(This is a longer version of this interview than the one in the printed magazine) Here at SPIE HQ, staff members talk every day to literally hundreds of fascinating people from around the world. This new quarterly column is intended to give you an idea of the variety of people who have been dedicated to SPIE in some way – a long-time chair or participant, for instance. After all, SPIE [...]
1.) Alleghany Mining District "Bible" can be found under THE MINE. 2.) President's Annual Message can be found under THE COMPANY.
The single most troubling event of last year was the felony charges for murder brought against us. Private lawyers who worked for a non-profit corporation in Sacramento filed these accusations. Their actions to "criminalize" accidents in California effectively prohibited me from addressing a serious concern, under capitalization. No one was willing to talk with me with this cloud overhead. On February 13, 2003, a Sierra County Superior Court judge dismissed [...]
The mine began in 1896 when Tom Bradbury discovered the outcropping in his backyard was gold bearing. Ironically, it was named after the silver/gold ratio proposed by pro-silver Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, who was advocating policies that would hurt gold miners. Unlike most mines, it was a high-grade gold mine where there is about two to three ounces of gold per pound of quartz matrix. The gold was so [...]
Original Sixteen to One President Michael Miller said the claim is a first step toward a suit against the California District Attorneys Association, a Sacramento agency that sought criminal charges against Miller, mine manager Jonathan Farrell and the mine after the accidental death of a worker in 2000. A judge dismissed the charge in February. "Both the company incurred and I personally incurred (damages) because of a breach of duty [...]
The 158 companies participating in the survey include 27 senior mining companies and 131 junior mining companies including the Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. of California. The effects of increasingly onerous, seemingly capricious regulations, uncertainty about land use, higher levels of taxation, and other policies that interfere with market conditions are rarely felt immediately, as they are more likely to deter companies looking for new projects than they are [...]
An initial investigation into the death of miner Mark Fussell by local authorities and the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal-OSHA) resulted in no charges being filed. Fussell died November 6, 2000, when his head hit a protruding ore chute while he was driving a piece of equipment. The California District Attorney's Association (CDAA), a private organization, was able to obtain permission from outgoing Sierra County District Attorney to [...]
The Original Sixteen to One Mine in Alleghany has been battling the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board for several years over the water it discharges into Kanaka Creek. The creek and mine are in Sierra County, just over the north Nevada County line and south of Downieville. The mine has a permit to discharge into the creek but in March of 2002, the board issued a cease and [...]
For seven years his Odd Bodkins cartoons ran daily in The San Francisco Chronicle and in 350 other newspapers throughout the world. At its peak, the strip had a readership of fifty million. When he was hired at age 21 —the youngest cartoonist ever hired by a national syndicate— he was given three simple rules: no religion, no politics and no sex in the strip. He did his best to [...]
Published articles are regularly posted under the heading, NEWS. The GOLD SALES division is adding new inventory to the site on an ongoing basis. The FORUM section will help you understand others’ points of view. Your participation is encouraged. The STOCK page will keep you informed about sales, buyers and sellers. Soon we will be publishing the drawings of Director Dan O'Neill. Register on the site if you want to [...]
The hearing was in Downieville before visiting Judge Stanley Young Jr. Mark Fussell, 36, was killed Nov. 6, 2000, when he his head hit a protruding ore chute, breaking his neck. Michael M. Miller, 60, the Alleghany's mine's president and chief executive officer, Jonathan T. Farrell, 33, the mine's manager, and the gold mine company were charged last fall with criminal involuntary manslaughter and a willful violation of an occupational [...]
The ruling cleared the Original Sixteen-to-One Mine, its president, Michael M. Miller, 60, and mine manager Jonathon T. Farrell, 32, of any wrongdoing in the death of Mark Fussell in November 2000. Miller said he might file a claim for damages against prosecutors from the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA) for allegedly acting improperly in the case. Fussell was crushed between a protruding ore chute and a moving railway tram [...]
Your story on January 24, 2003, about the arraignment held in response to a Sierra County Grand Jury indictment, failed to convey the arraignment of Michael Miller, Jonathan Farrell and Original Sixteen to One Mine. If a reporter had been present, the article would have been informative instead of meatless. Everyone pleads not guilty at the first arraignment. Even a bank robber, caught inside the bank with the money in [...]
Michael M. Miller, 60, owner of the Original Sixteen to One Mine in Alleghany, and mine manager Jonathan T. Farrell, 32, are each charged with involuntary manslaughter and failure to comply with occupational safety regulations resulting in death. The mine itself is also listed as a defendant. A defense argument to drop the charges will be heard Feb. 13 in Sierra County Superior Court. A grand jury indicted both men [...]
Michael M. Miller and Jonathan T. Farrell are set to have an arraignment Thursday in Sierra County Superior court. The court will also hear a motion to set aside the charges. Miller, 60, is owner and president of the Original Sixteen to One gold mine in Alleghany. Farrell, 32, is the mine’s manager. In October, a grand jury charged both men with involuntary manslaughter and willful violation of an occupational [...]
The last mines to close were the C.L. Best Mining Company (privately owned) and the Original Sixteen to One Mine (publicly owned) which ceased operations in 1965. For a history of gold mining in this area, we would refer you to James Sinnott’s books on Sierra County. This report is about what is happening now. The old prospectors with their gold pans and sluice boxes have been replaced by the [...]
