Proposed Reestablishment of the Little Rock Mine in Grant County, New Mexico

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NM-030-7122-03-8534]

Proposed Reestablishment of the Little Rock Mine in Grant County,

New Mexico

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement

(EIS) and notice of scoping meeting.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management

(BLM), Las Cruces District Office, will be directing the preparation of

an EIS to be prepared by a third party contractor. The EIS will

describe the potential impacts of the proposed reestablishment of the

Little Rock open-pit copper mining project located approximately 10

miles southwest of Silver City in Grant County, New Mexico. The

proposed Little Rock Project would reestablish an open-pit copper

mining operation at a site that was developed and operated sporadically

between the 1950' and 1972. The proposed Little Rock Project would

resume mining operations at the site and would have a projected

operating life of between 2 and 4 years.

The public is invited to participate in the planning process. A

public scoping meeting will be held at the following time and location:

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Time/Date Location

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7:00 p.m., Western New Mexico University, Light Hall Building,

Jan. 5, 1995.... College Avenue (no street address), Silver City, New

Mexico.

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DATES: Written comments on the scoping process will be accepted through

January 17, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Juan Padilla, Bureau of Land

Management, 1800 Marquess, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Juan Padilla, BLM Las Cruces District

Office, at (505) 525-4376.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1993, Phelps Dodge Mining Company

submitted a Plan of Operations (POO) to reestablish mining activities

at the Little Rock mine. Since it was indicated by the BLM that the

preparation of an EIS would likely be required, no Environmental

Assessment (EA) was done. Instead, Phelps Dodge agreed to proceed in

preparing an EIS and completed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between

themselves, the BLM, and the United States Forest Service (USFS)

outlining the responsibilities of each party to the agreement.

Phelps Dodge and the current owner, MM Holdings of San Jose,

California, have entered into a lease-purchase agreement whereby Phelps

Dodge has an option to purchase the Little Rock property pending a

successful effort on its part to obtain the necessary environmental and

operating permits and approvals.

The Little Rock mine is a small oxide copper deposit located

approximately 1 mile west of the existing Phelps Dodge mining operation

at Tyrone, New Mexico. It has operated sporadically, most recently

between 1970 and 1972, producing copper via leaching and subsequent

copper cementation.

As proposed in the POO, the project would be a conventional open-

pit mining operation with a daily production rate of as high as 160,000

tons for a period of between 2 and 4 years. No processing or waste

disposal facilities are planned for the project area. All material

mined will be transported to the existing Tyrone mine facilities via a

haul road to be constructed from the Tyrone mine to the project site.

Overburden or other inert, non-mineralized materials will be

transported to the existing Tyrone tailing dams for use as cover

material for tailing dam closure or stockpiled for reclamation of the

site. All leachable material will be processed at existing permitted

processing sites at the Tyrone mine. All solid wastes generated at the

Little Rock mine will be transported to and disposed of at existing

permitted facilities at the Tyrone mine.

No permanent facilities will be constructed for the operations

proposed under this Plan, with the possible exception of dewatering

facilities if required by the New Mexico State Engineer or the New

Mexico Environment Department. Minimal associated facilities specific

to future mining of this site will be required and will consist of a

temporary office trailer, a dewatering system, a water pipeline and

fill station to provide water for dust suppression, a 46kV power

distribution system, and a fuel dock. All these facilities will be

transported or aligned along the proposed haul road or existing routes

and will be removed upon completion of mining.

All mine overburden (waste) will be hauled off-site to be

stockpiled on private property on top of existing, permitted Phelps

Dodge tailing piles located northeast of the site. All suitable leach

material mined from the site will be hauled to existing, permitted

leach facilities on Phelps Dodge property. Existing leach and waste

stockpiles from prior mining activities on the site would also be

removed to these sites or remediated in-place, as required.

Remaining waste products from the mining operations will be

negligible since maintenance, office, and managerial functions will be

located at the Tyrone mine. The Little Rock mine and associated

facilities will be provided with trash dumpsters and will utilize the

existing Tyrone solid waste landfill.

Reclamation of some items (e.g., removal of existing foundations,

stockpiles and trash) would be done prior to, or concurrent with,

mining activities. All existing debris would be transferred to the

Tyrone mine for recycling or disposal. All non-recyclable materials

will be disposed of at Tyrone's existing solid waste landfill.

Reclamation of the majority of the site will follow mining to allow

final limits of disturbance to be determined.

The EIS will address issues of geology and minerals, soils, water

resources, vegetation, wildlife, range management, air quality, visual

resources, reclamation, land use, access, recreation, wilderness,

cultural resources, social and economic values, transportation and

noise.

The BLM has identified the following potentially significant

impacts as requiring additional analysis: The quality and quantity of

post-mining water generated by the open pit; the effect on surface

water quality and riparian areas of the proposed haul road to the

Little Rock site; and the effect on surface water quality and riparian

areas of the proposed diversion of California Gulch around the Little

Rock site.

Because these issues were determined to require special

investigation, it is anticipated that the majority of work for other

resources will be limited to summarizing and incorporating by reference

data and analyses from existing environmental studies as prescribed in

40 CFR 1500.4 and 1500.5. Additional investigation may be indicated for

other resources after review of existing data and comments received

during the scoping process.

BLM's scoping process for the EIS will include: (1) Identification

of issues to be addressed; (2) identification of viable alternatives;

and (3) notifying interested groups, individuals, and agencies so that

additional information concerning these issues can be obtained. The

scoping will consist of a news release announcing the start of the EIS

process; letters of invitation to participate in the scoping process;

and a scoping document which further clarifies the proposed action and

significant issues being considered to be distributed to those on the

mailing list and available upon request.

Dated: December 7, 1994.

Linda S.C. Rundell,

District Manager, Las Cruces.

[FR Doc. 94-30536 Filed 12-12-94; 8:45 am]