforcement or risk millions in lawsuit costs. This decision should be an easy one. Commissioners, please turn this lemon into gold.
