Elco Daily Free Press 5-21-10

BLM hosts open house on Genesis

ELKO - Newmont Mining Corp.'s plan to mine again in the Genesis Pit and nearby in the company's North Operations Area north of Carlin didn't generate any controversy at a U.S. Bureau of Land Management open house Wednesday.

That was fine by the Newmont representatives at the meeting on the just-released draft environmental impact statement on the project that will go into old mining areas and later reclaim the whole area.

"We're happy about this project. A lot of work has gone into this and a lot of preparation," said Paul Pettit, senior environmental manager for Newmont on the Carlin Trend.

"This is a very important project for Newmont, with a 12-year mine life," Pettit said.

Newmont's proposal calls for mining 60 million tons of ore from Genesis and 450 million tons of waste rock.

Newmont plans to start mining at Genesis and backfill the old Beast Pit with the waste from the Genesis mining. Waste will also go into the Bluestar Pit, and then mining will move to West Genesis, with backfill going to the main Genesis Pit, Pettit said.

After that, Newmont will mine Genesis Phase II and fill West Genesis, and Newmont will create a new, small Bluestar Ridge open pit as part of the project that the company expects will provide work for up to 1,100 or so workers.

The project will generate 43 acres of new disturbance because so much of the work will be in mining areas. The overall disturbance is roughly 1,092 acres.

"This is not a controversial project for the local community," said Kirk Laird, the Genesis Project leader for the BLM, who predicted the final EIS will be completed in a couple of months and go to Washington for more review. That could add several months to the timetable before a decision, he said.

Laird said the Elko BLM is aware of the importance of the project to Newmont, and "we will do what we can to make this happen in a timely and efficient manner."

Laird said he is confident the EIS addresses all the potential environmental impacts but Newmont will do additional testing to guard against acid rock drainage "to add a layer of security and confidence."

The plan also calls for moving 3 million cubic yards of Carlin Formation material from Newmont's Lantern area to Genesis during reclamation, and Laird said that material has been good for reclamation work.

Visitors other than Newmont and BLM employees included two from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and Lou Schack, director of communications and community affairs for Barrick Gold of North America, which also mines on the Carlin Trend at Goldstrike.

"They've mined in that area for 40 years. There is minimal disturbance and the project is surrounded by other operations, including Goldstrike," Schack said. "The market is good so it is a good time to go back where there is potential and get things they couldn't get at $400 or $500 gold."

The London afternoon fixing price Wednesday was $1,195 per ounce.

John Mudge, vice president of environmental and social responsibility for Newmont, said the company is looking forward to getting back to mining Genesis.

"It's a good, clean project, and there will be no pit lakes at the end," he said.

The backfill will prevent pit lakes from forming.

Lisa Hoffman of Newmont's external relations department said the company is planning an open house of its own to answer questions and talk about Genesis, and the company is firming up plans for the early June event.

Deadline for comments is June 14. Comments can be mailed to the Elko BLM office at 3900 E. Idaho St., Elko, NV 89801 or faxed to 753-0255. Laird can be reached at 753-0200.