CAU Canyon Resources Corp

Montana DEQ Orders Stoppage of Pad Reclamation at Kendall Mine GOLDEN, Colo., Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Canyon Resources Corporation (AMEX:CAU), a Colorado-based mining company and its wholly owned subsidiary, CR Kendall Corporation, expressed disappointment upon learning the State of Montana, under pressure from an environmental group, has required the company to halt reclamation at its Kendall Mine northeast of Lewistown. The company also advised its local contractor that the 50 local people to be brought on later this month for the project cannot go to work. "The situation is growing more confusing," said Jim Volberding, Project Manager of CR Kendall. "First, the environmental group that has been loudly and falsely complaining that we don't want to reclaim Kendall is now doing everything it can to make sure reclamation can't continue," Volberding said. "Second, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) drew up this reclamation plan, walked it through the public process, and the plan was approved by operation of law. Now they tell us that if CR Kendall implements the plan, they'll cite the company and claim it's in violation of the plan." "We're studying all our options, including the possibility of legal action, so that we can get most of the reclamation completed this year" said Volberding. To date, the company has expended more than $8 million in reclamation work at Kendall. The current phase of reclamation began earlier this summer. "We find this very frustrating," said Monty Weeden, the Lewistown-based contractor whose firm is hired to conduct the reclamation work. "We keep hearing from environmentalists and politicians how environmental restoration and cleanup will play a big role in the future of this state and will provide a good source of jobs. Well, we've got 50 people -- all Montanans -- eager to go to work on this project at a good wage, and now they can't. What am I supposed to tell them?" The DEQ faxed a letter to Kendall on August 6 saying that if work on capping the pads at Kendall did not cease, the DEQ would cite the company as being in violation of its permits. The DEQ letter came after a Helena environmental group, the Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC), began pressuring the agency. "Today, MEIC's website says that we are doing all we can to 'avoid' reclaiming Kendall," Volberding noted. "That's completely untrue." The money is on hand, the contractor is on site and in the process of bringing in additional equipment, and additional crews are ready to begin work. "MEIC's statements and actions are wrong and harmful to both Montana's economy and environment." There are real-world reasons necessitating that the reclamation work continue this year. While considerable reclamation has already been done at Kendall, the leach pads remain exposed. Bare rock and soil need to be capped with topsoil and revegetated. Not doing so presents risks to the environment, particularly if there is a heavy rain or snowfall anytime between now and next summer. "Just a few weeks ago there was a storm that broke all rainfall records in Helena. What if that happens at the Kendall site? Who is going to take responsibility for halting our efforts to correct the problem this year? DEQ? MEIC? We have an opportunity now during the summer months to do this reclamation and we want to do it. If there are other requirements later, our door is not closed to those requirements but something needs to be done now, not only when MEIC says it's all right," said Jim Volberding. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: SEE http://www.kendallmine.com/ OR CONTACT: Jim Volberding CR Kendall Corporation (406) 362-4555 DATASOURCE: Canyon Resources Corporation CONTACT: Jim Volberding of CR Kendall Corporation, +1-406-362-4555 Web site: http://www.kendallmine.com/

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