[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 30 (Friday, February 13, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8107-8108]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02950]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNVL01000. L51100000.GN0000.LVEMF1402520. 241A.14X; MO#4500069499]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Gold Rock Mine Project, White Pine County, NV

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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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 (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Egan 
Field Office, Ely, Nevada has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (Draft EIS) for the proposed Gold Rock Mine Project in White 
Pine County, NV, and by this notice is announcing the opening of the 
public comment period on the Draft EIS.

DATES: To ensure comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the Draft EIS within 45 days following the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of Availability in 
the Federal Register. The BLM will announce any public meetings or 
other public involvement activities at least 15 days in advance through 
public notices, media releases, and/or mailings.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Gold Rock Mine 
Project by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://on.doi.gov/1zAxyW9.
     fax: 775-289-1910.
     mail: BLM Ely District, Egan Field Office, HC 33 Box 
33500, Ely, NV 89301-9408.
    Copies of the Draft EIS are available in the Egan Field Office at 
the above address and on the Ely District's Web page at http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/ely_field_office/blm_programs/minerals/mining_projects/gold_rock_project.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact Dan 
Netcher, Project Manager, telephone 775-289-1872; address BLM Ely 
District, Egan Field Office, HC 33 Box 33500, Ely, NV 89301-9408; 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: 
    Midway Gold US Inc. (Midway) proposes to construct and operate an 
open-pit gold mining operation on the eastern side of the Pancake 
Mountain Range, approximately 50 miles west of Ely in White Pine 
County, Nevada. The proposed location is 15 miles south of U.S. Route 
50 near Newark Valley and the northern Railroad Valley, in the same 
geographic area as the reclaimed and closed Easy Junior Mine. Midway 
submitted the Gold Rock Mine Project Plan of Operations on March 21, 
2013. The BLM's approval of the mine plan as proposed (the Proposed 
Action) would authorize approximately 3,946 acres of disturbance on 
land administered by the BLM. Under the Proposed Action, the proposed 
operations and associated disturbance would include a proposed power 
line extending south from the Pan Mine to the west side of the proposed 
Gold Rock Mine Project site. Also under the Proposed Action, a county 
road that currently passes through the Gold Rock Mine Project area 
would be re-located onto existing and new BLM and county roads. An 
updated inventory of lands with wilderness characteristics was 
completed and found no lands with wilderness characteristics in the 
project area.
    The projected life of the project is 48 years: 10 years of mining 
and additional time for associated construction, reclamation, closure, 
and post-closure monitoring periods. Midway is currently conducting 
exploration activities in the project area; which activities were 
analyzed in two separate environmental assessments (EAs): The Midway 
Gold Rock Project Final Environmental Assessment (June 2012), and the 
Environmental Assessment for the Midway Gold Rock Project, Exploration 
Amendment (October 2012).
    On September 5, 2013, a Notice of Intent (NOI) was published in the 
Federal Register inviting scoping comments on the Proposed Action. A 
legal notice was prepared by the BLM and published in the Ely Times, 
the Eureka Sentinel, the High Desert Advocate, and the Reno Gazette-
Journal informing the public of the BLM's intention to prepare the Gold 
Rock Mine EIS. Public scoping meetings were held in September 2013 in 
Ely, Eureka, and Reno, Nevada. On November 7, 2013, the BLM learned 
that the email account set up to receive scoping comments on the Gold 
Rock Mine Project EIS, along with all of its contents, had disappeared 
during the first week of October 2013 and was not recoverable. On March 
28, 2014, the BLM published a second Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS 
in the Federal Register, extending the scoping period for another 30-
day public input period, inviting the public to submit comments, and 
requesting that anyone who submitted scoping comments by email during 
the initial 30-day scoping period (September 5, 2013, through October 
7, 2013) resubmit their comments by mail, by fax, or through the 
ePlanning system during this 30-day extension of the public input 
period. No changes were made to the Proposed Action. No scoping 
meetings were held during this 30-day extension of the public input 
period, as these meetings were not affected by the technical 
difficulties with the email account. In total, 60 comment documents 
were received during scoping. The comments were incorporated in a 
Scoping Summary Report and were considered in the preparation of this 
Draft EIS.
    Concerns raised during scoping include: Positive and negative 
socioeconomic impacts on the communities of Ely and Eureka, and to 
White Pine County; changes to the quantity and quality of surface water 
and groundwater; potential occurrence of acid drainage from waste rock 
disposal areas into surface or groundwater; impacts to soils through 
reduced infiltration or increased erosion; potential occurrence of a 
release of pollutants and hazardous materials to the environment during 
operations or following closure; impacts to wild horses and their 
habitat; impacts to vegetation communities, and vegetative food 
resources for wildlife; short- and long-term impacts on wildlife 
population dynamics and habitats; potential impacts to population and 
habitat of greater sage-grouse; potential impacts to Native American 
traditional and religious values regarding greater sage-grouse, 
antelope traps and geologic and mineral resources; impacts to air 
quality through point (equipment) and non-point (site roads and 
facilities) pollution sources; potential impacts to

[[Page 8108]]

public health and safety resulting from increased traffic; impacts to 
general health of the rangeland resources; increase in light pollution 
in the area and direct visual impacts from mine facilities; potential 
impacts to cultural resource sites listed on or eligible for the 
National Register of Historic Places if they exist in or near the 
project area; and cumulative impacts to wildlife, wild horses, 
cultural, air, water, and vegetation resources, pine nut gathering, and 
Native American traditional and religious values.
    The Draft EIS describes and analyzes the proposed project's site-
specific impacts (including cumulative impacts) on all affected 
resources. The Proposed Action, six action alternatives, and the No 
Action Alternative were analyzed. Five of the six action alternatives 
were developed to help reduce impacts to greater sage-grouse: Two power 
line route alternatives, two main access route alternatives, and one 
county road re-route alternative. One tailings storage facility 
location alternative was also considered to minimize impacts to mule 
deer crucial winter range. Mitigation measures have also been 
identified to show how impacts on resources could be minimized.
    The BLM has prepared the Draft EIS in conjunction with its four 
Cooperating Agencies: The Duckwater Shoshone Tribe, Eureka County Board 
of Commissioners, the Nevada Department of Wildlife, and the White Pine 
County Board of County Commissioners.
    Please note that public comments and information submitted 
including names, street addresses, and email addresses of persons who 
submit comments will be available for public review and disclosure at 
the above address during regular business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:00 
p.m.), Monday through Friday, except holidays.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6; 40 CFR 1506.10

Jill A. Moore,
Egan Field Office Manager.
[FR Doc. 2015-02950 Filed 2-12-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-HC-P