Posted on April 4, 2020
The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public comment in the approval process of a placer gold mine on the Arkansas River north of The Numbers rapids.
The Leadville Ranger District of San Isabel National Forest is considering a request for a dredge mining operation at mining claims approximately 12 miles north of Buena Vista. The public comment period of the National Environmental Policy Act evaluation process will be open through April 25.
The comment period was initially set to close on Apr. 6, as reported in the April 2 print edition of the Times. Forest Service spokesperson Crystal Young said that the comment period deadline was extended “to allow the public adequate time to review the proposal.”
Young said that the Forest Service has to date received 510 comments on the proposed mining operation.
The request, by Vernon Martinez is proposed for three mining claims, Oro Vista #1, #2 and #3 on the Arkansas River south of Granite, accessed via Forest Service Road 371.
Martinez has been dredging in this area on and off since 1995, Young said.
Mining operations are proposed to be completed in 3 phases over 5 years, involving suction dredging at first, then hand-auger drill holes.
Phases 1 and 2 of the proposal include the use of a 4 inch intake suction dredge to trench an area of riverbed approximately 20 feet by 80 feet in size. One trench will be dredged per season and sediment smaller than one eighth of an inch will be discharged behind a silt fence for processing. The equipment will be removed at the end of each operating season, a letter from the Leadville Ranger District ranger Patrick Mercer describing the proposal reads.
Phase 3 of the proposed project involves hand-auger drilling of 20 to 25 holes, each 4 to 6 feet deep and 6 inches in diameter and all within one 20 foot by 80 foot area. All of the holes will be reclaimed at the end of each mining season.
Placer mining uses gravity to separate minerals with a higher density, such as gold, from the sand and gravel of a riverbed. Suction dredging uses a vacuum pump to siphon minerals from the riverbed, running them through a floating sluice box that concentrates any gold in the mixture and returns the sand and gravel to the river
The Forest Service said that the total disturbed area would by 3,600 square feet during the first two phases and 1,600 during the third phase.
Operations would occur for 216 days per year at most, utilizing up to six people for up to six days per week.
Materials submitted by Martinez to the Forest Service list October 30 as the date of seasonal close out each year, with completion of all required reclamation expected at the end of October 2025.
Martinez said in the application that riparian vegetation on the riverbank will not be damaged during the project.
“Anchorage systems for suction dredging equipment shall not span the stream or interfere with the passage of watercraft,” the proposal reads.
The proposal lists a 4-inch suction dredge, a centrifuge, an 8 horsepower generator, an air compressor with an 8 horsepower engine, a 2-man auger with 6-inch drill bit, hand tools and a passenger truck and trailer as equipment to be involved in the mining operation.
A preliminary NEPA analysis indicates that the project would require a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act.
If the project is deemed to have a categorical exclusion under NEPA, it will not require an environmental assessment of environmental impact statement.
“a ‘categorical exclusion’ is a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and which have been found to have no such effect in procedures adopted by a federal agency in implementation of these regulations,” Young said. “More simply, projects that are categorically excluded under NEPA are not subject to administrative review.”
Young said that the Oro Vista proposal is smaller than most mining proposals the forest service receives. The majority of the 1 acre that would be disturbed by the project is related to accessing the operation via non-system roads. The mining operation itself would disturb approximately 0.12 acres, she said.
Because most of the riverfront land on the Arkansas is privately owned, it’s rare for the Forest Service to see proposals for mines on the river.
“This is the only operator who has had an approved plan of operations from the Forest Service on the Arkansas River,” Young said.
“To receive full consideration and to best assist the Forest Service in this effort,” comments should be submitted by the public comment period deadline at the end of April.
“However, we will consider all comments related to resource impacts up until the time that a decision is rendered,” the Forest Service letter said.
Young said that the Forest Service expects to reach a decision on the proposed mining operation no later than June.
Comments should be mailed to:
USFS – Leadville Ranger District
Attn: Amy Titterington
810 Front Street
Leadville, Colorado 80461
Comments can also be submitted by phone at (719) 486-0749
Electronic comments must be submitted in rich text format (.rtf) or Word document (.doc) to patrick.mercer@usda.gov
Address any comments as “Attention: Oro Vista Mine”
Contact Ranger District geologist Amy Titterington at (719) 836-2031 or at amy.j.titterington@usda.gov
Contact Mercer at (719) 486-0749 or at the email address listed above.
Source: chaffeecountytimes
