When Jim Chavis of Placer Dome
American took the call from an official of
the Elko County school district two years
ago, he laughed out loud.
The caller wondered if the mining
company might want to sell about nine
acres of property it owned in Carlin. But
Chavis knew that schools usually are far
more interested in receiving donations
than they are in paying out hard cash.
Chavis, the manager of human
resources and public affairs for Placer, got
the last laugh.
Last week, the company donated 33
acres not just the nine originally
sought by the schools to the Elko
County School District. The property
was appraised at $100,000 two years ago.
What changed between the first call
and last week's donation?
Placer Dome American bought the
land in the early 1990s with plans to
develop an upscale subdivision in Carlin.
The company's mining interests in
eastern Nevada include the Bald
Mountain Mine in White Pine County,
the Cortez Gold Mines in Lander and
Eureka Counties and the Getchell project
in Humboldt County. Its international
exploration office is in Reno.
But the development plans stalled.
"The development costs were just
prohibitive," Chavis said last week. "It
wasn't going to be marketable."
Seeing the continued drain from taxes
on the parcel, and recognizing that it
wasn't doing much good sitting vacant in
a high-profile neighborhood in Carlin,
Placer Dome American decided to give
it to the schools.
The company didn't place any restrictions
on the property, and the school
district is studying options ranging from
development and parcel sales to storage.
Chavis said the donation solved a
mild headache for his company, but also
was part of Placer Dome American's
program to sustain the communities in
which it does business an effort which
has focused on school children in the
past.
In 1998, Placer Dome's Cortez Gold
Mine established a computer lab valued
at $80,000 for Carlin schools.
"It's always good to do something for
kids," Chavis said. "You can't get in trouble
for that."
