The Lyon County Commission on Jan. 6 will consider directing staff to draft a comment letter to the Bureau of Land Management regarding the sale of 2,062 acres of public lands and the federal mineral estate associated with the Anaconda Copper Mine Site (ACMS) in Yerington.
The disposal lands consist of five parcels west of Yerington and east of Weed Heights at the eastern foot of the Singatse Range.
Atlantic Richfield Co., which is purchasing the mine site, previously closed mining and processing operations in 1977. According to a preliminary environmental assessment, the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. merged with ARC in 1977. It ceased mining a year later. The company was purchased in 1982.
Mining company Arimetco acquired private property in 1989 but filed for bankruptcy in 1997 and ceased mining operations the following year and processing by 1999.
The company abandoned the site in 2000. The Environmental Protection Agency requested that Anaconda be placed on a national priorities list for cleanup but the state denied the request.
The intent of the purchase, according to the assessment, is to remedy health and safety concerns or hazards on the Anaconda mine site. The BLM “seeks approval, approve with modifications or to deny ARC’s request consistent with agency responsibilities” according to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 as stated in the assessment.
The document states the proposed action would be consistent with, among other national agencies, the Lyon County 2020 Master Plan as adopted Dec. 16, 2021.
In December 2022, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection gave a public presentation of the site’s cleanup status and plans to prevent groundwater contamination to be completed in three phases before Anaconda’s expected closure in 2029.
Officials from NDEP’s Bureau of Corrective Actions announced the ACMS was its largest project in its history.
The project has been made available for public review through Jan. 21.