Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

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Chapter 2. Alternatives, Including the Proposed Action Figure 18. Layout of surface facilities in Section 10 for the proposed Roca Honda Mine 38 DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest
Mine Development Chapter 2. Alternatives, Including the Proposed Action Mine development activities would include gathering of baseline characterization data and construction of depressurizing wells, a water treatment plant, production shafts, ventilation shafts, and ancillary surface facilities. RHR estimates that approximately 3.6 years would be required for development activities before ore production can begin. At that point, the mine operation phase would begin at Section 16 and mine development activities would shift to Section 10 thereafter. Depressurizing Wells Artesian aquifers are present in rocks that overlie the uranium ore that RHR proposes to extract. An aquifer is a saturated rock unit with sufficient permeability to provide a significant source of water to wells or springs. An artesian aquifer is one that is under pressure; specifically, it is overlain by a confining bed, such that the pressure causes the water level to rise above the top of the aquifer in a well. As a result, control of potential inflows of water from these artesian aquifers would be critical to facilitate construction of production and ventilation shafts. Roca Honda proposes to construct 10 water depressurizing wells near the production shaft in Sections 16 and 15 depressurizing wells near the production shaft in Section 10. The sequence described herein would be initiated for the Section 16 production shaft and repeated for the Section 10 production shaft in accordance with the mine development schedule. Four to six such wells would be completed into the Gallup Formation and subsequently deepened into the Dakota Formation. These are the two artesian aquifers that exist above the ore-containing formation, i.e., the Westwater Canyon Member of the Morrison Formation. Six to eight depressurizing wells would be completed into the Westwater Canyon Member. The purpose of these wells is to reduce water pressure and control groundwater inflows during construction of the shafts. Each well is planned to be 12 to 14 inches in diameter with electric pumps capable of pumping groundwater at a rate of 250 to 500 gallons per minute, for a total dewatering rate of up to 4,500 gpm. The Gallup Formation wells would be operated for a period of time (3 to 6 months) prior to the shaft construction reaching that formation and during the time that it took to complete the shaft through the formation. Thereafter, these wells would be deepened into the Dakota Formation and similarly operated prior to and during completion of the shaft through the Dakota Formation. The Westwater Canyon Formation wells would be operated from the time they were completed until the production shaft was completed and for a brief period of time thereafter while initial mine development at the bottom of the shaft in the immediate area of the initial mine workings was performed. The anticipated volume of water produced from these wells will vary depending upon the formation being depressurized and the sequencing of events; it is anticipated that the rate of water production will not exceed 4,000 gallons per minute (gpm) at any one time. RHR also proposes to use pressure grouting to reduce groundwater flow through rocks located in close proximity to the production shafts. Pressure grouting is essentially like filling up the pore spaces of a sponge with grout. It reduces the ability of water to flow through the rock and, thereby, reduces the volume of water that would flow into the production shaft during or after construction. In this process, numerous closely spaced bore holes would be drilled into the rock surrounding the shaft location. Cement grout would be pumped into the drill holes at pressure, and the cement would flow into pore spaces of the rock in the immediate vicinity of the shaft. DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest 39
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United States Department of Agricul
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Environmental Impact Statement for
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Summary Roca Honda Resources, LLC (
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• Potential effects on the charac
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Mine Operation Summary Mine operati
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Resource Impacts and Mitigation •
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Page 15 and 16: Contents Chapter 1. Purpose of and
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Page 109 and 110: Other Actions and Projects Consider
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Chapter 2. Alternatives, Including
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Chapter 3. Affected Environment and
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Figure 33. Permit area watershed an
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Environmental Consequences Surface
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Construction Phase Effects Chapter
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Table 12. Storm water controls for
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Best Management Practices Chapter 3
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Effects on Sediment Transport and D
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Figure 45. Modeled hydrograph for S
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Figure 47. Modeled hydrograph for C
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Pollutant and Averaging Time Chapte
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Climate and Greenhouse Gases Chapte
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Regulatory Review Chapter 3. Affect
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Radon-222 Emissions Chapter 3. Affe
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Figure 48. Vegetation communities i
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State Listed Plant Species Chapter
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Species Status Habitat and Distribu
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Common Name (Scientific name) Black
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Common Name (Scientific Name) Gunni
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Table 39. Criteria for rating impac
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Wildlife Mortality Chapter 3. Affec
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Table 40. Impact characterization f
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Transportation Chapter 3. Affected
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Figure 57. Nearby recreation sites
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Table 41. Impact characterization f
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Minority Populations Chapter 3. Aff
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Figure 58. Distribution of minority
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High school graduates, percent of p
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Earnings Chapter 3. Affected Enviro
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Public Finance Chapter 3. Affected
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providing an estimate of the “rip
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Tax Revenue Chapter 3. Affected Env
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Table 61. Household characteristics
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Tribal History Chapter 3. Affected
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Natural Resources Chapter 3. Affect
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Physical APE Chapter 3. Affected En
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Agricultural Fields Chapter 3. Affe
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• Removal of a property from its
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Impacts to Natural Resources with C
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Site No. Project Section Land Statu
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Visual Resources Affected Environme
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Figure 64. View looking north from
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Alternative 1 Chapter 3. Affected E
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Environmental Consequences Chapter
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New Mexico 1.11 (0.98 - 1.25) Cibol
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Magnitude Descriptor Precedence or
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Noise Chapter 3. Affected Environme
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Resource Area Cultural and Historic
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Cumulative Effects Chapter 3. Affec
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Chapter 4. Consultation and Coordin
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Chapter 4. Consultation and Coordin
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Glossary Air-Quality Control Region
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References Cited (ACHP, 2005). Advi
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References Cited (Basin Coordinated
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References Cited (Brugge et al., 20
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References Cited (Census, 2011). U.
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References Cited (DesertUSA, 2011).
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References Cited (Gordon, 1961). Go
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References Cited (Jackson, 2002). J
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(NatureServe, 2010a). NatureSevere.
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References Cited (NMDH, 2010c) New
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References Cited (NRGNHA, 2011). No
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References Cited (RHR, 2011a). Roca
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References Cited (Stacier and Guzy,
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References Cited (USEPA, 1975). U.S
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References Cited (USFS, 2001). U.S.
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References Cited (USFWS, no date).
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References Cited (WildEarth Guardia
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Index E economic impacts - 15, 73,
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Index N National Environmental Poli
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Index W waste - 18, 40, 46, 56-57,
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Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

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