San Francisco – Newmont Mining Corp. must renegotiate expansion plans at two Nevada mines after an appeals court ruled their permits violate federal environmental laws.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that the Bureau of Land Management must consider the impact of existing mines before allowing Newmont to expand gold operations near Carlin, Nev.
The decision overturns a federal court decision siding with the agency and Denver-based Newmont.
“We conclude that the cumulative impacts analysis done by the Bureau was insufficient,” Judge J. Clifford Wallace wrote for the three-judge panel.
Newmont, the BLM and the environmental group that sued them, Great Basin Mine Watch, must renegotiate the permits under the supervision of the federal court in Carson City, Nev., said Roger Flynn, a lawyer for Great Basin.
