Intent To Prepare Environmental Impact Statement

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Intent To Prepare Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Managment, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement

(EIS) for a mining Plan of Operations (POO) for the Kinross-Goldbanks

Mine project, Pershing County, Nevada; and notice of scoping period and

public meeting.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969 and 43 CFR part 3809, the Bureau of Land Managment

(BLM) will be directing the preparation of an EIS for the proposed

development of a mine in Pershing County, Nevada. The EIS will be

prepared by contract and funded by Kinross-Goldbanks Mining Company

(KGMC). A public meeting will be held to identify issues to be

addressed in the EIS, and to encourage public participation in the

review process. Representatives of the BLM and KGMC will be summarizing

the POO and accepting comments from the audience. The BLM invites

comments and suggestions on the scope of the analysis.

DATES: The scoping meeting will be held Wednesday, December 4, 1996 at

the office of the Winnemucca District BLM, from 7-9 p.m. Written

comments on the POO and scope of the EIS will be accepted until

December 16, 1996. The Draft EIS is expected to be completed by July of

1997, at which time the document will be made available for public

review and comment.

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ADDRESSES: Scoping comments may be sent to: District Manager,

Winnemucca District Office BLM, 5100 E. Winnemucca Blvd., Winnemucca,

NV 89445, Attn: Ken Loda, Project NEPA Coordinator.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken Loda, Winnemucca District Office

BLM, 5100 E. Winnemucca Blvd., Winnemucca, NV 89445, phone (702) 623-

1500.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Kinross-Goldbanks Mining Company of

Winnemucca, Nevada, has submitted to the Winnemucca District Office of

the BLM a POO for development of the Goldbanks Mine. This is a precious

metals project located in Pershing County, approximately thirty miles

south of Winnemucca, Nevada. The project site is located in the

Goldbanks Hills on the east flank of the East Range. The project will

ultimately consist of two separate mining areas and associated waste

rock dumps, and a heap leach process area, various ancillary

facilities, and two access roads. The total project area encompasses

approximately 16,208 acres of BLM-administered public land and 160

acres of fee land. Approximately 2,761 acres of public land will be

disturbed by the proposed action. During the eleven year production

life 85,583,000 tons of ore and 261,252,000 tons of overburden and

interburden will be mined.

Operations are scheduled to begin the spring of 1998. The Goldbanks

Project will consist of two open pits and two rock waste rock dumps, a

crushing facility and leach pad, a class III landfill site,

bioremediation area, an office, laboratory and truck shop/warehouse

facility, roads, power lines and water lines to support the operation.

An existing road right-of-way to the project area has previously been

obtained from the BLM. All proposed activities are planned on public

land administered by the BLM. At present the only currently permitted

activities are exploration drilling.

Reclamation of the facilities will include detoxification of the

heap leach facility, grading of the waste rock dumps and heap leach

facility, removal of all buildings and facilities followed by topsoil

replacement and revegetation. The Main Zone pit will not be backfilled

but a berm will be constructed following mining. The KW pit may be

backfilled to near natural ground level, or may be left unfilled.

This EIS will address the issues of geology, minerals, soils, water

resources, vegetation, wildlife, grazing management, air quality,

aesthetic resources, cultural resources, ethnographic concerns,

paleontological resources, land use, access, recreation, social and

economic values related to project development.

Federal, state, and local agencies and other individuals or

organizations who may be interested in or affected by the BLM's

decision on the POO are invited to participate in the scoping process.

The Authorized Officer will respond to public input and comment as part

of the final EIS. The decision regarding the proposal will be recorded

as a Record of Decision, which is subject to appeal under 43 CFR part

4.

Dated: October 18, 1996.

Colin P. Christensen,

Acting District Manager, Winnemucca.

[FR Doc. 96-28019 Filed 10-31-96; 8:45 am]

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