Decision made on exploration project northwest of Eureka

The Bureau of Land Management, Mount Lewis Field Office has issued a Decision Record and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Environmental Assessment of the CMZ Exploration Project located 58 miles northwest of Eureka. The decision approved the Plan of Operations submitted by NuLegacy Gold Corporation to conduct an exploration drilling project.

NUG is proposing to expand existing Notice-level activities to include phased exploration activities within their 1,760-acre project area. NUG proposes to conduct exploration-related activities that would create approximately 95 acres of new surface disturbance for a total project-related disturbance of 100 acres. Exploration activities would be conducted in phases, with approximately 44 acres of surface disturbance proposed under Phase I. The disturbance would primarily include road construction, overland travel, drill pads, and sumps.

The EA was made available for a 30-day public comment period ending on December 3, 2014. Notifications of the availability of the EA were sent to persons and agencies on the Project mailing list and the EA was posted on the Battle Mountain District ePlanning webpage. Additionally, the BLM issued a press release the same day providing a link to the EA and instructions on how to comment. Comment letters were received from the public and other federal, state, and local agencies. Substantive comments were evaluated and considered by the BLM during the decision making process who determined that they did not identify or present any significant new information or changed circumstances that would warrant additional NEPA analysis. Minor corrections or updates to the EA were made as a result of these substantive comments.

The DR, FONSI, and EA are available on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) ePlanning webpage at http://bit.ly/NUG-CMZ-Decision-2015 . A hardcopy of these documents are available for review at the Battle Mountain District Office during regular business hours 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday, except federal holidays, or will be provided upon request.