80918 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 193 / Friday, October 4, 2024 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[BLM_NV_FRN_MO4500181594] 

Notice of Availability of the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

Nevada Gold Mines LLC Robertson 

Mine Project, Lander County, NV 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA), as amended, and the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

announces the availability of the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for Nevada Gold Mines LLC (NGM) 

Robertson Mine Project. 

DATES: The BLM will not issue a 

decision on the proposal for a minimum 

of 30 days after the date that the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

publishes its Notice of Availability 

(NOA) in the Federal Register. The EPA 

usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays. 

ADDRESSES: The Final EIS and 

documents pertinent to this proposal are 

available for review on the BLM 

National NEPA Register website at 

https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/ 

project/2023088/510. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff 

Kirkwood, Project Manager, telephone: 

(775) 635–4164; address: 50 Bastian 

Road, Battle Mountain, Nevada 89820; 

email: BLM_NV_BMDO_Robertson@

blm.gov. Individuals in the United 

States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of 

hearing, or have a speech disability may 

dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to 

access telecommunication relay services 

for contacting Mr. Kirkwood. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for the Proposed 

Action 

The BLM’s purpose for the action is 

to respond to NGM’s proposal, as 

described in its proposed plan of 

operations, and to analyze the potential 

environmental effects associated with 

the proposed action, which is the 

operator’s proposed plan of operations, 

and alternatives to the proposed action. 

NEPA mandates that the BLM evaluate 

the potential effects of the proposed 

action and develop alternatives. The 

BLM’s need for the action is established 

by the BLM’s responsibilities under 

Section 302 of FLPMA and the BLM 

Surface Management Regulations at 43 

CFR subpart 3809 to respond to a 

proposed plan of operations and ensure 

that operations prevent unnecessary or 

undue degradation of the public lands. 

Proposed Action and Alternatives 

Under the proposed plan of 

operations, NGM would construct, 

operate, close, and reclaim a new 

surface mine within the Shoshone 

Range approximately 58 miles southeast 

of Battle Mountain, Nevada, and 70 

miles southwest of Elko, Nevada. The 

proposed action would result in changes 

to the authorized Robertson Exploration 

Plan boundary (NVN–067688), the 

Cortez Mine Plan boundary (NVN– 

67575), and the Pipeline-South 

Pipeline-Gold Acres Exploration Plan 

boundary (NVN–067261). If the 

Robertson Mine Project Plan is 

approved, these authorized plans would 

be modified subsequent to that 

approval. 

The boundary of the proposed plan of 

operations would encompass 5,990 

acres. The total disturbance associated 

with the proposed action, including 

existing, reclassified, and exploration, 

would be 4,356 acres, with 4,177 acres 

on land administered by the BLM and 

179 acres on private land. The proposed 

surface mining activities for the 

Robertson Mine would include: three 

open pits (Gold Pan, Porphyry, and 

Altenburg Hill); haul roads; a waste rock 

facility; a heap leach facility, including 

a lined pad, process solution ponds and 

vaults, and carbon-in-column plant; and 

ancillary facilities, including three-stage 

crushing with associated conveyors; ore 

stockpiles; growth media stockpiles; a 

gravel borrow source; secondary roads; 

stormwater controls and diversions; a 

truck scale; power lines and electrical 

substations; water production, 

dewatering, and monitoring wells; water 

pipelines and loadouts; ready lines; fuel 

and reagent storage; fueling facilities; 

laydown yards; an assay laboratory; 

trailers; buildings; and communications 

sites. Shared facilities with the nearby 

Cortez Mine would include but not be 

limited to the haul road, a potable water 

well, water pipelines, warehouse and 

maintenance shops, hazardous waste 

storage, a petroleum-contaminated soils 

facility, ore stockpiles, the Pipeline 

Mill, carbon handling, a refinery, a 

laboratory, and the Pipeline Area 28 

tailings storage facility. 

The Partial Backfill Alternative would 

be the same as described for the 

proposed action, with the requirement 

that the Gold Pan Pit would be 

backfilled to prevent the establishment 

of a post-mining pit lake. 

Under the No Action Alternative, the 

development of the Robertson Mine 

Project would not be authorized and 

NGM would not construct, operate, 

close, and reclaim a new surface mine. 

Modifications to the Exploration Plan 

boundary, the Cortez Mine Plan 

boundary, and the Pipeline-South 

Pipeline-Gold Acres Exploration Plan 

boundary would not occur. 

Based on the analyses contained in 

the EIS for the proposed Robertson Mine 

Project, and after carefully considering 

input received from the public and 

cooperating agencies, the BLM has 

selected the Partial Backfill Alternative 

as the BLM’s preferred alternative. 

Comments on the Draft EIS received 

from the public and internal BLM 

review were considered and 

incorporated as appropriate into the 

Final EIS. Public comments resulted in 

the addition of clarifying text but did 

not significantly change the impact 

analyses. 

(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10) 

Jon D. Sherve, 

District Manager, Battle Mountain District. 

[FR Doc. 2024–22867 Filed 10–3–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4331–21–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

[NPS–WASO–NAGPRA–NPS0038781; 

PPWOCRADN0–PCU00RP14.R50000] 

Notice of Inventory Completion: 

Western Washington University, 

Department of Anthropology, 

Bellingham, WA 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native 

American Graves Protection and 

Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the 

Western Washington University, 

Department of Anthropology (WWU) 

has completed an inventory of human 

remains and associated funerary objects 

and has determined that there is a 

cultural affiliation between the human 

remains and associated funerary objects 

and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 

organizations in this notice. 

DATES: Repatriation of the human 

remains and associated funerary objects 

in this notice may occur on or after 

November 4, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Dr. Judith Pine, Western 

Washington University, Department of 

Anthropology, Arntzen Hall 340, 516 

High Street, Bellingham, WA 98225, 


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