Mineral Potential Report
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FRTC Modernization EIS Supporting Study Mineral Potential Report This Page Intentionally Left Blank REPORT Mineral Potential Report for the Fallon Range Training Complex Modernization for ManTech International Corporation Submitted to: ManTech International Corporation 420 Stevens Avenue, Suite 300 Solana Beach, California 92075 Submitted by: Golder Associates Inc. +1 520 888-8818 18108941 November 2018 November 2018 18108941 Executive Summary This Mineral Potential Report (MPR) has been prepared to support an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the land withdrawal extension and expansion at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon Range Training Complex (FRTC), in Churchill, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, and Pershing Counties, Nevada. This MPR is intended to be used as a planning tool that provides land managers with mineral resource information to develop management plans. The FRTC is part of the US Department of Navy (DON). The FRTC currently encompasses an area of 223,562 acres (ac). Figure ES.1 presents the areas involved. The FRTC consists of federal land that has been withdrawn from public use and reserved for military training and operations through the Military Lands Withdrawal Act of 1999, Public Law 106-65 (MLWA). The current withdrawal will expire in November 2021, unless Congress enacts legislation providing an extension. Withdrawal of additional lands to support DON activities in ranges B-16, B-17, B-20, and the DVTA may impact public and private lands including mining and geothermal leases, as well as access to mineral exploration and production infrastructure such as roads, pipelines, and temporary and fixed facilities. As part of the EIS process, the DON proposed three action alternatives for the land withdrawal extension and expansion for the FRTC. These action alternatives are pre-decisional from a NEPA perspective. The changes in the range withdrawal areas depend upon the alternatives. Details regarding the alternatives are as follows: Alternative 1: Increase the FRTC size to 916,168 acres by requesting to withdraw approximately 618,727 acres and proposing to acquire 65,153 acres to ranges B-16, B-17, B-20, and the DVTA. Alternative 2: Same land as Alternative 1. The difference is that under this alternative the DVTA is open to the development of geothermal and salable minerals on the westside of Nevada state route 121 and a small part of the southern portion of B-16 withdrawal (approximately 300 acres) would be left open for public access. Alternative 3: Increase the FRTC size to 904,468 acres by requesting to withdraw approximately 606,664 acres and proposing to acquire 65,520 acres to ranges B-16, B-17, B-20, and the DVTA. Land management of mineral resources in the DVTA will be same as alternative 2. Land south of US50 is not withdrawn for the DVTA. And, the existing Bell Mountain Claims in the B-17 expansion area will be recognized. The geographic extent of Alternatives 1 and 2 are presented in Figure ES.2, and Alternative 3 is presented in Figure ES.3. For the purpose of this MPR, the maximum areal extent of the withdrawal areas, considering all alternatives will be assessed and referred to collectively as the “Study Area.” ES.i November 2018 18108941 Figure ES.1: Study Area ES. ii November 2018 18108941 Figure ES.2: Fallon Range Training Complex Modernization Under Alternatives 1 and 2 ES.iii November 2018 18108941 Figure ES.3: Fallon Range Training Complex Modernization Under Alternative 3 ES.iv November 2018 18108941 The primary, underlying assumption used in developing this assessment is that the data published in previous reports is valid and does not need to be reproduced. This Report synthesizes the vast amount of mineral potential data available and presents the information specific to the areal extent of the proposed land withdrawals. The energy and mineral potential of all proposed withdrawal areas were assessed, and results integrated into an area- wide MPR assessment update of the FRTC. This comprehensive assessment addresses advances in geologic understanding of selected deposits, changes in metal or commodity demand, and technological advances since the previous assessments. The Mineral Potential Classification System used in this assessment is as defined in BLM Manual 3031 (BLM, 1985). In the classification system, mineral potential ranges from no potential to high potential with the certainty level that mineral potential does or does not exist ranging from highly uncertain (A) to highly certain (D). Table ES.1 presents a schematic representation. Table ES.1: Mineral Potential Classification System H/A H/B H/C H/D High High High High Potential Potential Potential Potential ND M/A M/B M/C M/D O/D Unknown Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate No Potential Potential Potential Potential Potential Potential1 L/A L/B L/C L/D Low Low Low Low Potential Potential Potential Potential Increasing Potential >>> Increasing Certainty >>> Notes: Source - Based on BLM Manual 3031 (1985), Illustration 3. 