The U.S. Bureau of Land Management issued a positive decision on the final environmental impact statement for THEMAC Resources Group Ltd.'s Copper Flat project in Sierra County, New Mexico, and a groundwater discharge permit was affirmed.
The company said Sept. 6 that the BLM recently approved a mine alternative from a final environmental impact statement that matches plans used for permit applications filed with the state, approving open pit mining operations and sulfide flotation processing of 30,000 tons per day.
In addition, the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission affirmed the issuance of a groundwater discharge permit for Copper Flat by the New Mexico Environment Department, or NMED, after an August hearing related to two administrative appeals to review the permit.
THEMAC Resources noted that the decision by the commission rejected the first appeals of a discharge permit issued for new copper mining facilities under the commission's Copper Rule adopted in 2013.
In early 2018, the New Mexico Third District Court found that most of the water rights claimed by the company at the past-producing project were not valid.
