Stand Alone Report 11 - Noise Impacts Study - Bear Lodge ...

Stand Alone Report 11 Noise Impact Study ? Bear Lodge Project

Noise Impact Study

for the

Bear Lodge Project

in

Crook County and Weston County, Wyoming

August 28, 2014

Revision 1

Prepared for: Rare Element Resources 225 Union Blvd, Suite 250 Lakewood, CO 80228

Prepared by Behrens and Associates, Inc.

13806 Inglewood Avenue Hawthorne, CA 90250

Justin Puggioni Acoustical Engineer

Thomas Corbishley Engineering Manager

Hawthorne, California ~ Aledo, Texas ~ Napa California ~ Shreveport, Louisiana Denver, Colorado ~ Pittsburg, Pennsylvania Phone 800-679-8633 ~ Fax 310-331-1538

environmental-noise- ~

Behrens and Associates, Inc.

Acoustics, Noise and Vibration Consultants

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1

1.1 Purpose and Study Objectives ......................................................................................................1 1.2 Project Description .......................................................................................................................1 2. NOISE FUNDAMENTALS ............................................................................................................6 2.1 Noise Descriptors..........................................................................................................................6 3. EXISTING NOISE ENVIRONMENT............................................................................................9 3.1 Site Location and Conditions........................................................................................................9 3.2 Sound Measurement Instrumentation .........................................................................................10 3.3 Noise Measurement Results .......................................................................................................11 3.4 Weather Conditions ....................................................................................................................11 4. NOISE EVALUATION CRITERIA .............................................................................................15 4.1 Effects of Noise on People .........................................................................................................15 4.2 Effects of Noise on Wildlife Areas.............................................................................................16 5. IMPACTS OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT................................................................................17 5.1 Operational Noise ..........................................................................................................................17 5.2 Traffic Noise Analysis ................................................................................................................28 Appendix A................................................................................................................................................39

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Acoustics, Noise and Vibration Consultants

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3-1. Noise Receptor Location Description ......................................................................................10 Table 3-2. Ambient Noise Measurement Summary .................................................................................. 11 Table 4-1. Perceived Effect of Increasing Noise Levels ........................................................................... 15 Table 5-1. Sound Power Levels of Operational Noise Equipment for the Bull Hill Site..........................17 Table 5-2. Bull Hill Mine Operational Noise Results for Wildlife Areas ................................................. 22 Table 5-3. Bull Hill Mine Operational Noise Results for Camping and Residential Areas ...................... 22 Table 5-4. Sound Power Levels of Operational Noise Equipment for the Upton Plant ............................ 25 Table 5-5. Upton Plant Operational Noise Results....................................................................................26 Table 5-6. Project Traffic Data .................................................................................................................. 29 Table 5-7. Predicted Ldn Noise Levels at the Nearest Receptors for Project Traffic on Miller Creek Road ................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Table 5-8. Predicted Ldn Noise Levels at the Nearest Receptors for Project Traffic on Warren Peak Road ................................................................................................................................................................... 30

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1-1. Project Location Map................................................................................................................3 Figure 1-2. Bull Hill Mine Site Map ........................................................................................................... 4 Figure 1-3. Upton Plant Site Map................................................................................................................5 Figure 2-1. Typical Indoor and Outdoor A-Weighted Sound Levels ..........................................................8 Figure 3-1. Ambient Noise Measurement Locations in Vicinity of the Upton Plant Site.........................12 Figure 3-2. Ambient Noise Measurement Locations in Vicinity of the Bull Hill Mine Site ....................13 Figure 3-3. Ambient Noise Measurement Locations in Vicinity of the Bull Hill Mine Site (continued) .14 Figure 5-1. Receptor Locations in Vicinity of the Bull Hill Mine Site .....................................................19 Figure 5-2. Receptor Locations in Vicinity of the Bull Hill Mine Site (continued)..................................20 Figure 5-3. Receptor Locations in Vicinity of the Upton Plant Site .........................................................21 Figure 5-4. Operational Noise Contour Map- Bull Hill Mine Site............................................................24 Figure 5-5. Operational Noise Contour Map- Upton Plant Site ................................................................ 27 Figure 5-6. Proposed Project Truck Routes...............................................................................................28 Figure 5-7. 2025 Road Traffic Noise Miller Creek Road Route ............................................................... 32 Figure 5-8. 2025 Road Traffic Noise Miller Creek Road Route ............................................................... 33 Figure 5-9. 2025 Road Traffic Noise Miller Creek Road Route ............................................................... 34 Figure 5-10. 2025 Road Traffic Noise Warren Peak Road Route ............................................................. 35 Figure 5-11. 2025 Road Traffic Noise Warren Peak Road Route ............................................................. 36 Figure 5-12. 2025 Road Traffic Noise Warren Peak Road Route ............................................................. 37 Figure 5-13. 2025 Road Traffic Noise Upton Site ....................................................................................38

