Coos County commissioners say they’re optimistic about a chromite mining proposal, after a meeting this week with mining company representatives.

“I thought the meeting was really good,” Chairwoman Nikki Whitty said. “I thought we could move forward.”

Whitty said she expects most remaining issues to be worked out by Feb. 24, when the commissioners will meet again with Oregon Resources Corp.

Oregon Resources has been seeking approval to mine on 2,000 county-owned acres between Charleston and Bandon. At Tuesday’s meeting, company executives announced their interest in testing on more than 6,000 additional acres.

Wednesday’s edition of The World reported that a top executive had threatened to pull out of the county if the land weren’t made available. Dan Smith, the company’s chief operating officer, told the commissioners, “If we don’t get this, we’re heading south to Curry County.”

But commissioners said later they hadn’t taken the statement as an ultimatum.

“I took that being that once they were finished up here, they would move south,” said Commissioner Bob Main said. “I did not take that to mean that they were trying to leverage their deal with us.”

Greg Aldridge, chairman of the South Coast Development Council, agreed that Smith’s statement was not a threat.

“If they weren’t able to renew mineral leases with the county, they would look to Curry County for additional mineral leases to keep the business running,” Aldridge said.

Smith’s exact intent could not be verified. Attempts to interview Smith and company President Cheryl Wilson were unsuccessful this week. But Main shared Whitty’s optimism about the deal’s prospects.

“It seemed to be a positive meeting,” Main said.

Oregon Resources has said its operation will create 70-75 jobs, each paying about $40,000 annually. The company would pay property taxes on a 28-acre processing plant site in Bunker Hill, along with between $1 million and $2 million in royalties for use of county land.

“We want a mutually beneficial arrangement,” Whitty said. “There are people not in support of that project, and we’ve got to make sure their interests are protected too.”

Main said he thinks the company seems environmentally sound, and the noise it produces shouldn’t be worse than what comes from logging.

“They use no chemicals,” he said. “They use water and sand.”

The request for an additional 6,000 acres creates new procedural questions. Whitty said the county’s legal counsel, Jacqueline Haggerty, will brief commissioners on their options before the Feb. 24 meeting.

In an e-mail Friday morning, Haggerty said she hadn’t had time to research all the details yet. However, she said, “Oregon Resources will have to enter into a new exploration agreement and mining lease with the county before they can apply for the required land use permits.”

The commissioners’ meeting with Oregon Resources is set for 10 a.m. Feb. 24 at the county courthouse in Coquille.

As a new commissioner, Main said he’s still getting up to speed on chromite mining, and he welcomes comments and insight from citizens. He can be reached by calling 396-3121, ext. 770, or by e-mailing bmain@co.coos.or.us.