Congressman Mark Amodei Site Visit
March 10, 2020
Nevada Copper was pleased to host Second Congressional District Congressman, Mark Amodei, at Pumpkin Hollow late last month.
Left to right – Tim Dyhr (VP External & Government Relations), Congressman Mark Amodei, Greg French (Head of Exploration)
Congressman Amodei had not visited the site since 2013 when the East Main Shaft and headframe were under construction.
His visit was particularly timely as the very next day, Tuesday, February 12, was the eighth anniversary of the Pumpkin Hollow Groundbreaking Ceremony, at which thethe Congressman served as Master of Ceremonies. Over 600 local residents, elected officials and other government officials attended. It was especially gratifying to have the late Joe Dini, former Speaker of the Nevada State Assembly; his son Mayor George Dini; George’s daughter Jennifer Dini and Jennifer’s daughter Aly - four generations of Dini’s - participate in the ribbon cutting with Governor Brian Sandoval.
It is a testament to the dedication of the Nevada Copper team to have persevered, and now succeeded, in building the Pumpkin Hollow Underground Mine!
Congressman Amodei was also instrumental in the genesis and passage of the Yerington Land Conveyance. Coincidentally, he introduced the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives in February 2012, about two weeks before the groundbreaking. The bill was Section 3009 in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014.
The law privatized all 10,000+ acres of the land where Pumpkin Hollow is now located, allowed the City of Yerington to receive a portion of property taxes and net proceeds of minerals taxes that it would not have otherwise received had the project not been annexed into the City. Private land also provides a platform for long term commercial and industrial development on lands outside the mine area but still on the private lands acquired, during and after mining. Nevada Copper is developing power, water, road and sewer infrastructure that can serve that type of development during and after completion of mining.
The City also retained 900 acres of the transferred land for future recreational development. The City received a Nevada state grant to prepare a concept study for a major recreational, concert, and recreational events site.
To commemorate his visit, and his role in the introduction and passage of the Yerington Land Conveyance and the anniversary of the groundbreaking, Nevada Copper presented Congressman Amodei with a plaque with a piece of copper ore from the first stope in the underground.