Nevada Gold Rail, an affiliate of Nevada Gold Mines LLC, seeks to connect the company's Cortez Mine, about 80 miles southwest of Elko, to roasting facilities at its Goldstrike Mine, about 55 miles north of the Cortez Mine and about 40 miles north-northwest of Elko. It would connect them through two newly-built sections of railroad as well as the existing Union Pacific main line. The Crescent Segment, of approximately 35.6 miles, would run from the UP main line near Beowawe, Nev., to the Cortez Mine; the Boulder Segment, of approximately 20.1 miles, would run from a spur serving a power plant near Battle Mountain, Nev., to the Goldstrike Mine.
In its filing seeking an exemption from the STB's prior approval requirements for construction, Nevada Gold Rail says it intends to contract with a third-party operator to provide common-carrier service on the route. The Cortez Mine is capable of producing up to 4 million tons of gold ore annually; the ore is currently transported by truck between the Cortez and Goldstrike Mines by trucks making up to 480 trips per day. Construction of the rail line, the company says, will decrease greenhouse gas emissions by about 78%, and reduce road congestion and traffic accidents while alleviating truck driver shortages. It will also allow rail transport of other materials to the mines. Trains of 50 to 110 cars would operate 350 days per year, with the remaining days set aside for maintenance.
The route, the company says, will be through a sparsely populated, largely undeveloped area with privately owned land as well as property held by federal, state, and local government agencies, but is designed to avoid privately owned land as much as possible. It would involve approximately 23 new grade crossings. The new line would operate as a common carrier available to other businesses that may operate in the area and would benefit from the connection to the Union Pacific line, the company says.
Parent company Nevada Gold Mines, a joint venture of Barrick Mining Corp. and Newmont Corp., produces 3.5 million ounces of gold per year, according to the filing, which says the company's eight mines in Nevada form the world's largest gold-producing complex.
