Elko Daily Free Press 6-7-10

BLM issues final studies on Leeville, Gold Quarry

ELKO - The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has issued two final studies ordered four years ago by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on cumulative impacts of Newmont Mining Corp.'s Leeville and Gold Quarry operations north of Carlin.

Newmont is producing gold from Leeville and expanded Gold Quarry years ago, following the Elko BLM District's original approval of both projects in 2002.

The work went on while a lawsuit went through the legal process, resulting in the appeals panel ordering additional analysis on the two projects.

"The draft had to be done by August 2007, so the draft went out then. The final has been done for awhile, but is finally out," said Janice Stadelman at the Elko BLM office.

She said the Elko BLM finalized the documents a year ago, but they were backlogged in the process leading to publication in the Federal Register. The 30-day review period ends Aug. 2.

"We are pleased to see this supplemental EIS process near completion," Newmont Director of External Relations Mary Korpi said Wednesday.

Reno-based Great Basin Mine Watch and the Washington, D.C.-based Mineral Policy Center filed the lawsuit, lost in U.S. District Court and appealed to the 9th Circuit Court. Great Basin Mine Watch is now called Great Basin Resources Watch and Mineral Policy Center now is known as Earthworks.

The appeals panel decided the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act on its analysis of cumulative impacts, with the exception of mine dewatering addressed in a separate 2000 study.

The 9th Circuit judges upheld all of the other environmental studies on the Leeville underground mine and Gold Quarry open pit mine, however. The Gold Quarry study is called the South Operations Area Project Amendment.

The new supplemental studies still look at the dewatering impacts as a cumulative impact, however, Stadelman said.

The studies state Gold Quarry was dewatering in 2009 at an average of 14,000 gallons per minute and Leeville, at 13,400 gpm. The maximum dewatering rate for Gold Quarry is 17,500 gpm, and the maximum rate for Leeville is 24,000 gpm.

Gold Quarry's water is discharged into Maggie Creek and on to the Humboldt River. The Leeville water goes through the Barrick Gold of North America Goldstrike operation and water not used in operations mainly goes to Newmont's TS Ranch Reservoir or to irrigate TS alfalfa fields.

At the time of the lawsuit, the environmental organizations stated they wanted Newmont to use injection wells to return water pumped from Gold Quarry Mine to the deep aquifer.

The new BLM studies also look at impact to air quality and Native American cultural resources, socio-economic impacts, impact to livestock grazing, endangered species and fish and wildlife, as well as the impact from range fires.

"Cumulative impacts are past, present and reasonable foreseeable future actions," Stadelman said.

The studies include the impact of projects under way or proposed after the original studies were completed, including the TS Power Plant in Boulder Valley, Great Basin Gold's Hollister Project in northwestern Elko County and El Paso Corp.'s planned Ruby Pipeline.

They also list proposed projects on the Carlin Trend that could have future impact.

These include Newmont's planned Genesis Project, Barrick's planned Arturo Project, Newmont's Emigrant Project, another proposed Gold Quarry expansion, Halliburton's Rossi Mine expansion and Barrick's REN exploration project.

The documents look specifically at mercury air emissions, stating that gold processing is the biggest source of mercury emissions in Nevada, but Nevada also has natural occurring mercury.

They note Barrick's and Newmont's mines north of Carlin released a combined 588 pounds of mercury per year in 2008, citing Nevada Division of Environmental Protection figures.

The combined release represents 19 percent of total annual mercury emissions of 3,165 pounds in 2008 from precious metal processing sources in Nevada, the BLM states.

Newmont's TS Power Plant in Boulder Valley releases less than 35 pounds of mercury a year, the BLM also notes.

The BLM studies include information from a 2008 report from ICF International for the EPA that "concluded the dominant influence on air quality for mercury is generally the source closest to the receptor," which means the mercury stays within mine areas.

The ICF modeling found mercury levels across state boundaries are low, citing a Utah example that showed mercury contribution at a peak location was predominantly from Utah sources and secondarily by sources outside the U.S. (21.9 percent).

"Neighboring states, including Nevada, accounted for approximately 0.2 percent of mercury deposition at the peak location in Utah," state the supplemental EIS documents for Leeville and Gold Quarry.

The social-economic portion of the studies state that the average income in metal mining was $78,728 in 2008 and many miners live in Elko although they work in mines in Eureka and Lander counties.

The supplemental studies are in a 30-day review period that will be followed by records of decision. Anyone with questions may contact Stadelman at 753-0200 or by e-mail at Janice_Stadelman@blm.gov.

The final supplemental studies are posted on the BLM's Elko website at www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/elko_field_office.html, and printed or CD copies are available.