An old mine could breath new life to White Pine County’s economy if it survives a series of public meetings next week.
According to a public notice published in the High Desert Advocate three public scoping hearings, one each in Ely, Eureka and Reno will be held next week.
According to BLM project manager Dan Netcher the proposed Gold Rock Mine located on the old Easy Junior Mine 50 miles west of Ely. It will employ some 500 workers in its combined construction and extraction phases
The life of the mine is initially projected to last a decade.
“Mine life is always hard to predict,” Netcher added. “A lot depends on the price of gold and of course how much gold is found.”
When mining first began on the Carlin Trend in the 1960’s, for example, it was then predicted that the ore would last some 15 or 20 years. Almost 50 years later the mines are still going strong as the deposits continue to confound experts.
The Easy Junior mine operated for just to years Netcher said and closed when the gold boom of the 1990’s went bust near the turn of the millennia.
Mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) the hearings are part of the permitting process that must be cleared before construction can begin.
The meeting will begin with a brief overview of the project and then the floor is turned over to comments or question from the audience. Those comments and/or questions are recorded and will appear in the project’s environmental Impact Statement or Environmental Assessment, a study that is paid for by Newmont but prepared by the federal government.
Apart from addressing local resident concerns and questions these scoping hearings give both federal officials as well as the mining company a first taste to what they can expect from the environmental lobby.
Although universally popular locally any large mining project runs the risk of meeting strong opposition from environmental groups that could either lengthen the permitting process or kill the project altogether.
There is also a small but very vocal new environmental group in Ely created over concerns over oil exploration in White Pine County.
Once through the regulatory and permitting process work at the mine site could begin as early as late 2014 or early 2015 which is also the time the Long Canyon mine located between Wendover and Wells in the Pequops Mountains is also expected to beginning construction.
Environmental concerns for both projects are however considered minimal. The open pit of the gold Rock Mine is to be built on the open pit of the Easy Junior and the Long Canyon however appears to be almost free and clear or any concerted green opposition. The Nevada Sierra Club was barely aware of the project as was its sister organization in Utah.
One of the reason for this lack of interest may imply be the fact that Long Canyon is in the sweetest of sweet spots of any mine in recent history.
In addition to being having ‘smoking hot’ ore the area is a stones throw from Interstate 80, has no endangered species living anywhere near it and does not have any significant archeological sites located on it.
The Meeting Dates/Times/Locations are as follows
Tuesday, Sept. 24, Ely, Nevada 4 pm – 7 pm Bristlecone Convention Center
Wednesday, Sept. 25, Eureka, Nevada 4 pm – 7 pm Eureka Opera House
Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013 Reno, Nevada 4 pm – 7 pm Best Western Airport Plaza
Additional information is available online at: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/ely_field_office.html
You may also contact Dan Netcher, BLM Project Manager, at 775-289-1872 or dnetcher@blm.gov