[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 198 (Friday, October 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62256-62257]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-25182]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNVB01000 L51100000.GN0000.LVEMF12CF010 241A; NVN-082096; NVN-084632; 
NVN-091272; 12-08807; MO 4500039779; TAS: 14X5017]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Mount Hope Project, Eureka County, NE

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 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as 
amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Mount Lewis Field Office, 
Battle Mountain, Nevada has prepared a Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the Mount Hope Project 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 from the date that the Environmental Protection 
Agency publishes its notice in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Mount Hope Project Final EIS are available at 
the Battle Mountain District Office, 50 Bastian Road, Battle Mountain, 
Nevada, during regular business hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except holidays. Interested persons may also review the 
Final EIS on the Internet at: www.blm.gov/nvst/en/fo/battle_mountain_field.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact Gloria 
Tibbetts, Planning and Environmental Coordinator, telephone: 775-635-
4060; address: 50 Bastian Road, Battle Mountain, Nevada 89820; 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: Eureka Moly, LLC (EML) has submitted a Plan 
of Operations (NVN-082096) to the BLM Mount Lewis Field Office for the 
proposed Mount Hope Molybdenum Mining Project. The proposed project 
would be located in central Nevada approximately 23 miles northwest of 
Eureka, Nevada. The project is a proposed molybdenum mine and includes 
a power transmission line, a water well field, and all associated mine-
processing facilities. The project is to be located on both public and 
private lands in Eureka County, Nevada, and is expected to have a mine 
life of 80 years. The surface disturbance associated with the proposed 
activities totals 8,092 acres of public land and 263 acres of private 
land located within the 22,886-acre project area. The project proposal 
is to extract molybdenite from public lands where EML holds mining 
claims and private land to the optimal extent possible. After 
extraction, EML would reclaim the project area in a manner that is 
environmentally responsible and in compliance with Federal mining laws, 
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), Nevada Mine 
Reclamation Law, and other applicable laws and regulations. The BLM, in 
accordance with the FLPMA, is to respond to the applicant's Plan of 
Operations to conduct mining under the General Mining Law.
    The Final EIS describes and analyzes the project's site-specific 
impacts (including cumulative) on all affected resources. Four action 
alternatives including: (1) The Proposed Action, (2) Partial Backfill 
Alternative, (3) Off-Site Transfer of Ore Concentrate for Processing 
Alternative, and (4) Slower, Longer Project Alternative, were analyzed 
in addition to the No Action Alternative.
    The Proposed Action would consist of an open pit mine with 
associated pit dewatering, a 230-kilovolt transmission line, a water 
well field, and ancillary mining facilities, including a molybdenite 
concentrate roaster and packaging plant and a ferromolybdenum plant for 
production of ferromolybdenum alloy. The project

[[Page 62257]]

would have an 18- to 24-month construction phase, 44 years of mining 
and ore processing, 30 years of reclamation, and 5 years of monitoring. 
Approximately 400 potential jobs would be provided in the area for this 
timeframe with a peak employment of 615 personnel during construction 
activities. The project is consistent with the Shoshone-Eureka Resource 
Area Management Plan and does not impact any areas with special 
designations.
    The Partial Backfill Alternative would be essentially similar to 
the Proposed Action except that the open pit would be partially 
backfilled at the end of mining to eliminate the potential for a pit 
lake to form.
    The Off-Site Transfer of Ore Concentrate for Processing Alternative 
would also be similar to the Proposed Action except that the ore 
processing facilities would include only milling operations and 
production of the molybdenum sulfide concentrate.
    The Slower, Longer Project Alternative would have the same 
components as the Proposed Action, but operations would be conducted at 
approximately one-half the production rate of the Proposed Action, 
which would result in a project that would last approximately twice as 
long. The BLM analyzed this alternative in detail based on a request 
from Eureka County, a Cooperating Agency on the EIS.
    Mitigation measures have been identified for multiple resources 
under each alternative to minimize potential environmental impacts and 
to assure that the proposed project would not result in undue or 
unnecessary degradation of public lands. Eight additional alternatives 
were considered and rationale for their elimination from detailed 
analysis is discussed. These alternatives include (1) Complete 
Backfilling Alternative, (2) Different Waste Rock Disposal Facility 
Heights Alternative, (3) Increased Ore Processing to Match the Mining 
Schedule Alternative, (4) Decreased Mining to Match the Ore Processing 
Schedule Alternative, (5) Reduced Project Alternative, (6) Different 
Facility Locations within the Project Area Alternative, (7) Different 
Powerline Alternative, and (8) Different Potentially Acid Generating 
Waste Rock Management Alternative. Based on the analysis in the Final 
EIS, the BLM has determined that the Preferred Alternative is the 
Proposed Action, with accompanying mitigation measures.
    On March 2, 2007, a Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS was 
published in the Federal Register (72 FR 9579) inviting scoping 
comments on the proposed action. Public scoping meetings for the 
project were held on March 27 and 28, 2007 in Eureka and Battle 
Mountain, Nevada. Six written comments were received via mail and/or 
email during the scoping period and three additional letters were 
received after the closure of the formal scoping period. All comments 
that were received have been incorporated in a Scoping Summary Report 
and were considered in the preparation of this Final EIS. On December 
2, 2011 a Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS was published in the 
Federal Register (76 FR 75554) on the Draft EIS to the public for a 90-
day comment period. Two public comment meetings were held on January 18 
and 19, 2012 in Eureka and Crescent Valley, Nevada.
    More than 1,900 comments were received from 941 separate parties. 
Comments primarily pertained to potential impacts from the groundwater 
drawdown, socioeconomic impacts to the local communities, and impacts 
to wildlife and other natural resources. All of these comments were 
considered and are addressed in Appendix H of the Final EIS. Some 
additional analysis and clarifying text was included in the Final EIS 
as a result of the comments.

    Authority:  40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10.

Christopher J. Cook,
Mount Lewis Field Manager.
[FR Doc. 2012-25182 Filed 10-11-12; 8:45 am]
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