Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 31 / Friday, February 14, 1997 / Notices 7035

[UT–060–05–3800–006, UTU–72499]

Notice of Availability of Final

Environmental Impact Statement for

SUMMO USA Corporation; Lisbon

Valley Open Pit Copper Mine in San

Juan County, UT

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Department of Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the final

environmental impact statement

prepared for SUMMO USA

Corporation’s Lisbon Valley Open Pit

Copper Mine in San Juan County, Utah.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 202 of the

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969, a Final Environmental Impact

Statement (FEIS) has been prepared,

under third party contract, by the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM),

Moab District Office. The FEIS has been

prepared to analyze impacts and

alternatives for SUMMO USA

Corporation’s proposed Lisbon Valley

Open Pit Copper Mine. The proposed

project would occur on 1103 acres of

federal, state, and private lands located

in San Juan County, Utah.

Copies of the FEIS can be obtained

from the Moab District Office at 82 East

Dogwood Avenue, Moab, Utah, or by

calling (801) 259–6111 and requesting a

copy of the document. Additionally,

copies of the FEIS will be distributed to

all attendees at the scoping meetings,

public meeting, and individuals,

agencies or companies that have

previously submitted comments or

requested to be placed on the mailing

list to receive a copy of the FEIS.

DATES: Following Federal Register

publication by the Environmental

Protection Agency of the Notice of

Availability of the FEIS, a 30 day review

period will be provided prior to

issuance of the Record of Decision. The

anticipated date of EPA Federal

Register publication is February 14,

1997. The Record of Decision would not

be issued until after the 30 day review

period is complete.

ADDRESSES: Request for copies of the

FEIS should be addressed to: Kate

Kitchell, Moab District Manager, Bureau

of Land Management, 82 East Dogwood

Avenue, Moab, Utah, 84532.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Lynn

Jackson, Project Coordinator, Moab

Field Office, Bureau of Land

Management, 82 East Dogwood Avenue,

Moab, Utah, 84532, (801) 259–6111.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FEIS

analyzes a proposal by SUMMO USA

Corporation of Denver, Colorado, to

develop an open pit copper mining and

heap leaching operation on 1103 acres

of private fee lands, state leases and

unpatented mining claims in south

Lisbon Valley, located approximately 18

miles southeast of LaSal, Utah, in San

Juan County, Utah.

The copper ore would be mined by

conventional open pit mining methods

from four open pits, encompassing 231

total acres, utilizing drilling, blasting

and ripping of the ore and associated

overburden. Approximately 93 million

cubic yards of overburden would be

removed and stockpiled in three waste

dumps encompassing 394 acres total.

Approximately 42 million cubic yards

of copper bearing ore would be mined

from the pits and hauled by truck to a

266 acre lined leach pad. The ore would

be crushed and stacked on the leach pad

to a height of 100 feet. The copper

would then be recovered by a heap

leaching method, utilizing low

concentrations of sulfuric acid trickled

through the stacked ore pad. The

leached copper solution would emanate

from the bottom of the leach pad, and

be recovered in lined ponds after

percolating through the stacked ore.

This recovered solution would be

further refined by standard solvent

extraction and electrowinning processes

located on-site.

The project is currently projected to

have a 10 year mining life. The facilities

are designed to mine an average of

16,500 tons of ore per day, to produce

17,000 tons of 99.99% pure copper

cathodes per year. SUMMO would

employ up to 143 people at one time

over the life of the project. The

construction workforce would be

approximately 80 people. Processing

would continue after mining ceases for

an additional one year.

To the extent possible, reclamation

would occur simultaneously with

mining. Final closure and reclamation

activities would take approximately 5

years. All waste dumps and the leach

pad would be reclaimed in place by

covering with a 12 inch layer of cover

soil and re-vegetating. The leach pad

would be rinsed with fresh water and

chemically treated to reduce residual

acidic levels in the stacked ore to

neutral pH levels prior to closure. The

231 area of open pits would remain.

Long-term monitoring of potential

groundwater impacts would occur for a

period of 25 years after mining

operations are completed. Summo has

proposed a reclamation bond of $8.6

million dollars. Provisions would also

require the posting of a long-term trust

bond commensurate with the long-term

monitoring requirements, to provide

financial assurances in the event longterm monitoring identifies adverse

impacts.

The FEIS analyzes environmental

impacts from SUMMO’s proposal, along

with four alternatives designed to

mitigate environmental impacts

associated with this project, as

identified during the scoping and public

comment process. These alternatives

are: (1) No Action, (2) Open Pit

Backfilling, (3) Facility Layout, and (4)

Waste Rock Selective Handling.

BLM’s Preferred Alternative is a

combination of the Facility Layout

Alternative and the Waste Rock

Selective Handling Alternative, which

in essence would allow the project to

proceed with modifications to the

layout of waste rock dumps to minimize

impacts to soils, sedimentation and

visual resources, along with selectively

handling potentially acid generating

waste rock in the waste dump piles to

eliminate to the extent possible the

potential for long-term acid generation

at the project site.

Dated: February 3, 1997.

Katherine Kitchell,

Moab District Manager.

[FR Doc. 97–3697 Filed 2–13–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–DQ–P

[AZ–910–0777–61–241A]

State of Arizona Resource Advisory

Council Meeting

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Arizona Resource Advisory

Council meeting, notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: This notice announces a

meeting of the Arizona Resource

Advisory Council. The meeting will be

held March 20, 1997, beginning at 8:30

a.m. in the 1A Conference Room at the

Bureau of Land Management Arizona

State Office, 222 North Central Avenue,

Phoenix, Arizona. The agenda items to

be covered at the one-day business

meeting include review of previous

meeting minutes; BLM State Director’s

Update on legislation, regulations and

statewide planning efforts; Update on

the Record of Decision of the Statewide

Plan Amendment for Arizona Standards

for Rangeland Health and Guidelines for

Grazing Management; and Reports by

the Recreation and Public Relations

Working Groups; Reports from RAC

members; RAC Discussion on future

meeting dates and locations. A public

comment period will take place at 11:30

a.m. March 20, 1997 for any interested

publics who wish to address the

Council.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Deborah Stevens or Ken Mahoney

Bureau of Land Management, Arizona