More than 20 years, $29 million and 14 permits later, Oregon Resources Corp. finally has the go-ahead to begin construction on its Bunker Hill ore processing plant.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued the definitive operating permit, giving the Portland-based firm approval to mine chromite, zircon, high-iron and garnet off Seven Devils Road between Charleston and Bandon.

"Everything fell into place," said Dan Smith, Oregon Resources' chief operating officer.

West Coast Contractors is driving pile at the 28-acre Bunker Hill site, with work expected to be complete by early 2011. After crews pour the foundation, construction will take another nine months to a year, Smith said.

But even before the $45 million plant is finished, the hiring and mining will get under way.

Smith said the company plans to hire more than 50 plant operators later this year and contract with another 25 truck drivers and miners.

"It's going to be good for local businesses," Smith said. "That's 75 people going to restaurants, grocery stores, building houses."

There also will be limited preproduction mining during the construction phase to test the processing facilities.

The Army Corps issued a conditional permit in conjunction with the Oregon Department of State Lands and National Marine Fisheries Service. The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries issued its permit in December. But the permitting process has stretched over several years.

Most of the agencies, Smith said, asked for extensions because of the complex and controversial nature of the operations.

"We're about a year behind where we hoped to be," Smith said. "We were very confident we would get it. There was just a hiccup, then it came through."

Smith said the conditions were mostly around timing of wetland removal and mitigation, and were similar to those outlined by DOGAMI.

Oregon Resources, owned by Australian Industrial Minerals Corporation, first discovered chromite mining potential in Coos County in 1990. But its business ambitions have been beset by permit delays, road agreements and local concerns over hexavalent chromium and other environmental factors.

The firm plans to strip mine 150 acres, between 18 an 20 acres a year, for eight years. The company has said that every hour, eight covered trucks – four coming and four going – will travel from the plant to mining sites. There will be an estimated 67,000 trucks each year leaving the mining sites north of Bandon en route to the processing plant roughly 19 miles away.

Ending more than a year of negotiations, county commissioners signed a road agreement with Oregon Resources in January. The company will pay the county $333,000 a year for the first three years and $125,000 every year after. Additionally, if there is a substantial breakdown to the roads because of the hauling operations, the company will pay for reconstruction. The money will go into a special road fund to be used only for the specific roads Oregon Resources will be traveling. The routes include not only West Beaver Hill, but also Mullen Road and Edwards Street, leading to the processing plant in Bunker Hill, with Center and Howard streets as an alternate path.

The remaining driving will be done on U.S. Highway 101, which is under state jurisdiction. The state charges a fuel tax and heavy load tax on all trucks.

After the minerals are separated and packaged, truckers will transport the product to Eugene, where it will be shipped to U.S. consumers by train. Once the rail line in Coos County is running, all operations will be based locally. A barge slip on site will be used to ship internationally.

The site will have three main structures, two processing plants and a large warehouse. The buildings will stretch five stories high, with one fully enclosed.

The entire project is expected to cost around $75 million.

While gold has been found in the sands, Smith said Oregon Resources has no interest in the mineral.

The extraction process is not designed to sift out gold, therefore, it will mix back into the sand, which will be redeposited in the ground.

The company has not yet reached an agreement to mine on county forest lands, although the two are in negotiations.