Environment and Natural Resources
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 22, 2001
For more information: Kim Smith 773-3152

DENR Schedules Hearing on Reclamation Bond for Wharf Gold Mine

PIERRE – Today the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) announced a hearing has been scheduled for March 14, 2001 to set the amount of the reclamation bond for Wharf Resources gold mine near Deadwood. The hearing will be held before the South Dakota Board of Minerals and Environment.

At the hearing, DENR will recommend to the Board that the reclamation bond for Wharf’s open pit/heap leach gold mine be set at $12,141,000. Furthermore, DENR will recommend that Wharf be required to post the bond in the form of cash or certificates of deposit (CDs), corporate surety bonds, or letters of credit from a third party financial institution such as a bank. 

Wharf's current reclamation bond is $3.1 million, and it has deposited this amount in the form of certificates of deposit and a surety bond with DENR. However, reclamation bond amounts for large-scale gold mines are reviewed annually by DENR and the Board. DENR’s recommendation this year represents an increase of approximately $9 million. 

"Our recommended increase is a result of several factors," said DENR Secretary Steve Pirner. "In this year's calculations, DENR staff accounted for additional earthmoving and revegetation costs as Wharf expands into the Portland and Trojan Pit areas, water treatment costs for nitrates and certain metals that were not included previously, and for site maintenance costs that will accrue during an extended period of time while reclamation takes place."

The hearing will begin at 1:00 p.m. CST at the Matthew Environmental Education and Training Center, Joe Foss Building, 523 East Capitol, Pierre, South Dakota. 

"Because we want people who have an interest in the Wharf reclamation bond to have the opportunity to participate, we are providing wide notice of this hearing," said Pirner. 

For people who want to make a statement, the Board will allow them the opportunity to speak prior to the formal hearing. For people who want to participate as a party in the formal contested case hearing, they need to submit a petition by March 12, 2001, in accordance with the administrative rules of South Dakota, Chapter 74:09:01.

Those rules can be viewed from the Legislative Web page at http://legis.state.sd.us/rules/index.cfm, or a copy can be obtained by calling DENR mining program staff at 605-773-4201.

After this hearing on the reclamation bond amount, DENR staff will re-calculate postclosure bond amounts, and a second hearing may be scheduled before the Board. Currently, Wharf has posted $550,000 in CDs for postclosure care.

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