Desert Hawk Gold Corp mine expansion environmental assessment
- Client Name
- Desert Hawk Gold Corp.
- Location
- Gold Hill, Utah, USA
Challenge
Desert Hawk Gold Corp (DHGC) is a fully permitted and operating open pit / heap leach gold mine in western Utah.
DHGC has a land package of approximately 1,500 acres of both patented and unpatented claims near Gold Hill, UT. The project is located in western Tooele County in the Clifton Hills on land which include public lands administered by the BLM, Salt Lake Field Office; Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA); and private lands leased to Desert Hawk.
The project is located in the historic Clifton-Gold Hill Mining District, known for deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, arsenic, and tungsten. The company is currently mining and processing gold ore, while conducting exploration projects throughout the district.
Desert Hawk submitted to the BLM Salt Lake Field Office (SLFO) a Notice of Intention (NOI) to Commence Large Mining Operations for the Kiewit Project.
Responses from the NOI prompted the BLM to require a full Environmental Assessment.
Solution
- Respond to comments following the publication of a Determination of NEPA adequacy report
- Work with BLM to determine data gaps
- Perform a Greenhouse Gas emissions analysis
- Re-write the Environmental Assessment to update to BLM template
- Complete data gaps in Environmental Assessment
- Coordinate with the BLM to address comments, and finalise Environmental Assessment
- Reporting and agency interaction
- Conducted an interdisciplinary Checklist Assessment.
Highlights
- Issues identified for detailed analysis included:
- Physical Environment (geology, soils, water resources, air quality, emissions, greenhouse gasses)
- Biological Environment (vegetation, invasive species and noxious weeds, migratory birds, wildlife resources)
- Socio-Cultural Environment (Cultural, socioeconomics, lands/access. Livestock grazing, recreation, native American religious concerns, environmental justice)
- Other (wastes, solid or hazardous)
- Worked closely with BLM from the inception of the project to achieve alignment with the agency’s new template and meet all public comments and concerns.
Impact
SLR has and continues to support Desert Hawk with environmental permitting and compliance for the state of Utah including agency coordination, NEPA documentation, and environmental services.
