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March 21, 2015 • Vol. IX • No. 6 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215/885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215/885-2910
Inside
California to See First Gold Mine in 50 Years By Christine Wolkin CEG ASSOCIATE EDITOR
RMACES Convention Draws Over 1,000...8
Gradall Introduces New Excavator s at Event ...12
The Wild West may soon find itself in another gold rush frenzy: Golden Queen is building the first fully-permitted gold mine to open in California in 50 years. Golden Queen Mining Company Ltd., a Canadian publically-held company, is developing the Soledad Mountain Project, a fully permitted, open pit, heap leach gold and silver project located just outside the town of Mojave in Kern County, Calif., about 90 mi. northeast of the Los Angeles International Airport. The project will use conventional open pit mining methods and the cyanide heap leach and Merrill-Crowe processes to recover gold and silver from crushed, agglomerated ore. Construction has started on site and commissioning is planned for 2015. “We expect to produce 1 million ounces of gold and 10 million ounces of silver over Guinn utilized equipment from Road Machinery, a Komatsu dealership headquartered in the next decade or so,” said Lutz Phoenix, Ariz., including an HM400-3 articulated truck, PC800 backhoe and PC490 excavator. Klingmann, director and president of Golden Queen, who added that he predicts a 12-year mine life. Klingmann has been involved with Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd. since 2001 and has been instrumental in the development and permitting process of the Soledad That is still the case in most places. But as By David A. Lieb Mountain Project. A seasoned mine develvehicles have become more fuel-efficient, gas ASSOCIATED PRESS oper, Klingmann has developed six mines, tax revenue has plateaued. And the federal gas four of which were in the southwestern JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) For nearly a tax has lost more than one-third of its value to United States, since mid-1981. His operatcentury, the gasoline tax has provided the finan- inflation since it was last raised to 18.4 cents a ing experience spans the globe and includes cial foundation for the nation’s roads. For each gallon in 1993. Africa, Venezuela, Canada and the United As a result, state and federal officials are gallon they pump, motorists have paid several States. additional cents in taxes to their state and feder- increasingly looking for alternatives to help pay al governments. see QUEEN page 46 see STATES page 70
States Seek Ways to Fund Roads
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Table of Contents ............4 Asphalt, Concrete, Paving, Compaction & Milling Section ......................47-63 California Section ....19-29 Auction Section ........66-73 Business Calendar ........68 Advertisers Index ..........74
Construction Spending Increases in January Construction spending rose modestly in January from year-earlier levels despite retreating from a six-year high in December, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned, however, that those spending gains
could be at risk if Congress and the Obama administration fail to address highway funding shortfalls that once again threaten a new road repair season. “Construction continues to expand overall but with a lot of variability by month and segment,”
said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “The generally positive trends are obscured by an unreliable estimate for residential improvements, which purportedly shows a huge downturn that is inconsistent with other data.” Construction spending in
January totaled $971 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, 1.1 percent lower than in December but 1.8 percent higher than in January 2014, Simonson noted. The divergent totals were reflected as well in major segments. Private see SPENDING page 70