COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP

small-scale, limited impact exploration

Why F3 Gold supports Environmental Assessments for exploration drilling projects

Rob Bergman

President, F3 Gold

Environmental Assessments for small-scale drilling? We say yes. Here’s why.

For those familiar with small-scale explorational drilling projects, the idea of an Environmental Assessment may be unfamiliar territory or may feel like overkill. But for F3 Gold’s proposed Jenny Gulch exploration project we have been cooperative and supportive of the US Forest Service as they conduct a thorough EA for our project.

Here’s why we’re doing it, and what it means for this and future projects:

SMALL-SCALE, LIMITED IMPACT
Small impact projects such as the one proposed by F3 Gold fall within a Categorical Exclusion and can be permitted by the USFS under a streamlined process. F3 Gold agreed to a more costly and exhaustive Environmental Assessment because we are confident in the steps we have taken to ensure our project is safe. We are setting a higher standard for sustainable exploration and elevating the requirements for future operations.

WHAT IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT?
An Environmental Assessment (EA) is a process used to identify, estimate and evaluate potential environmental impacts of a project. The USFS requires that the applicant (F3 Gold) pay for the assessment, but the EA is actually conducted by a third party (in this case Barr Engineering). Through the EA process, the USFS identifies any areas they would like the applicant to address by making adjustments to the proposed project. At the end of the EA the USFS will release a draft EA for public review. We are confident the USFS will ultimately issue a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) decision.

WILL THERE BE PUBLIC INPUT?
The role of the USFS is to ultimately determine any conditions it will place on F3 Gold’s exploration proposal. Before the EA process began, USFS sought public comments to provide input on what to look at during the EA. Once they have put together a draft EA there will again be a comment and objection period during which the public can provide input on the USFS’s findings. We are proud of our proposed plan of operations and we encourage you to review the EA and make comments!

CONTACT US

We’re committed to building positive and strong relationships with all of our stakeholders. Have a question or concern? We’d love to hear from you.