[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 105 (Thursday, June 2, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-13437]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: June 2, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[NM-030-7122-03-8532]
Proposed Reestablishment of the Copper Flat Mine in Sierra
County, NM
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) and Notice of Scoping Meetings.
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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 re-establishment of the
Copper Flat open-pit copper mining project located approximately 5
miles northeast of Hillsboro in Sierra County, New Mexico. The proposed
Copper Flat Project would re-establish an open-pit copper mining
operation at a site that was developed and operated from April 1982 to
July 1982. All surface facilities were removed from the site in 1986
and a BLM-approved reclamation plan was implemented. The proposed
Copper Flat Project would resume mining operations at the site and
would reconstruct the associated processing facilities. The proposed
project would mine and process an average of 16,500 tons of ore per day
over a projected operating life of at least 10 years.
The public is invited to participate in the planning process.
Public scoping meetings will be held at the following times and
locations:
Time/Date and Location
7 p.m. June 22, 1994: Truth or Consequences Civic Center, 400 West
Forth Avenue, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
7 p.m. June 23, 1994: Hillsboro Community Center (in the old High
School Building), Hillsboro, New Mexico.
DATES: Written comments on the scoping process will be accepted through
July 5, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Russell Jentgen, Bureau of Land
Management, 1800 Marquess, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Russell Jentgen, BLM Las Cruces District Office, at (505) 525-4351.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Gold Express Corporation submitted a Plan of
Operations to BLM proposing to re-establish the Copper Flat Project in
1991. As required by NEPA, an Environmental Assessment (EA) was
prepared for the proposed Plan of Operations. Based on comments
received on the EA and BLM's evaluation of the environmental impacts
described in the EA, BLM notified Gold Express Corporation by letter
dated October 7, 1993, that an EIS would need to be prepared before the
BLM could approve the proposed Plan of Operations. Alta Gold Co. (Alta)
acquired an option to purchase the Copper Flat Project from Gold
Express Corporation in July 1993 and has exercised the option.
As proposed in the Plan of Operations, the project would be a
conventional open-pit mining operation with an average daily production
of 16,500 tons of ore. Ore would be crushed and processed on site to
produce a copper concentrate that would be transported off-site for
further processing. Waste rock and tailings produced by the proposed
project would be placed in disposal facilities located on site. Water
for mining and processing purposes would be provided from production
wells located approximately 8 miles east of the mine site. In addition,
ground water entering the pit would be pumped out to facilitate mining
operations. The project is expected to have a life of at least 10 years
and would employ approximately 150 people.
During the EA process, BLM identified four areas to be addressed in
the EIS: (1) Potential impacts to the ground water system from pumping
of the production wells; (2) potential impacts to the ground water
system from dewatering of the pit; (3) potential impacts on ground
water quality from placement of tailings in the tailings impoundment;
and, (4) potential impacts to surface and ground water quality from
drainage from the overburden and waste rock disposal areas. ELM is
soliciting comments on these and other issues and opportunities to be
addressed in the EIS.
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 process 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: May 25, 1994
Kathy Eaton,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 94-13437 Filed 6-1-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-FB-M
