Oath Keepers standing down at Sugar Pine Mine

Armed guards are standing down from an Oregon gold mine after an administrative law judge put on hold any plans by a federal agency to enforce an order to stop mining. Mary Emerick, spokeswoman for the Josephine County chapter of Oath Keepers, said Thursday the guards are leaving the Sugar Pine Mine outside Galice, where they have been for five weeks. But they will maintain a staging area in Merlin. Guards moved onto the mine to assure owners get their day in court after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management ordered miners to stop work until they got the proper approvals. The Interior Board of Land Appeals put enforcement on hold after both sides agreed not to press the issue while the appeal is heard.  AP