1Not commonly used and only in special circumstances. The discussion of the mineral potentials are organized with respect to the BLM system that classifies minerals and energy for development into three categories: Locatable: Locatable minerals are those for which the right to explore, develop, and extract on federal land open to mineral entry is established by the location (or staking) of lode or placer mining claims (General Mining Law of 1872, as amended). Leasable: Leasable minerals defined by the Mineral Leasing Act (February 1920; and 43 CFR 3000-3599, 1990) include the subsets leasable solid and leasable fluid minerals. Since 1920, the Federal government has leased fuels and certain other minerals, charging a royalty on the value of the mined and sold material. BLM’s Policy for Reasonably Foreseeable Development (RFD). ES. v November 2018 18108941 Salable: Salable Minerals are administered by the BLM under the Materials Act of July 31, 1947, the Wilderness Act, and Mineral Materials Disposal regulations (43 CFR 3600 regulations for aggregate, sand, gravel, petrified wood, common variety materials, and so forth). Metallic Locatables Metallic locatable mineral resources were historically produced in 11 of the 21 mining districts in the Study Area. The precious metals, silver and gold, were the most common metals produced. Silver production occurred at eight mining districts and gold production occurred at seven of the mining districts. All the precious metal occurrences are associated with vein-hosted epithermal mineralization, base metal occurrences are generally pluton-related. The mineral resource potential for gold is presented in Figure ES.4 Other metals historically produced include: tungsten at three mining districts, lead at two mining districts, and antimony at one of the districts. With exception of the proposed B-16 area, all the proposed withdrawal areas have a history of metallic mineral resource production. Mineral districts with known mineral production are assigned a resource potential classification of H/D for the commodity produced. Copper, molybdenum, and zinc minerals were identified, but not produced, at nine of the mining districts. Mineral districts with metals, which were identified, but do not have records of production were assigned a resource potential classification of H/C. Industrial Locatables Lithium is an industrial locatable mineral of special interest due to the development and use of lithium-ion batteries; at present Nevada is host to the only active lithium producer in the US. Anomalous concentrations of lithium have been detected in playa sediments adjacent to the proposed withdrawal areas. The resource potential classification for lithium-bearing clay is M/B in playas where surface sediment samples have recorded between 100 and 300 ppm lithium, and M/A in all other playas. The resource potential classification for lithium-enriched brines is based on the lithium content and Li:Cl ratio of groundwater in playas. Playas are classified as M/C or M/B depending on groundwater chemistry. Playas without well data are classified as M/A. A comparison of playas in the Study Area to playas in Clayton Valley, located in central Nevada and well outside of the Study Area, where lithium is being recovered from brine, suggests that the conditions responsible for economic lithium concentrations at Clayton Valley do not exist in the Study Area. Further surface and subsurface exploration including the completion of wells and groundwater sampling will be required to further define the potential for lithium mineralization in the Study Area. See Figures ES.5 and ES.6 for the geographic distribution of mineral potential designations for lithium. Fluorspar and barite are the only known industrial minerals historically produced in the Study Area. Fluorspar was produced in the proposed B-17 and DVTA withdrawal areas and barite was produced in the proposed B-17 withdrawal area. Mining districts in the Study Area that historically produced fluorspar or barite have a mineral potential of H/D. ES.vi November 2018 18108941 Figure ES.4: Gold Potential ES.vii November 2018 18108941 Figure ES.5: Lithium-Bearing Clay Potential ES.viii November 2018 18108941 Figure ES.6: Lithium-Enriched Brine Potential ES.ix November 2018 18108941 Leasable The leasable resource with the highest potential in the Study Area is geothermal energy. The Study Area is located in a portion of the Great Basin province that has a relatively high concentration of producing geothermal power plants, geothermal occurrences (e.g. hot springs, hot wells, hot gradient holes), and geothermal exploration activity. The Study Area is characterized by Late Quaternary seismicity, a high geodetic strain rate, and a high geothermal gradient all of which are related to crustal thinning associated with the tectonic extension of the Great Basin. The geothermal resource assessment for this study consisted of compiling and overlaying geospatial information including: locations of known geothermal power plants, well temperatures, geochemical geothermometer data, and structural data. This geospatial database was used to identify geological structures and environments, which are critical to geothermal favorability.