The report is said to be a significant step for the company’s use permit application to reopen the historic past-producing gold mine

gold

The Idaho-Maryland Mine is a past producing gold mine. (Credit: Steve Bidmead from Pixabay)

Rise Gold announced that the Nevada County government has released a favourable Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Idaho-Maryland Mine Project (IMM project).

The report is said to be a significant step for the company’s use permit application to reopen the historic past-producing gold mine.

In November 2019, the company submitted an application for a use permit to Nevada County to enable the reopening of the Idaho-Maryland gold mine

With the support of Raney Planning & Management consultant, the Nevada County government has conducted intensive study to prepare DEIR.

The DEIR has reported three major unavoidable impacts from the project, including temporary construction noise from the installation of a water pipeline.

Other impacts include an addition of traffic to an intersection presently operating at an unacceptable level of service and aesthetics due to noticeable changes to the existing visual character of the project sites.

According to the company, the project’s considerable economic and community benefits significantly surpass the three unavoidable impacts found the report.

Independent report by Nevada County has concluded that the project is free from significant air, biologic, water, vibration or noise impacts, said the company.

The Idaho-Maryland gold mine produced 2.4 million oz of gold at an average mill head grade of 17 gpt gold between 1866 and 1955.

Recently, Rise Gold has completed 67,500ft of exploration core drilling at the IMM project, encountering multiple high-grade gold intercepts at near the existing mine workings and to depths significantly below historic mining areas.

The use permit application proposes the recommencement of underground mining at an average throughput of 1,000 tonnes per day.

In recent years, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors have approved three mining projects, including the Boca Quarry Expansion, the Greenhorn Creek Mining Expansion and the Blue Lead Gold Mine.