, the mine would be an open pit 2.3 miles long, a mile wide and almost 400 feet deep, covering an area slightly larger than New York’s Central Park.
“All of these lands are important to the Indigenous people of any region,” said Daranda Hinkey, a member of the Fort McDermitt tribe and a tribal subgroup called People of Red Mountain. “All of these lands are important to the Indigenous people of any region,” said Daranda Hinkey. Part of the approval process was getting the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, which owns the property, to conduct an environmental impact assessment. In addition to projecting the effects of the mine on air, water and soil, the bureau is required by federal law to ask nearby Native American groups about any potential risk to “significant religious, spiritual or sacred locations.”
Bartell alleged that the impact statement had not accurately assessed the effect of the mine and its acid plant on an area with limited water. All of Nevada suffers from “” conditions, and the mine would use about 3,000 gallons of water per minute, according to the impact statement. Bartell said the mine would harm his water supply and ranch productivity and threaten trout and bird habitats. The government defended its assessement and methodologies and said it complied with protocols.
“The bottom line is that any mine, especially an open-pit mine, is going to obliterate the habitat that’s there,” said John Hadder. The BLM impact statement from 2020 asserted that contact with representatives from the Fort McDermitt tribe, “Summit Lake Paiute Tribe, and Winnemucca Indian Colony have not raised any concerns about specific traditional areas, sacred sites, or ceremonial areas or activities in the Project area.” The three groups are the officially recognized Native American organizations closest to Thacker Pass.
A spokesperson said that the bureau never received any response from the individuals it sought to contact or the three groups they represented. Asked if the agency has proof of delivery of the three letters it sent in 2019, the spokesperson declined to comment, saying, “The specific element you are asking about is under litigation.”