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NioCorp Seeking Permit For Waterline Outlet

By John Nixon

03/31/2017

NioCorp drill rig at Elk Creek

(KLZA)-- NioCorp Development has submitted a pre-construction notification permit application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a waterline, proposed to run form it mining site near Elk Creek to the Missouri River. John Nixon reports.

The permit application is for the outfall structure portion of the waterline in the Missouri River. Under current federal law, the remainder of the 33-mile waterline can move forward under non-notifying parameters of Nationwide Permit 12.

The proposed waterline is to have no permanent impacts on wetlands or stream channels and is to have only temporary impacts during construction.
NioCorp’s proposed underground mine, surface processing facilities and tailings impoundment are estimated to result in zero permanent impacts to any federally jurisdictional waters, thus requiring no discretionary permit from the Corp of Engineers.

According to the company release, the Elk Creek Project must still obtain a number of state and local permits prior to construction and operation. These include water, air quality, and other permits from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and other agencies.

NioCorp CEO Mark Smith said “We want to do the right thing for the environment, and that is a key reason why we invested more time and resources into further optimizing our plans for the Elk Creek mine and processing facility and the waterline.”

Smith called the optimizations a win for the project, the environment and Southeast Nebraska.

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