Gold Bar South Mine Eagle Permit NEPA Documents

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received an application from McEwen Mining Inc. requesting eagle take coverage under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.  The application requested authorization for incidental disturbance take of eagles for the Gold Bar South Mining project, under the Amended Mine Plan of Operations for the Gold Bar Mine.  The Gold Bar South project includes construction and operation of facilities that will encompass approximately 213.3 acres of additional, new surface disturbance on public land for the expansion of surface mining with the Gold Bar South open pit.  The project is located approximately 30 miles northwest of Eureka, Nevada, in the southern Roberts Mountains, within Eureka County. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA), pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, to assess impacts of the proposed action of issuance of the requested short-term (two-year) incidental eagle take permit to the applicant, as well as alternatives to the proposed action. The proposed action of issuing a permit required implementation of measures to avoid and minimize adverse effects to eagles to the maximum extent practicable and compensatory mitigation to fully offset eagle take. Details of the minimization measures and compensatory mitigation can be found in the EA document. The analysis detailed in the EA resulted in selection of the proposed action and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).  Please find the FONSI and EA below.