[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 105 (Monday, June 2, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 29736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-14222]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
Notice
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) and the County of Kern, State of California have prepared a Draft
Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the
Soledad Mountain Project, a proposed gold mining operation on public
and private lands in Kern County, California.
DATES: Comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental
Impact Statement must be postmarked no later than July 15, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to Bureau of Land
Management, Ridgecrest Resource Area, 300 S. Richmond Road, Ridgecrest,
California 93555, Attention: Ahmed Mohsen, EIS Coordinator.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ahmed Mohsen-EIS Coordinator (760)
385-5421.
PUBLIC MEETINGS: Public meetings are planned for:
Date: Tues. June 24, 1997.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Halsey Auditorium, Rosamond Elementary School, 1981 Rosamond
Boulevard, Rosamond, California.
Date: Wed. June 25, 1997.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Mojave Elementary School Auditorium, Mojave Elementary
School, 15800 ``O'' Street, Mojave, California.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The purpose of the Draft EIR/EIS is to present BLM and Kern
County's comparative analysis of the impacts of the Proposed Action and
Alternatives on the physical, biological, social and economic resources
of the area. The Proposed Action is a mining proposal to extract
minerals from the subsurface, process the ore using chemical leaching
methods and place the waste rock adjacent to the processing and mining
areas. Alternatives to the Proposed Action include variations on the
duration and placement of waste rock. After careful consideration of
the impacts of the Proposed Action and all the alternatives, BLM has
identified a Preferred Action in response to regulatory requirements,
issues raised, resources present, impact analysis results and the
effectiveness of mitigation and reclamation measures.
A public scoping process was initiated by the BLM and Kern County
to identify issues and concerns relating to the proposed mining
operation and assist the lead agencies in formulating alternatives to
the Proposed Action. The scoping process was designed to provide an
opportunity for receipt of verbal and written comments from the public
organizations and government agencies. This was achieved through two
public meetings, newspaper publications, Federal Register notice and
notice of preparation of an EIR/EIS, Project description, resource
inventories and public meeting proceedings were made available on the
world wide web. Site can be reached with the following address:
http:www.ca.blm.gov/GoldenQueen.
The project area includes approximately 1,690 acres of which 1,219
acres are privately owned land and 471 acres are unpatented mining
claims on public lands administered by the BLM. The proposed surface
disturbance is 930 acres of which 735 acres are on private land and 195
acres are on public land.
Five alternatives to the Proposed Action are analyzed in detail:
(1) No Action, (2) Increased Mining and Processing Rate, (3) Decreased
Mining and Processing Rate, (4) Reduced Project Size, and (5) Partial
Backfilling.
Lee Delaney,
Area Manager.
[FR Doc. 97-14222 Filed 5-30-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1990-01-M
