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Newmont’s Long Canyon will clear a major bureaucratic hurdle next week in a series of public meetings in Wendover, Wells and Elko.
Mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) the hearings are part of the permitting process that must be cleared before construction can begin.
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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.
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.
Newmont executives best guess as to when construction on the Long Canyon Mine would begin is early 2015.
While the tentative date is anything but set in stone, any date especially coming from the venerable Newmont is a pretty good bet.
Literally a mountain of gold ore lies in the once long over looked Pequop Range now in advanced exploration.
Estimated to need 500 workers during construction and 250 miners once operations are ready, the Long Canyon mine could add at least 1,000 people to the area and that may be just the tip of a gold boom in eastern Elko County.
The Newmont mining operation could eventually be one of several in the Pequops. Just this week West Kirkland Mining announced the commencement of drilling on its Long Canyon Trend properties. Approximately 2,500 meters of initial drilling will be completed by September on the 12 Mile and Toana showings. The drilling will test new gold mineralization found at surface that is associated with the key stratigraphic contacts of the Long Canyon Trend.
Six drill pads have now been built on the 12 Mile showing. Targets at 12 Mile were developed by mapping and sampling by the Company. Gold mineralization has been noted to occur in the same stratigraphic position as the TUG deposit, located 10 kilometers to the east.
In addition to the Pequops activity the Kinsley Mountain Property is also be explored. Located in extreme eastern Nevada in Elko Co. between the towns of Ely and Wendover. Other exploration in the area is also heating up including the old Victoria Mine near Currie.
