Above the federal government shut down closed the Great Basin National Park and stopped the development of the former
Easy Junior Mine, below.
The federal government shutdown could not have come at a worst time for a new proposed mine in White Pine County.
“Right now everything is on hold,” said Gold Rock Mine project scientist Elizabeth Duvall. “ We were in the middle of the comment period and we can’t proceed until it is over.”
The old mine could breath new life to White Pine County’s economy.
According to a public notice published in the High Desert Advocate three public scoping hearings, one each in Ely, Eureka and Reno were held last month. Mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) the hearings are part of the permitting process that must be cleared before construction can begin.
After the hearings interested parties were invited by the BLM to send comments either for or against the mine and it is this comment period that has been interrupted by the Federal government shutdown.
Previously BLM project manager Dan Netcher said the proposed Gold Rock Mine would be 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.
Comments and/or questions about the new/old mine are recorded and will appear in the project’s environmental Impact Statement or Environmental Assessment, a study that is paid for by the mining company Midway Gold but prepared by the federal government.
Before the government shut down the mine was expected to sail though the comment period.
With over a century of experience, large scale mining projects even on virgin ground are almost universally popular in rural Nevada. Coupled with the fact that Gold Rock will merely expand what is already an open pit mine, it is difficult to imagine even the most hard boiled environmentalist to work up much enthusiasm opposing it.
However with the BLM on furlough, the permitting process will be stopped until Washington decides to get back to work.
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.
Apart from delaying the mine the federal shutdown also closed Great Basin National Park.
“This government shut down is stupid. What is the point? It is costing us more money to shut things down than it would to keep the government running. This is not smart. We have had a number of cancellation at the Border(Inn), for motel rooms, because of the Great Basin National park being closed.,” wrote owner Gary Perea. “The Great Basin National Park is a big reason we have been able to expand at the Border. Not the only reason, but a big one. Since becoming a National Park visitation has increased between 30,000 to 40,000 a year. That is a lot of people. The Park closing down this time of the year, is really going to hurt us. We have many people that come from Central Utah to see the Caves and the Fall colors. It is unfortunate that they may not be able to do that this year.”