[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 105 (Thursday, June 2, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-13437]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: June 2, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[NM-030-7122-03-8532]

 

Proposed Reestablishment of the Copper Flat Mine in Sierra 
County, NM

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) and Notice of Scoping Meetings.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM), Las Cruces District Office, will be directing the preparation of 
an EIS to be prepared by a third party contractor. The EIS will 
describe the potential impacts of the proposed re-establishment of the 
Copper Flat open-pit copper mining project located approximately 5 
miles northeast of Hillsboro in Sierra County, New Mexico. The proposed 
Copper Flat Project would re-establish an open-pit copper mining 
operation at a site that was developed and operated from April 1982 to 
July 1982. All surface facilities were removed from the site in 1986 
and a BLM-approved reclamation plan was implemented. The proposed 
Copper Flat Project would resume mining operations at the site and 
would reconstruct the associated processing facilities. The proposed 
project would mine and process an average of 16,500 tons of ore per day 
over a projected operating life of at least 10 years.
    The public is invited to participate in the planning process. 
Public scoping meetings will be held at the following times and 
locations:

Time/Date and Location

7 p.m. June 22, 1994: Truth or Consequences Civic Center, 400 West 
Forth Avenue, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
7 p.m. June 23, 1994: Hillsboro Community Center (in the old High 
School Building), Hillsboro, New Mexico.

DATES: Written comments on the scoping process will be accepted through 
July 5, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Russell Jentgen, Bureau of Land 
Management, 1800 Marquess, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Russell Jentgen, BLM Las Cruces District Office, at (505) 525-4351.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Gold Express Corporation submitted a Plan of 
Operations to BLM proposing to re-establish the Copper Flat Project in 
1991. As required by NEPA, an Environmental Assessment (EA) was 
prepared for the proposed Plan of Operations. Based on comments 
received on the EA and BLM's evaluation of the environmental impacts 
described in the EA, BLM notified Gold Express Corporation by letter 
dated October 7, 1993, that an EIS would need to be prepared before the 
BLM could approve the proposed Plan of Operations. Alta Gold Co. (Alta) 
acquired an option to purchase the Copper Flat Project from Gold 
Express Corporation in July 1993 and has exercised the option.
    As proposed in the Plan of Operations, the project would be a 
conventional open-pit mining operation with an average daily production 
of 16,500 tons of ore. Ore would be crushed and processed on site to 
produce a copper concentrate that would be transported off-site for 
further processing. Waste rock and tailings produced by the proposed 
project would be placed in disposal facilities located on site. Water 
for mining and processing purposes would be provided from production 
wells located approximately 8 miles east of the mine site. In addition, 
ground water entering the pit would be pumped out to facilitate mining 
operations. The project is expected to have a life of at least 10 years 
and would employ approximately 150 people.
    During the EA process, BLM identified four areas to be addressed in 
the EIS: (1) Potential impacts to the ground water system from pumping 
of the production wells; (2) potential impacts to the ground water 
system from dewatering of the pit; (3) potential impacts on ground 
water quality from placement of tailings in the tailings impoundment; 
and, (4) potential impacts to surface and ground water quality from 
drainage from the overburden and waste rock disposal areas. ELM is 
soliciting comments on these and other issues and opportunities to be 
addressed in the EIS.
    BLM's scoping process for the EIS will include: (1) Identification 
of issues to be addressed; (2) identification of viable alternatives, 
and (3) notifying interested groups, individuals, and agencies so that 
additional information concerning these issues can be obtained. The 
scoping process will consist of a news release announcing the start of 
the EIS process; letters of invitation to participate in the scoping 
process; and a scoping document which further clarifies the proposed 
action and significant issues being considered to be distributed to 
those on the mailing list and available upon request.

    Dated: May 25, 1994
Kathy Eaton,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 94-13437 Filed 6-1-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-FB-M