Comstock mining inc. receives permit modification from nevada division of environmental protection

Comstock mining inc. announced that the company recently received approval for an engineering design change (“edc”) from the nevada division of environmental protection (“ndep”) approving the mercury remediation pilot test plant located within comstock's existing leach pad. comstock recently received approval for the edc from ndep approving the mercury remediation pilot test plant that will be located within comstock's existing heap leach pad under comstock’s existing water pollution control permit. the mercury treatment and recovery test location will be at the north end of comstock’s existing double lined heap leach pad and the treatment plant will be a zero-discharge, closed-loop system. this ndep and u.s. environmental protection agency (“epa”) based approvals for sampling, analysis, and management of historically-contaminated soils on comstock properties enables mcu to commence sampling and testing materials over the next two weeks, with the objective of identifying the best target areas for mercury remediation. comstock provides the platform for testing and mcu conducts the sampling and trials that prove efficacy, scalability and feasibility. sampling will begin with using a portable, gasoline-powered auger drill mounted on a hand-truck dolly that extracts samples from 4-6 inch diameter holes from the material in a grid fashion and the samples will be analyzed for mercury and precious metals. the sampling auger drill is scheduled for delivery onto comstock’s site this week and mcu will begin obtaining samples of possible mercury-contaminated soils, historic mine and mill materials, historic tailings, and mine waste samples using previously approved protocols for the comstock's carson river mercury superfund site (crmss). the company will operate under ndep's and the epa protocols, guidance and goals for sampling, characterizing, transporting and managing mercury within the crmss. the crmss material management plan was previously approved by ndep’s bureau of corrective action (“bca”). larger scale excavation of materials will start within a few months and the materials will be stockpiled near the pilot test plant. the pilot test plant will start operating small batches, likely in january, 2020. all material and process water from the mcu test plant will remain on the heap leach pad. all mercury recovered during testing will be collected into epa, united nations, department of transportation approved liquid mercury flasks or containers, and remain on the existing heap leach pad until shipped offsite to an appropriate mercury storage or management facility.
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