Proposed digital currency mining operation is first of its kind in Pierce
A digital currency mining operation has applied for a conditional use permit on Cason Road in the Rehobeth Church Community.
A public notice on a conditional use permit for the proposed operation is included in this week’s edition. The digital mining facility is the first of its kind in Pierce County.
The property is currently zoned as agriculture/ forestry. The conditional use would apply to converting the property to the digital mining operation.
According to the application to the Pierce County Department of Planning and Codes, Eric Su of LN Energy has applied for the permit at 1199 Cason Road, Blackshear. According to county tax records, the property is owned by Tony Waters.
A public hearing on the permit will be held at the next planning commission meeting.
The meeting will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 13, at the courthouse annex at 312 Nichols Street, Blackshear.
Efforts to reach Su were not successful prior to press time.
A digital mining operation is part of the cryptocurrency industry. Cryptocurrency, including bitcoin, is an online unit of money that is totally electronic and not financially backed up by any government or banks. Digital currency uses a process called mining to secure its network and validate transactions.
The Pierce County operation reportedly will include storage type facilities to house the computer servers used in the digital mining process.
Similar, larger scale digital mining operations have arisen in the industrial areas of America’s “rust belt” where there is abundant space for sale or lease and an existing infrastructure set up to handle the significant power requirements. So far it is unknown how this local operation would compare in size and output to those set up in former steel towns.
