NEWS UPDATE:

August 20, 2010: Elko Daily Free Press: "General Moly to set up trust fund for farmers".  General Moly has settled with local farmers to provide $12 million into a trust fund in order for the growers to not protest the company's proposed Mt. Hope molybdenum mine!   What does the company know that the farmers do not?  What is the company afraid of?  Hmmmmm......

The BLM, Battle Mountain Field Office announced in the March 2007 Federal Register that it had plans to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Mount Hope Project, a proposed open pit molybdenum mine, mill, and associated facilities, located on public and private lands.  General Moly, based in Elko, NV, will be the operator of this proposed mine located approximately 22 miles northwest of Eureka, NV.  Great Basin Resource Watch is anticipating the release of the draft EIS in August or September of 2010. 

General Moly will recieve $745 million in financing from Hanlong (USA) Mining Investment Inc., a subsidiary of the Chinese Sichuan Hanlong Group, to developed the proposed mine.  POSCO, the South Korea-based steel maker, is partnering (20 percent) with General Moly by providing an additional $56 million for the proposed mine.

The deposit of molybdenmum, a key ingredient in the manufacturing of steel, at Mt. Hope ranks as the world's third-largest and highest grade molybdenum-porphyry deposit.  If approved, this open pit mine will be in operation for an estimated 45 to 55 years, produce 40 million pounds of molybdenum per year in the first five years of production, and generate nearly 8% of world molybdenum production annually. 

The issuance of the draft EIS has been delayed due to flaws in the intial hydrology modeling study.  However, the Elko Daily Free Press recently reported that the BLM has approved the hydrology study, and correspondences with the BLM suggest that the draft EIS is expected to be submitted to the BLM in August/September 2010.

Mount Hope has areas of significance that will be destroyed such as springs, archaeological sites, and pinyon pine trees which provide an essential food source through its nuts to wildlife and the Western Shoshone if the proposed mine is approved.  To find out more about this proposed mine and the environmental and cultural concerns associated with it, please take a look at our Mount Hope Article from our Summer 2007 Bristlecone Newsletter.

In addition, if you live near Mount Hope or in surrounding communities such as Eureka, please infom GBRW of any concerns you have with this associated mine proposal.