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roads will allow access to environmental monitoring stations for sampling and
maintenance of equipment and facilities.
During warmer months, the following precautions will be used to protect environmental integrity
at the mine:
Where practicable, roads will be appropriately surfaced (gravel or planking) to
provide vehicle traction and avoid rutting.
Foot access to the site, including the monitoring locations, will be used if needed to
prevent damage to roads that may cause erosion or resource damage.
In the unlikely event that upset conditions occur at the mine, the following precautions will be
followed:
For power outages at the plant:
Plant shutdown procedures will be followed to halt material and equipment
movements, if possible, given the circumstances of the outage.
An emergency diesel-fired generator will be used to restore at least partial electrical
power to mine facilities. In the unlikely event that power is lost for an extended period
of time, the Mine and PUG Plant would continue with minimal operations and
maintenance activities provided by the emergency power generators.
The air and meteorological stations are located in remote areas that do not have
access to traditional electrical power. These stations utilize wind and solar power
generation, reducing the demands on the system.
Road usage will be restricted if the outage results in the inability to load water into
water trucks for dust control.
The Draft Emergency Release Response and Contingency Plan – ERRCP (see Appendix I)
outlines the procedures developed for hazardous materials that will be followed to help identify
spills and leaks, contain and respond to releases, and assure proper reporting occurs.
5.3.6 Water Management
There will be no discharge of water from the PUG Plant to surface waters because the process
is closed. It is anticipated that dewatering of the Mineable Pit will be required after
approximately 6 to 7 years of mining. This water from the intrusive bedrock beneath the pit will
be either discharged to the lower reach of Whitetail Creek before its confluence with Whitelaw
Creek under a Wyoming Pollution Discharge Elimination System (WYPDES) permit or utilized
within the PUG Plant or some combination of the two options. Any discharge to surface water
under a WYPDES permit will be limited to the effluent standards required by the WDEQ-WQD. It
is anticipated that only sedimentation will be required to meet WPDES effluent standards at this
time. The volume of water expected to be dewatered from the Mineable Pit will be determined
through hydrologic pumping tests to be conducted during summer 2014. A site-wide mining
operation water balance (PUG Plant and Mineable Pit) will be developed as part of the definitive
Feasibility Study.
5.3.7 Design Features/Environmental Protection Measures
RER has identified the following design features/environmental protection measures to reduce
potential impacts to hydrology and water quality:
Protection of natural drainage channels using check dams and riprap. The installation of
channel protection will aid in dissipating the energy of the stream flow and may reduce
stream bed and bank scouring related to the increased flow volume in the channels
and/or changes in flow velocities.
