Notice of Intent; Nevada

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NV-010-1990-09]

Notice of Intent; Nevada

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement

(EIS) on a mining Plan of Operations for the Newmont/Barrick HD Venture

in Eureka County, Nevada; and notice of scoping period and public

meetings.

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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 Management

will be directing the preparation of an EIS to be prepared by a third-

party contractor on the impacts of a proposed Plan of Operations for

gold mining by the Newmont/Barrick HD Venture, in Eureka County,

Nevada. The Bureau invites comments on the scope of the analysis.

EFFECTIVE DATES: This notice initiates public scoping for the Leeville

EIS. A scoping meeting will be held August 20, 1997, at the Bureau of

Land Management, Elko Field Office, 3900 E. Idaho, Elko NV., to

identify issues and concerns to be addressed in the EIS. The meeting is

scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. and will continue until 9:00 p.m., if

necessary. Representatives of Newmont Gold Company (operating partner)

will be available to answer questions about the Plan of Operations.

Additional scoping meetings may be held as appropriate. Written

comments on the Plan of Operations and the scope of the EIS will be

accepted until September 2, 1997. A draft environmental impact

statement (DEIS) is expected to be completed by the spring of 1998 and

made available for public review and comment. At that time a notice of

availability of the DEIS will be published in the Federal Register. The

comment period on the DEIS will be 60 days from the date the notice of

availability is published.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scoping comments may be sent to:

District Manager, Bureau of Land Management, 3900 E. Idaho St., Elko,

NV 89801. ATTN: Leeville Project EIS Coordinator. For additional

information, write to the above address or call Deb McFarlane at (702)

753-0200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Newmont/Barrick HD Venture of Carlin,

Nevada has submitted a Plan of Operations to open the Leeville

underground mine, located about 20 miles northwest of the town of

Carlin. The mine and associated facilities would be located in portions

of sections 2, 3, 10, and 11 of T. 35 N., R. 50 E. A water pipeline is

proposed to be located in sections 5, 8, 10, 15, 16, 17, and 22 of T.

35 N., R. 50 E.; sections 1, 2, 3, and 12, of T. 35 N., R. 49 E., and

section 33 of T. 36 N., R. 49 E., MDM. The proposed Leeville mine would

consist of an underground mine which would develop three deposits and

would include surface support facilities, access and haul roads, waste

rock facility, stockpiles, powerlines, dewatering wells, pipelines, and

water treatment facilities. Proposed mining operations and dewatering

would last for approximately 18 years, through the year 2017.

Approximately 457 acres of public land and 39 acres of private land

would be disturbed.

The Leeville Project operations would require dewatering at pumping

rates of up to 35,000 gallons per minute for the life of the project.

Excess water would be discharged into the Humboldt River via a pipeline

proposed to connect with an existing dewatering discharge pipeline.

This project lies between Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc.'s Betze/Post

Mine and Newmont Gold Company's South Operations Area and would be

affected by both dewatering cones of depression.

The issues expected to be analyzed in the EIS include potential

impacts to ground water availability, wildlife, cultural resources, and

hazardous materials. Cumulative impacts will also be addressed. In

addition, the following resources will be analyzed: recreation and

wilderness, geology, paleontology, air quality, soils, vegetation,

range management, lands and realty, visual resources, land use

planning, and social and economic values. The analysis will be

conducted by an interdisciplinary team.

A range of alternatives (including but not limited to alternative

reclamation measures and the no-action alternative) will be developed

to address the issues. Mitigating measures will be considered to

minimize environmental impacts and to assure that the proposed action

does not result in undue or unnecessary degradation of public lands.

Federal,

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state and local agencies and other individuals or organizations who may

be interested in or affected by the Bureau's decision on the Leeville

Project Plan of Operations are invited to participate in the scoping

process with respect to this EIS. These entities and individuals are

also invited to submit comments on the DEIS. It is important that those

interested in the Leeville Project Plan of Operations participate in

the scoping and commenting process. Comments should be as specific as

possible. The tentative project schedule is as follows:

Public Comment Period--August 1 through September 2, 1997.

Issuance of Draft Environmental Impact Statement--Spring of 1998.

File Final Environmental Impact Statement--Autumn of 1998.

Record of Decision--Autumn of 1998.

Begin Permitted Operation--Winter of 1998/1999.

The Bureau of Land Management's scoping process for the EIS will

include: (1) Identification of issues to be addressed; (2)

Identification of viable alternatives; (3) Notification of interested

groups, individuals and agencies so that additional information

concerning these issues, or other additional issues, can be obtained.

Dated: July 24, 1997.

David Stout,

Acting District Manager.

[FR Doc. 97-20289 Filed 7-31-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-HC-P