A proposed expansion that would add nearly 50 acres of land and seven years of mining activity to the Coeur Wharf gold mine in Lead will face its final hurdle before the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources this week.
South Dakota's Board of Minerals and Environment will hold two days of contested case hearings in Pierre to determine whether Wharf Resources is qualified to receive an expansion permit. Wharf has been in operation since December 1982 and has been granted four additional mining permits to expand its operation: two in 1986, one in 1998 and another in 2011.
The Boston Expansion would add 48.2 acres of land to the existing Wharf Mine, an open pit, heap-leach gold operation that's the last of its kind in South Dakota. Lawrence County Commissioners approved a conditional use permit for the Boston Expansion in January 2022. The expansion would render 6.7 million tons of ore, according to Wharf's large-scale permit application from June 2022, to be processed in Wharf's existing heap-leaching facility.
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Their initial plans indicate the first phase of expansion will occur in the Flossie Pit in 2023 should the permit be granted. They'll move onto the Portland Pit after mining in Flossie, planning to backfill the mined areas with waste rock as they go. Wharf has been doing concurrent reclamation and plans to continue salvaging topsoil with the goal of returning the area to rangeland.
Four isolated areas with the potential for acid rock drainage were identified as part of the permit application; Wharf plans to buffer those areas to neutralize potential acid-generating material.
"Wharf has operated for nearly 40 years without encountering significant acid producing conditions. Also, historic mines in the current mine area, which date back to the late 1800s, have not been a source of significant acid rock drainage," Wharf said in its application.
The report identifies two different sources of nitrate at the Wharf Mine which occur in groundwater in the area. The first is a natural breakdown of residual cyanide; the other is blasting residue from ammonium nitrate fuel-oil explosives. Wharf said several "accidental, low-level cyanide and ammonia release" impacted Annie Creek in the '90s and early 2000s. They use denitrifying bacteria to spray leach pads and spent ore, inject them into areas where nitrate in groundwater may be elevated, and treat ponds with water from sumps, spent ore repositories, process water and water treatment plants, the application stated.
Wharf is currently in violation of the surface water standard for selenium at False Bottom Springs and DANR issued a warning letter in 2021. The mitigation project, which included sonic drilling to analyze the source of the selenium, is ongoing.
Data from wildlife and vegetation surveys from 2020 and 2021 were used as part of the Boston Expansion permitting; Wharf conducted separate surveys for bat habitat and nesting raptors as required by South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks. The Northern Long-Eared Bat is listed as an endangered species, while four other species — Townsend's Big-Eared Bat, Silver-Haired Bat, Long-Eared Myotis and Fringe-Tailed Myotis — are listed as sensitive. Wharf's report states no bats were located in old mine works or cliffs along the proposed expansion areas. Three mine shafts in the area were closed as well.
The Broad-Winged Hawk, listed as rare under South Dakota's Natural Heritage Program, has been sporadically sighted in the western portion of the proposed Boston Expansion area, according to Wharf's permit application. They say no active nests have been observed in the area since 2003. Wharf will attempt to transplant a small patch of 10 thinleaf huckleberry plants — a sensitive species — should the area be disturbed during mining.
Opposition letters sent into DANR ask the permit not be issued due to the potential environmental impact from spills. The Prairie Hills Audubon Society requested the permit be denied until South Dakota's regulations on cyanide are improved and the bonds required by mining companies are increased. A Lead resident asked that "some portion of the northwestern Black Hills" be left alone, while another expressed concern about the potential contamination of aquifers. Others still cited the destruction of the Black Hills' unique landscape.
This Journal file photo shows a truck containing 150 tons of rock coming up from the bottom of the Wharf Mine in Lead.
Black Hills Clean Water Alliance Executive Director Dr. Lilias Jarding wrote a letter opposing the expansion and claimed 181 reported surface spills since 1983. BHCWA worked with a geochemist from Columbia University to measure samples from Fantail, Whitewood and Annie Creeks; they say results appear to show multiple elevated samples of uranium and arsenic.
Carla Marshall of Rapid City petitioned to intervene in the permit process in late April, saying the process shows a lack of government-to-tribal communications, a violation of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty and incomplete reporting data on the state website.
"From what I have gathered, from 1983 to 2023 Wharf/Coeur Mining, including the Golden Reward Mine, filed 216 'accident' reports," Marshall wrote. "The total amount of these reports comes out to be 125,333, but that is not an accurate amount as nine or more of these reports filed with the State are void of amount and unit."
In contrast, multiple organizations in the Northern Hills wrote to support the expansion at Wharf Mine, including the Lawrence County Commissioners, who cited Wharf as a "vital, reliable and consistent employer." Coeur Wharf's website shows they employ 260 mining professionals, 98% of whom live in the Black Hills.
Organizations like Wellfully and the United Way of the Black Hills wrote to support the expansion and highlighted Coeur Wharf's contributions to the local community since their inception.
"Employees of Coeur Wharf sit on our Northern Hills Community Cabinet as well as our Board of Directors. Employees and the company contribute to our fundraising campaign, which funds the grants to nonprofits. They have also been a partner in our education efforts in the Northern Hills," wrote Jamie Toennies, then-executive director of UWBH in Jan. 2022.
Director of SD CEO West Women's Business Center Michelle Kane said Wharf has been a key sponsor of their Women in Leadership Program for seven years, and that "it's really an example of a successful business and community nonprofit partnership where we are more efficient working together."
DANR issued a recommendation of conditional approval to Wharf for the Boston Expansion, stating it addresses all legal requirements. Their formal recommendation includes stipulations requiring Wharf to submit an annual surface and groundwater characterization report on or before March 1 each year; notify DANR within five working days of receiving any written complaints from landowners about dust, noise and blasting; and do tree-clearing operations outside of migratory bird nesting season.
The South Dakota Board of Minerals and Environment will hold a contested case hearing on the Boston Expansion permit application beginning at 9 a.m. Mountain Time May 18 and 19 in Pierre. The board will either approve, conditionally approve or disapprove the application. Any decision may be appealed to the circuit court and the State Supreme Court.
