Elko Daily Free Press 4-4-10

Barrick seeks oral arguments on Cortez Hills

ELKO — Barrick Gold Corp. subsidiary Barrick Cortez Inc. is asking the U.S. District Court in Reno to take oral arguments on preliminary injunction motions for the Cortez Hills operations in Lander County.

The arguments would be on opposing motions stemming from a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals order to the Reno court for “injunctive relief” while the U.S. Bureau of Land Management does further environmental analysis on Cortez Hills.

U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks hadn’t ruled on the request as of Thursday.

Barrick wants the judge to grant a partial preliminary injunction that would allow the company to continue mining at Cortez Hills while the BLM studies the three concerns the appeals panel singled out in its Dec. 3 opinion.

The Western Shoshone tribes, Western Shoshone Defense Project and Great Basin Resource Watch that sought the injunction maintain Hicks should halt all Cortez Hills operations while the study is under way.

The BLM sides with Barrick but wants a less restrictive time frame for the study than Barrick proposed.

Barrick wrote to the U.S. District Court the company “believes oral argument would be helpful to the court.” The request came a week after the March 19 deadline for all sides to file briefs on their motions.

The company also states that the plaintiffs told the company they didn’t believe oral arguments were necessary or warranted, but that counsel for the BLM wasn’t available for a response.

The 9th Circuit Court ordered more analysis on three areas — trucking refractory gold ore to the Goldstrike Mine north of Carlin for processing from Cortez Hills, mine dewatering at Cortez Hills and emissions of fine particulate matter.

Barrick is offering to limit dewatering and not transport ore from Cortez Hills for 70 miles to Goldstrike while the study is under way and maintains that halting the operations would have a severe economic impact on the area communities and cost close to 600 jobs.

Both the surface and underground mines at Cortez Hills are producing gold, and Barrick Gold expects to produce a million ounces of gold from its Cortez Mine, if the court rules in Barrick’s favor. The Cortez Mine property includes the older Pipeline mill and open pits and the Cortez Hills mining operations roughly seven miles southeast of Pipeline on the western flank of Mt. Tenabo.

The Western Shoshone tribes and the plaintiff environmental organizations insist in their motions the 9th Circuit order is for a full shutdown at Cortez Hills, and they oppose Barrick’s offer of a tailored injunction.

The Western Shoshone contend Cortez Hills is an area of religious significance and the mine as permitted would cause environmental harm.

Barrick filed as an intervenor in the lawsuit the tribes filed against the BLM over its decision allowing Barrick to develop Cortez Hills. The BLM issued the permit in the fall of 2008, and since then Barrick has nearly completed the project.