[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 105 (Monday, June 2, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 29736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-14222]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management


Notice

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) and the County of Kern, State of California have prepared a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the 
Soledad Mountain Project, a proposed gold mining operation on public 
and private lands in Kern County, California.

DATES: Comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental 
Impact Statement must be postmarked no later than July 15, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to Bureau of Land 
Management, Ridgecrest Resource Area, 300 S. Richmond Road, Ridgecrest, 
California 93555, Attention: Ahmed Mohsen, EIS Coordinator.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ahmed Mohsen-EIS Coordinator (760) 
385-5421.

PUBLIC MEETINGS: Public meetings are planned for:
    Date: Tues. June 24, 1997.
    Time: 7:00 p.m.
    Place: Halsey Auditorium, Rosamond Elementary School, 1981 Rosamond 
Boulevard, Rosamond, California.

    Date: Wed. June 25, 1997.
    Time: 7:00 p.m.
    Place: Mojave Elementary School Auditorium, Mojave Elementary 
School, 15800 ``O'' Street, Mojave, California.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    The purpose of the Draft EIR/EIS is to present BLM and Kern 
County's comparative analysis of the impacts of the Proposed Action and 
Alternatives on the physical, biological, social and economic resources 
of the area. The Proposed Action is a mining proposal to extract 
minerals from the subsurface, process the ore using chemical leaching 
methods and place the waste rock adjacent to the processing and mining 
areas. Alternatives to the Proposed Action include variations on the 
duration and placement of waste rock. After careful consideration of 
the impacts of the Proposed Action and all the alternatives, BLM has 
identified a Preferred Action in response to regulatory requirements, 
issues raised, resources present, impact analysis results and the 
effectiveness of mitigation and reclamation measures.
    A public scoping process was initiated by the BLM and Kern County 
to identify issues and concerns relating to the proposed mining 
operation and assist the lead agencies in formulating alternatives to 
the Proposed Action. The scoping process was designed to provide an 
opportunity for receipt of verbal and written comments from the public 
organizations and government agencies. This was achieved through two 
public meetings, newspaper publications, Federal Register notice and 
notice of preparation of an EIR/EIS, Project description, resource 
inventories and public meeting proceedings were made available on the 
world wide web. Site can be reached with the following address: 
http:www.ca.blm.gov/GoldenQueen.
    The project area includes approximately 1,690 acres of which 1,219 
acres are privately owned land and 471 acres are unpatented mining 
claims on public lands administered by the BLM. The proposed surface 
disturbance is 930 acres of which 735 acres are on private land and 195 
acres are on public land.
    Five alternatives to the Proposed Action are analyzed in detail: 
(1) No Action, (2) Increased Mining and Processing Rate, (3) Decreased 
Mining and Processing Rate, (4) Reduced Project Size, and (5) Partial 
Backfilling.
Lee Delaney,
Area Manager.
[FR Doc. 97-14222 Filed 5-30-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1990-01-M