TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The US Army Corps of Engineers has narrowed its focus for the environmental-impact statement (EIS) process for the Haile gold mine, in South Carolina, to three alternatives and plans to publish the EIS in March 2014, project owner Romarco said this week.

TSX-listed Romarco had hoped to break ground on the $275-million Haile project at the end of 2011, but work was delayed after the Corps decided to request an EIS process, rather than the simpler environmental assessment the company was hoping for. Over the past three years, the company had spent more than $4.5-million on environmental studies.

Romarco on Tuesday said, in order to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa), the Corps' alternatives evaluation had to include the company's proposed project, the ‘no action alternative’, and a range of other reasonable alternatives to the proposed project. The range of alternatives considered included alternative sites, alternative project configurations, alternative technologies and alternative project sizes.

The Corps had now eliminated several reasonable alternatives, leaving only three remaining ones to move forward as part of the EIS process. The Corps would publish the draft EIS in March 2014.

The project, as proposed, and the 'no action alternative', must be evaluated under Nepa in the draft EIS. The third alternative for the project entailed the proposed project with modifications.

This alternative proposed two tailings borrows also being used as overburden storage areas, which would allow some of the planned overburden storage areas to be reduced in size. Other adjustments to the project were also suggested to avoid and reduce impacts.

"The alternatives evaluation is a very important step towards completing the draft EIS. After a very exhaustive examination, the Corps has narrowed the range of alternatives for the EIS. We are pleased that the Corps will focus the remaining work in the EIS on these three alternatives,” Romarco president and CEO Diane Garrett said in a statement.

The 404 wetlands permit is the only federal permit needed by Romarco for the Haile project, in Kershaw, and the Corps is the only federal agency regulating 404 permits.

The company filed applications for its state mine operating permit, national pollutant discharge elimination system permit, 401 water quality certification, air quality permit, and dam safety permit for the proposed tailings storage facility, for which the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) was the regulatory agency.

The SCDHEC would now start holding public meetings and processing the state permits.

Romarco previously had to modify its mine layout to reduce direct impacts on wetlands by 25% and impacts on streams by 32%.

Haile is expected to produce 155 000 oz/y in the first five years, at average cash costs of $379/oz.

The project has a National Instrument 43-101-compliant proven and probable gold reserve estimate of 30.5-million tonnes grading 2.06 g/t for two-million ounces of gold, and a resource estimate for 71.2-million tonnes grading 1.77 g/t, containing about four-million ounces of gold in the measured and indicated categories, and an additional 20.1-million tonnes grading 1.24 g/t, containing about 800 000 oz of gold in the inferred category.