KNCO INTERVIEW WITH MIKE MILLER Rita Stevens: The Sixteen to one mine is located in Alleghany in nearby Sierra County. It is the oldest mining company in America. About two years ago a mining accident resulted in the death of miner Mark Fussell. And situations at the mine have not been the same since. Mike Miller is President and Director of the Sixteen to one mine and joins us by [...]
Isn't it unusual for a prosecutor to seek a grand jury indictment for the same alleged criminal act when she already had a complaint filed and a preliminary hearing scheduled? Could the American Constitutional right of double jeopardy be an issue? A grand jury indictment precludes a defendant from exercising his or her right to a preliminary hearing. What could all this mean? I welcome your thoughts both on the [...]
many of which seemed to be driven by inspectors following their own agenda. In January 2002, some of these citations were dismissed and others were upheld. Fines were reduced to under $1,100. In March 2002, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board ordered the mine to immediately cease-and-desist discharging water into a nearby creek. The board stated that water discharges from the 16-to-1 did not conform to drinking water [...]
The law firm had insisted Miller turn in his guns as a condition of bail. Lawyers from the private corporation, the California District Attorney’s Association, arranged to be sworn in as local Deputy DA's in order to prosecute the trio for felony manslaughter following a mine accident that killed Mark Fussell two years ago. At a court session on Wednesday, November 20, without explanation CDAA lawyer Denise Mejlszenkier, one of [...]
Upstairs, the last remaining gold miners in the county faced criminal charges Tuesday. Michael M. Miller, 60, owner and president of the Original Sixteen to One, and Jonathan T. Farrell, 32, the mine's manager, were at a hearing on manslaughter charges in connection with a miner's death. Along with them were a dozen onlookers and a handful of mine employees. Some say that more than the mine's management is on [...]
Sierra County is regionally famous for its turnover of District Attorneys. And any observer will admit we’ve had some doozies over the years. But the current batch (yes, we now have several) take the cake. Sierra County’s nominal District Attorney, Sharon O’Sullivan, is a lame duck; the voters opting last March not to re-hire her. We suspect this turn of events left a fairly bad taste in Ms. O’Sullivan’s mouth. [...]
I am 85 years old, and for 40 years of my life, I worked in numerous mines as a hard-rock miner. I sit here at my home utterly amazed at what is happening in Sierra County. How well I remember the day I came home from fifth grade really upset and depressed, because my good friend Linus Foley, who sat in the seat across the aisle from me, had died. [...]
Since 1896, his mine, the Sixteen to One, has yielded some of the stat’s densest gold concentrations. Mined today much as it was a century ago by mud-caked men with picks, drills and dynamite, it is a living link to California’s God Rush era. For some, the Sixteen to One evokes the gritty pageantry of the ‘49ers. To others, it is a throwback to a reckless time of needless injuries [...]
THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SIERRA The People of the State of California, ) GRAND JURY ) -vs- ) INDICTMENT ) MICHAEL MEISTER MILLER, ) JONATHAN TODD FARRELL, ) And ) ORIGINAL SIXTEEN TO ONE MINE, INC.) ) ___________________________Defendants ) THE GRAND JURY OF THE COUNTY OF SIERRA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, CHARGES: COUNT I On or about November 6, 2000, in the above named Judicial [...]
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF SIERRA PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, Plaintiff, Case No. CR 00768C X vs. ORDER ORIGINAL SIXTEEN TO ONE MINE, INC., Defendant. ___________________________________/ HONORABLE STANLEY C. YOUNG, JUDGE ASSIGNED The Court having considered the People’s request for a “gag” order in the case herein, issues the following order: The parties shall not, directly or indirectly, release to [...]
The indictment was filed on Tuesday, October 29. The charges are similar to those previously filed by attorneys employed by the California District Attorneys Association. The inclusion of the mine corporation is the only novelty. The first count, a penal code violation, felony involuntary manslaughter, charges the three ‘did unlawfully and without malice, kill Mark Raymond Fussell, a human being, in the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to [...]
Fussell was killed in a mine accident in November 2000. The charges were brought by the California District Attorneys Association, a private organization contracted to the California Department of Labor Relations, under the color of Sierra County District Attorney Sharon O’Sullivan’s authority. Last week, Miller and Farrell were surprised to receive letters from CDAA lawyer Gale Filter informing them he and Sierra County’s Grand Jury are conducting an investigation into [...]
Judicial abuses are not new. When Americans ratified the process to self regulate by means of reasonable laws applied with integrity and fairness to all, our American ancestors recognized the pitfalls. My familiarity with the judicial branch of our three branches of government span most of my adult life. I uncovered the following which I wrote on September 12, 1974. An example of small town American justice surfaced today. My [...]
I share with you a recent example filed October 4, 2002. Let me know if you want more information. Our company is under attack and you need to know because this practice is out of control and undermines our securities. MICHAEL M. MILLER, In pro per President & CEO ORIGINAL SIXTEEN TO ONE MINE, INC. 527 Miners Street Post Office Box 909 Alleghany, California 95910 Telephone (530) 287-3223 UNITED STATES [...]