[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 130 (Friday, July 6, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40079-40080]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16565]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNVW0300.L51100000.GN0000.LVEMF1200880 241A; 12-08807; MO 
4500034712; TAS: 14X5017]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Hycroft Mine Expansion, Humboldt and Pershing 
Counties, NV

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Winnemucca 
District, Black Rock Field Office, Winnemucca, Nevada, has prepared a 
Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Hycroft Mine 
Expansion and by this notice is announcing its availability.

DATES: The BLM will not issue a final decision on the proposal for a 
minimum of 30 days of the date that the Environmental Protection Agency 
publishes their notice in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Hycroft Mine Expansion FEIS are available for 
public inspection at the Bureau of Land Management, Winnemucca District 
Office, 5100 E. Winnemucca Boulevard, Winnemucca, Nevada. Interested 
persons may also review the FEIS on the Internet at www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/wfo/blm_information/nepa0.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact 
Kathleen Rehberg, Project Lead, telephone (775)

[[Page 40080]]

623-1500; address 5100 E. Winnemucca Boulevard, Winnemucca, Nevada 
89445; email [email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during 
normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a 
week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You 
will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Hycroft Resources Development Inc., (HRDI) 
proposes to expand mining activities at the existing Hycroft Mine on 
BLM-managed public land and on private land in Humboldt and Pershing 
counties, approximately 55 miles west of Winnemucca, Nevada, on the 
west flank of the Kamma Mountains. HRDI submitted an amended Plan of 
Operations to the BLM for approval, which proposes to expand the 
existing project boundary of 8,858 acres an additional 5,895 acres for 
a total project area of approximately 14,753 acres of public and 
private land. The Hycroft Mine employs approximately 205 workers. The 
proposed expansion would increase the mine life by approximately 12 
years and increase employment to approximately 537 mine personnel.
    The EIS analyzes the potential environmental impacts associated 
with the proposed expansion of 5,895 acres, which includes 2,172 acres 
of new surface disturbance. The existing open pit operation and 
associated disturbance would be increased by 2,057 acres from 1,371 
acres of public land to 3,428 acres of public land. Disturbance on 
private land controlled by HRDI would be increased 115 acres from 1,692 
acres to 1,807 acres. The additional acreage in the project boundary 
would be used for exploration.
    The FEIS analyzes two alternatives; the Proposed Action and the No 
Action Alternative. Three other alternatives were considered then 
eliminated: Daylight Hours Operation, Modified Exploration Activities, 
and Different Waste Rock Dump and Heap Leach Pad Configurations. Based 
on the analysis in the EIS, the BLM has selected a Preferred 
Alternative. This Preferred Alternative is the alternative that best 
fulfills the agency's statutory mission and responsibilities, giving 
consideration to economic, environmental, technical, and other factors. 
The BLM has determined that the Preferred Alternative is the Proposed 
Action as outlined in Chapter 2 of the EIS, with the inclusion of the 
identified recommended mitigation measures to the Proposed Action as 
specified in Chapter 3 of the EIS.
    The proposed project would expand the plan boundary and use of the 
entire project area for exploration; incorporate five rights-of-way; 
expand four existing open pits; backfill all or portions of three open 
pits; build a dispatch center and expand maintenance facilities; expand 
haul and secondary roads, waste rock facilities, and heap leach 
facilities; expand existing and construct two ready line and heavy 
equipment fueling areas; operate a portable crusher with conveyors at 
the south heap leach facility; construct, operate, and then close the 
south heap leach facility, Merrill-Crowe process plant, and solution 
ponds; relocate a segment of the Seven Troughs Road to bypass the south 
heap leach facility; expand the existing refinery and the Brimstone 
Merrill-Crowe plant; construct storm water diversions, install 
culverts, and other storm water controls; close the existing Class III 
landfill and construct a new Class III landfill; drill one potable 
water well and one process water well; relocate the existing Brimstone 
substation, upgrade the existing Crofoot substation, and extend power 
lines to new process areas; construct growth media stockpiles; and 
reclaim the project consistent with the proposed reclamation plan.
    Under the No-Action Alternative the BLM would not approve the 
proposed plan of operations and there would be no expansion. HRDI would 
continue mining activities under previously approved plans of 
operation.
    A Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS for the Proposed Hycroft 
Mine Expansion was published in the Federal Register on January 27, 
2012. Seventy-nine comment letters were received during a 45-day 
period. The majority of the comments centered on the economic benefits 
of the project. There were five comment letters that included concerns 
on impacts to night skies, to public access roads, to water and air, to 
Native American sites and cultural resources, and on the proximity to 
the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon-Emigrant Trails National 
Conservation Area. These comments were considered and addressed in 
Chapter 8 (Public Involvement) of the Final EIS. No changes to the 
analysis resulted in response to public comments, only the addition of 
clarifying text or minor corrections.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10.

Gene Seidlitz,
District Manager.
[FR Doc. 2012-16565 Filed 7-5-12; 8:45 am]
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