Gold Rock Mine project : record of decision

2018·12.3 MB·English

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U.S. Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
BLM/N V/EL/ES/15-05+1793
GOLD ROCK MINE PROJECT
RECORD OF DECISION
Case File Number: N-91957
DATE: September 2018
Cooperating Agencies: BLM Bristlecone Field Office
Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the Duckwater 702 North Industrial Way Ely, NV 89301
Shoshone Reservation, Nevada Phone: [phone]
Eureka County Board of Commissioners Fax: [phone]
Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources Division of State Lands Sagebrush
Ecosystem Technical Team
Nevada Department of Wildlife
White Pine County Board of County Commissioners
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BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT MISSION STATEMENT
It is the mission of the Bureau of Land Management to sustain the health, diversity, and
productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.
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BLM/NV/EL/ES/15-05+1793
United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Bnsllocone Field Office
702 North Industrial Way
Ely. Nevada 89301-9408
SEP 21201B
In Reply Refer To
3809/2850 (NVL06000) N-91957
Dear Interested Party:
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ely District, Bristlecone Field Office has issued the
Record of Decision for Midway Gold U.S., Inc.’s Gold Rock Mine Project (Project) in rural
eastern Nevada. The decision allows the mining proponent to expand and operate an existing
pit and to construct and operate new facilities located in White Pine County, in the same general
geographic area as the canceled and partially reclaimed Easy Junior Mine. Construction and
operation of the Project will result in approximately 3,901 acres of authorized disturbance on
public land administered by the BLM. The project is located in the White Pine Mining District in
White Pine County, Nevada, approximately 50 miles west of Ely and 30 miles southeast of
Eureka.
Midway sold the Project to GRP Gold Rock, LLC in May 2016 prior to completion of the
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Project. GRP Gold Rock, LLC has assumed
ownership of the Project. The Final EIS documents have retained the name of Midway in the
documents, but GRP Gold Rock, LLC is the proponent of the Project and is hereby noted as the
current proponent in this Record of Decision (ROD). GRP Gold Rock, LLC became a wholly-
owned subsidiary of Fiore Gold (US) Inc. on September 18, 2017.
The decision of the Bristlecone Field Manager, BLM Ely District, is to select the Preferred
Alternative, which is a combination of elements of the Northwest Main Access Route
Alternative, Southern Power Line Route; the Modified County Road Re-Route Alternative; and
the Western Tailings Storage Facility Alternative; along with the applicant-committed
environmental protection measures included in the Plan of Operations, and the mitigation
measures specified in Chapter 4 and Appendix 4A of the Final EIS for the Project. The
Preferred Alternative is the alternative that best fulfills the agency’s statutory mission and
responsibilities, considering economic, environmental, technical, and other factors. The BLM
has determined that implementation of this decision with the identified monitoring and mitigation
measures will not cause unnecessary or undue degradation of the public lands.
The Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Gold Rock Mine
Project was published in the Federal Register on July 27, 2018. The 30-day public availability
period ended on August 29, 2018. The FEIS and the ROD are available on the NEPA register at
https://www.blm.qov/proqrams/planninq-and-nepa/plans-in-development/nevada.
Project materials may also be viewed at the BLM Ely District Office, 702 North Industrial Way,
Ely, NV, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Friday, except
holidays.
This decision may be appealed to the Interior Board of Land Appeals (Board), U. S. Department
of the Interior (DOI) Office of Hearing and Appeals in accordance with the regulations contained
in 43 CFR, Part 4.
For more information, contact Maria Ryan, Project Manager, at [phone] or
[email protected].
Sincerely,
Mindy Seal
Field Manager
Bristlecone Field Office
GOLD ROCK MINE PROJECT
RECORD OF DECISION
Plan of Operations Number: N-91957
Environmental Impact Statement: BLM/NV/EL/ES/15-05+1793
Bureau of Land Management
Ely District Office, Bristlecone Field Office
Ely, Nevada
Cooperating Agencies:
Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the Duckwater Shoshone Reservation, Nevada
Eureka County Board of Commissioners
Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Division of State Lands
Sagebrush Ecosystem Technical Team
Nevada Department of Wildlife
White Pine County Board of County Commissioners
RECORD OF DECISION:
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Record of Decision
SUMMARY
Midway Gold U.S. Inc. (Midway) submitted a Plan of Operations (PoO) and Reclamation Permit
Application for the Gold Rock Mine Project to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Egan Field
Office of the Ely District in March 2013. The submission was in compliance with Title 43 Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR), subpart 3809 (43 CFR §3809), as amended. A revised version of the
PoO was submitted to BLM in December 2017 after a review for compliance with the BLM’s
revised Resource Management Plan for conservation of the Greater Sage-Grouse.
The Gold Rock Mine Project (Project) will be located in rural eastern Nevada, in the White
Pine Mining District in White Pine County, and will involve expansion of an existing open pit mine.
The Project proponent will construct and operate new facilities that will occupy the same general
geographic area as the canceled and partially reclaimed Easy Junior Mine. The location is
approximately 50 miles west of Ely, 30 miles southeast of Eureka, and 15 miles south of Highway
50. The Project is located entirely on federal lands managed by the BLM. The Project is located
in the Bristlecone Field Office (formerly the Egan Field Office) in the BLM Ely District.
Midway sold the Project to GRP Gold Rock, LLC in May 2016 prior to completion of the
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Project. The Final Environmental Impact
Statement (Final EIS) has retained the name of Midway, but GRP Gold Rock, LLC is the
proponent of the Project and is hereby noted as the current proponent in this Record of Decision
(ROD). GRP Gold Rock, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiore Gold (US) Inc.
