Whitman County Gazette - Serving Whitman County since 1877

Today, good works are often brushed aside or ignored---especially, if done by one of the world’s largest mining companies. However, Rio Tinto deserves kudos for its half-billion-dollar mine cleanup in Holden., a remote village in the picturesque North Cascade mountains just south of Lake Chelan.

Rio Tinto did not mine an ounce of copper or other precious metals at Holden. It acquired the site as part of a larger purchase. It gathered interested stakeholders together and ironed solutions outside the courtroom. Rio Tinto chose to remediate rather than litigate.

During World War II, Hold...