Barrick Gold Corporation
Legislative Subcommittee to Study Water
March 9, 2016
EXHIBIT F - WATER Document consists of 17 pages. Entire exhibit provided. Meeting Date: 3-9-16 Barrick Nevada Mines
• Turquoise Ridge Mine TURQUOISE RIDGE ELKO – Underground Operations
• Cortez Operations GOLDSTRIKE – Open Pits and Underground Operations LANDER EUREKA HUMBOLDT • Goldstrike Mine Carlin Humboldt River – Open Pits and Elko Underground Operations Reno ENLARGED CORTEZ PERSHING
Las Vegas Turquoise Ridge Mine Turquoise Ridge Mine
. Located in Kelly Creek hydrographic area No. 66 . Underground operations started in 1996 . Water is pumped from the underground workings as it is encountered; approximately 770 gpm . Approximately 430 gpm is used for underground and surface mining consumptive use . Approximately 340 gpm is placed into the basin-fill aquifer in Rapid Infiltration Basins
Turquoise Ridge Mine
. Future post-mining pit lake
– Getchell pit lake of 61 acres
– Pit lake evaporation rate of ≈ 128 acre-feet/yr; equivalent to irrigation of 43 acres
. Turquoise Ridge is located more than 20 miles from the Humboldt River
. Pumping from underground operations has no impact on Humboldt River flow (Geomega, 2011)
Cortez Operations
Pipeline Complex Cortez Operations
Cortez Hills Complex Cortez Operations
. Located in Crescent Valley hydrographic area No. 54
. Mine dewatering started in 1996
. Water rights allow wells to be drilled within 160-acre blocks at Pipeline
. Water rights allow wells to be drilled within a 4,200-acre consolidated block at Cortez Hills
Cortez Operations
. Combined mine dewatering pumping rate of approximately 18,900 gpm
. Approximately 2,100 gpm is used for mining and milling consumptive use
. Approximately 4,000 gpm is piped to the Dean Ranch for irrigation
. Approximately 12,800 gpm is placed into the basin-fill aquifer through Rapid Infiltration Basins
Cortez Operations
. Future post-mining pit lakes – Crossroads pit lake of 275 acres – Gap pit lake of 35 acres – Cortez Hills pit lake of 39 acres – Cortez pit lake of 5 acres
. Total pit lake evaporation rate of ≈ 890 acre-feet/yr; equivalent to irrigation of 300 acres
Cortez Operations
. Limited groundwater discharge from Crescent Valley to the Humboldt River (USGS 1961)
. Cortez Operations located more Crescent Valley than 30 miles from the Humboldt River at southern end of the Crescent Valley basin Pine Valley Carico Lake Valley . Four-basin groundwater flow model shows no impact to flow Grass Valley in the Humboldt River (Itasca 2016)
Goldstrike Mine Goldstrike Mine
. Located in Boulder Valley hydrographic area No. 61
. Mine dewatering started in 1989
. Water rights allow wells to be drilled within 160-acre blocks
. Pumping rate of approximately 22,600 gpm from the deep carbonate aquifer
Goldstrike Mine
. Consumptive use for mining and milling of approximately 5,100 gpm
. Approximately 17,500 gpm from Barrick (with additional flow from the Leeville operation) piped to the TS Ranch Reservoir
. Water is used seasonally at irrigation pivots on the TS Ranch
. Water is infiltrated at the TS Ranch Reservoir into the rhyolite aquifer Goldstrike Mine
. Post-mining pit lakes – Betze pit lake of 847 acres – Arturo pit lake of 88 acres
. Total pit lake evaporation rate of ≈ 2,060 acre-feet/yr; equivalent to irrigation of 690 acres
. Goldstrike Mine located more than 20 miles from the Humboldt River
. No groundwater flow from the Boulder Valley hydrographic basin to the Humboldt River (Maurer, Plume, Thomas and Johnson 1996; McDonald Morrissey Associates 1998)
. No impact on Humboldt River flow (Prudic and Plume 2015)
Barrick Nevada Mines
Water Use
Mining & Irrigation Milling 20% 18%
Infiltration 62% References
. Geomega 2011. Groundwater Flow Model Update for Getchell and Turquoise Ridge Mines.
. Itasca 2016. Barrick Cortez Four-Basin (Carico Lake Valley, Crescent Valley, Grass Valley, and Pine Valley) Groundwater Flow Model Report.
. Maurer, Plume, Thomas and Johnson 1996. Water Resources and Effects of Changes in Ground-Water Use along the Carlin Trend, North-Central Nevada. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 96-4134.
. McDonald Morrissey Associates 1998. Regional Hydrologic Model. Barrick Goldstrike Mines. Consultant Report.
. Prudic and Plume 2015. The Humboldt River and Groundwater Pumping for Mine Dewatering.
. USGS 1961. Zones, C.P., 1961, Ground-water potentialities in the Crescent Valley, Eureka and Lander Counties, Nevada, USGS Water-Supply Paper 1581.