The Project proponent will expand and operate an existing open pit, and construct two waste
rock disposal areas, a heap leach facility with processing ponds and an adsorption,
desorption and regeneration plant, a mill with a carbon-in-leach circuit, a tailings storage
facility, water supply wells and delivery/storage system, haul and access roads, growth
medium stockpiles, ancillary support facilities, and a 69-kV power line that will be built and
tied to an existing power line at the Pan Mine located north of the PoO area. Transformers
and distribution lines will carry power to the processing plant, mill, and other facilities.
Approximately 3,782 acres of surface disturbance will occur related to construction or expansion
of the mine and other project-related facilities, and 119 acres of disturbance will occur related to
installation of the transmission line, upgrading or construction of road segments along the main
access route, sourcing road base gravel from two 5-acre pits, possible installation of a second
water supply well, and possible widening of a re-routed county road. In total, construction and
operation of the Project will result in approximately 3,901 acres of authorized disturbance on
public land administered by the BLM on unpatented mining claims held by the Proponent.
Potential impacts from project-related activities were analyzed in the Draft and Final EIS.
Concurrent reclamation will occur in the first year, where feasible, and continue throughout the
operation of the mine. Upon completion of the 10-year mine life of the Project, remaining mine
facilities will be reclaimed, except the pit. It is expected that the pit bench slopes will naturally
degrade as the wall rock weathers and erodes.
Record of Decision
The Project’s mining activities on public lands and/or federal mineral estate are subject to review
and approval by the BLM pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976,
as amended, and the BLM’s Surface Management regulations (43 CFR § Subpart 3809). The
BLM’s review and approval of a mine PoO under the Surface Management regulations constitutes
a federal action that is subject to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The BLM
determined that the Project constitutes a major federal action and determined that an EIS was
required to fulfill the NEPA requirements.
On September 5, 2013, a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS for the Gold Rock Mine Project was
published in the Federal Register (Volume 78, No. 172, Thursday, September 5, 2013, pages
54674 and 54675). Three public scoping meetings were held September 24, 25, and 26 in 2013,
in Ely, Eureka, and Reno, Nevada, respectively. The scoping period ended on October 7, 2013.
From October 1 through October 16, 2013, the U.S. federal government shut down. On October
18. 2013, the BLM issued a press release in the local newspapers and posted a notice on the
BLM ePlanning web page stating that the comment period was re-opened and extended by 1
week, from October 18 to October 25, 2013.
The BLM's e-mail account that was set up to receive scoping comments on the EIS for the Project
during the initial scoping period (September 5 through October 7, 2013) was deleted during the
federal government shutdown. Therefore, the BLM issued a second notice for the EIS in the
Federal Register (Vol. 79, No. 60, Friday, March 28, 2014, pages 17565 and 17566) on March
28, 2014 to invite members of the public to submit comments, and request that anyone who
submitted comments by email during the initial 30-day scoping period resubmit their comments.
No changes were made to the Proposed Action. No additional scoping meetings were held during
this 30-day extension of the public input period, as the original meetings were not affected by the
technical difficulties with the email account.
The BLM received a total of 60 comment submittals (e.g., letter, comment form, fax, or email)
containing 300 individual comments during the scoping period. All comments were considered in
preparation of the Draft EIS for the Gold Rock Mine Project.
On February 13, 2015, a Notice of Availability was published in the Federal Register (Volume
80, No. 30, Friday, February 13,2015, pages 8107 and 8108) releasing the Draft EIS to the public
for a 45-day comment period. Three public comment meetings were held in 2015 on March 10,11,
and 12 in Ely. Eureka, and Reno, Nevada, respectively. The comment period on the Draft EIS
ended March 30, 2015. The EPA requested additional time to obtain clarification and prepare
comments on the Draft EIS. The BLM granted the extension, coordinated with the EPA, and
received the EPA’s comments on June 1,2015. During the comment period, the BLM received
a total of 26 unique submittals on the Draft EIS and a total of 253 comments, in the form of
letters and emails from agencies, businesses, organizations, and individuals. The 253 individual
comments received were considered in preparing the Final EIS. Each comment, as well as a
corresponding response, is provided in Appendix 7A of the Final EIS.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Notice of Availability for the Final EIS in
the Federal Register (Volume 83, No. 145 / Friday, July 27, 2018, pages 35676, 35677 and
35678) on July 27, 2018, releasing the Final EIS and initiating the 30-day public availability
period. The Final EIS is available at http://on.doi.gov/1zAxyW9.
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Record of Decision
The BLM’s selection of a Preferred Alternative was based on the BLM's NEPA analysis of the
Project, including comments received throughout the NEPA process. The decision of the
Bristlecone Field Manager, BLM Ely District, is to select a combination of elements of the
Northwest Main Access Route Alternative, Southern Power Line Route; the Modified County
Road Re-Route Alternative; and the Western Tailings Storage Facility Alternative, along with the
applicant-committed environmental protection measures included in the PoO and the mitigation
measures specified in Chapter 4 and Appendix 1A of the Final EIS, as the BLM's Preferred
Alternative. The Preferred Alternative is the alternative that best fulfills the agency's statutory
mission and responsibilities, considering economic, environmental, technical, and other factors.
The BLM has determined that implementation of this decision with the identified monitoring and
mitigation measures will not cause unnecessary or undue degradation of the public lands.
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Record of Decision
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