[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 193 (Thursday, October 5, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52204-52205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-24744]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[UT-060-05-3800-006, UTU-72499]


Notice of Intent to Prepare a Third Party Environmental Impact 
Statement for SUMMO USA Corporation Lisbon Valley Open Pit Copper Mine 
in San Juan County, Utah

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Department of Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a third party Environmental Impact 
Statement for the SUMMO USA Corporation's Lisbon Valley Open Pit Copper 
Mine in San Juan County, Utah, and notice of scoping meetings.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Moab Field 
Office, will be directing the preparation of an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) to be prepared by a third party contractor on the 
impacts of SUMMO USA Corporation's proposed Lisbon Valley Open Pit 
Copper Mine. The proposed project would be located on approximately 
1000 acres of federal, state, and private lands located in San Juan 
County, Utah.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SUMMO USA Corporation of Denver, Colorado 
proposes to develop an open pit copper mining and heap leaching 
operation on approximately 1000 acres of private fee lands, state 
leases and unpatented mining claims in south Lisbon Valley, located 
approximately 19 miles southeast of LaSal, Utah, in San Juan County, 
Utah.
    The copper ore will be mined by conventional open pit mining 
methods utilizing drilling, blasting and ripping of the ore and 
associated overburden. The overburden will be removed and stockpiled 
and the ore will be loaded with front end loaders onto haul trucks. The 
ore will be trucked to a centralized pad area, utilizing 15,000 feet of 
haul roads, where it will be crushed and stacked. The copper will then 
be recovered by a heap leaching method, utilizing low concentrations of 
sulfuric acid. The leached copper solution will be further refined by 
standard solvent extraction and electrowinning processes.
    The facilities are designed to mine an average of 16,500 tons of 
ore per day, to produce 17,000 tons of 99.99% pure copper cathodes per 
year. SUMMO will employ up to 105 people at one time over the life of 
the project. The construction work force will be approximately 80 
people. Mining will occur 24 hours per day, 7 days a week throughout 
the project mine life. The project is currently projected to have a 10 
year mining life. Processing will continue after mining ceases for an 
additional year. To the extent possible, reclamation will occur 
simultaneously with mining. Final closure and reclamation activities 
will take approximately 5 years.
    Prior to initiation of the EIS, public scoping meetings will be 
held to identify and gather information 

[[Page 52205]]
pertinent to the analysis of environmental and socioeconomic impacts 
associated with this project. The scoping process will involve: (1) 
Identification of issues to be addressed; (2) identification of viable 
alternatives, and; (3) notification to interested groups, individuals 
and agencies so that additional information concerning issues may be 
submitted.
    Two public scoping meetings will be held. The first meeting will be 
held on November 1, 1995, at 7:00 PM in Moab, Utah in the conference 
room of the BLM office, located at 82 East Dogwood Avenue. The second 
meeting will be held on November 2, 1995, at 7:00 PM in Monticello, 
Utah in the BLM office conference room, located at 435 North Main 
Street.
    The scoping process will consist of a news release announcing the 
start of the EIS process, an open invitation to participate in the 
scoping process, and a scoping document which further clarifies the 
proposed action, alternatives, and identified issues. This document 
will be distributed to selected parties and available upon request.
    Written comments will be accepted until November 30, 1995. Concerns 
or comments should be sent to the District Manager, Bureau of Land 
Management, P.O. Box 970, Moab, Utah 84532.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynn Jackson, Project Leader, Moab 
District Office, P.O. Box 970, Moab, Utah 84532, (801) 259-6111.

    Dated: September 28, 1995.
William Stringer,
Acting District Manager.
[FR Doc. 95-24744 Filed 10-4-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-M