Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

Chapter 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences
Operations are expected to last 13 years. During operations the main source of traffic will
be haul trucks that will bring ore from the project site to the mill site, and transportation
of mining supplies and workers to and from the project site. Two existing roads are
planned to be upgraded for haulage routes from the project site. Currently it is unknown
how many haul trucks will be in operation on a daily basis.
Mining supplies travelling to the project site during operations include fuel, blasting
agents, and water treatment. Supplies that would need to be removed include petroleum
products and solid wastes. Workers would transport themselves to and from the mine
during operations in private vehicles likely from Grants or Gallup and the surrounding
villages. During peak production, RHR is expecting there would be a workforce of
approximately 250 workers (Velasquez et al., 2012). The workers will operate in three
shift rotations around the clock. Supplies and personnel will travel to and from the mine
on haul roads.
Decommissioning will be completed approximately 2 years after the end of operations;
however, reclamation activities will overlap with project operations for approximately 6.5
years. Overall, reclamation is estimated to last 8.5 years. Because of this overlap in
activities and the slower pace of reclamation activities it is expected that the number of
additional vehicles on the road would be less than that required for construction mainly
due to decreased labor requirements.
Due to the gaps in data around number of vehicles being added to the roadways it is not possible
to estimate the absolute increase in traffic during all phases; however, the certainty that there will
be Project-related vehicles operating on the local roadways means an increased risk of traffic
collisions, with the possibility of resultant injuries or fatalities.
2. The types of vehicles on the road. Project construction will require the transportation of
construction materials and large construction-related vehicles required to develop mine
operations facilities and structures. Project operations will require the haul trucks to
transport ore to the mill site and will require vehicles carrying mine supplies to travel to
and from the site. Decommissioning activities will be similar to construction with large
demolition machinery and removal of project materials. The trucks used during all of
these phases are large in size and may move at a slower speed. Slower moving vehicles
on rural roads have been found to cause other drivers to engage in risky or illegal passing
maneuvers, which increases the likelihood of collisions (CCMTA, 2006).
3. The location of vehicles. As stated in the “Affected Environment” section, the closest
interstate to the proposed project site is I-40, which runs east-west approximately 20
miles to the south. Road 556 is the closest access road to the proposed site, which runs
north-south approximately 1 mile to the east. Road 556 also provides access to State
Highway 605 approximately 17 miles southwest and is the nearest access road leading to
I-40. Both Road 556 and Highway 605 will be used by project-related construction and
decommissioning vehicles and by workers transporting themselves to and from their
residences. It is assumed that most workers will be coming from Grants or Gallup.
Currently these roads are lightly trafficked and traffic on the roadways surrounding the
proposed mine is free flowing during both the morning and evening peak periods. The
low traffic volumes may minimize the potential risks of traffic collisions.
DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest 405