APPENDICES

Appendix A - Ambient Noise Measurement Data

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Acoustics, Noise and Vibration Consultants

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose and Study Objectives

The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the potential noise impacts associated with the proposed Bear Lodge Project in Crook County and Weston County, Wyoming. The Bear Lodge Project consists of the Bull Hill Mine located approximately 12 miles north of Sundance, Wyoming in central Crook County and the Upton Plant Site located 40 miles south of the Bull Hill Mine, approximately 2 miles northwest of the town of Upton, Wyoming in north-central Weston County. The Project Area consists of 8,750 acres and includes lands administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service - Black Hills National Forest ? Bearlodge Ranger District (Forest Service) and private lands. A map of the project location is shown in Figure 1-1.

The following information is provided in this report: A description of the proposed project and study area; Information regarding the fundamentals of noise; A description of the noise criteria; The existing ambient noise in the project area; An analysis of the potential noise impacts due to mining operations and traffic associated with the proposed project.

1.2 Project Description

Rare Element Resources, Inc. (RER) is proposing to mine and recover rare earth elements (REE) in northeastern Wyoming (Bear Lodge Project). REE are key components of green energy technologies and other high-technology applications. Some of the major applications include: hybrid automobiles, plug-in electric automobiles, advance wind turbines, nickel-metalhydride batteries, computer hard drives, magnetic refrigeration technologies, compact fluorescent light bulbs, metal alloys, additives in ceramics and glass, fluid and petroleum cracking catalysts, and a number of critical military uses.

The Bear Lodge Project consists of four components as follows: An open-pit mine operation at Bull Hill and associated support facilities located approximately 12 road miles north of Sundance, Wyoming; A Physical Upgrade (PUG) Plant for mineral pre-concentration located on-site adjacent to the mine; A hydrometallurgical (Hydromet) plant for further concentration and recovery of the REE into a rare earth carbonate concentrate product in Upton, Wyoming; and The continuation of exploration drilling and activities during mining operations.

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Acoustics, Noise and Vibration Consultants

The PUG Plant, located at the Bull Hill site (shown in Figure 1-2), is designed to maximize concentration of the rare earth minerals and produce a pre-concentrate using a crushing, screening, and gravity separation process. The mining plan will encounter a distinct high grade zone early in the project which will allow for preferential mining for a period of 9 years. Low and mid-grade ores will also be mined and stockpiled for future PUG processing. The PUG circuit has been designed to process up to 500 tons per day of high grade oxide ore to produce up to 425 tons per day of bulk mixed rare earth preconcentrate during the first 9 years of production. At mining Year 10, scheduled to occur in 2025, more of the ore grade begins to drop at the minable pit at Bull Hill and mining will begin at the Whitetail Pit. The production rate to the PUG will increase up to 1,000 tons per day in order to maintain a nearly consistent production of final rare earth oxide product. Stockpiled low and mid-grade ores will also be PUG processed along with fresh mined ore until mining Year 25 when the mineable pit ores will be depleted. Stockpiled ores will continue to be PUG processed up through Year 43 when they are estimated to be depleted. Reclamation of mining facilities will begin as soon as the mineable ores are depleted. The pre-concentrate produced at the PUG Plant will be transported to the Hydromet Plant, shown in Figure 1-3, near Upton via covered trucks. The Hydromet Plant will process the pre-concentrate through acid leaching followed by additional chemical processing to remove impurities and finally precipitation to produce the final total rare earth oxide product. The tailings produced from the process will be stored in a double lined tailings storage facility adjacent to the Hydromet Plant.

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Figure 1-1. Project Location Map

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Figure 1-2. Bull Hill Mine Site Map

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