Chapter 02-02.2. In Situ Leach Mineral Mining Rules

A permit is required prior to commencement of mining. The commission shall review the facility permit at least once every five years to determine whether the permit should be amended, modified, or revoked. History: Effective January 1, 2009; amended effective October 1, 2020. Gen…

Any person who conducts or expects to conduct mining operations shall file with the department a complete permit application and all required materials. The applicant shall file with the department proof that it submitted a copy of the application to the county recorder in the co…

The department will determine whether the application is complete. The department will notify the applicant in writing, within thirty days after the application is submitted, whether the application is complete or specify deficiencies that must be corrected in order to complete t…

1. The department will have one hundred eighty days after the filing date to approve or disapprove the application. 2. The department may extend the review period not to exceed an additional one hundred eighty days if: a. Additional time is needed to correct application deficienc…

A fee of twenty thousand dollars must accompany the permit application. Permit revisions may require additional fees not to exceed ten thousand dollars. The annual operating fees must be based upon the costs to monitor and inspect the facility. History: Effective January 1, 2009;…

The commission will give thirty days' notice (except in an emergency) to the general public of the time and place of the hearing on the application. Immediately upon receiving notice of the hearing date, the permit applicant shall give notice by certified mail to surface and subs…

Additional information submitted to the department by the applicant to supplement, correct, amend, or clarify an application following the filing date must also be submitted with the county recorder in the county or counties in which the proposed permit area is located. The addit…

Within the first ten days of the review period of a permit application, the department shall send copies of the application to the department of agriculture, the state department of health, and to the state water commission. History: Effective January 1, 2009. General Authority: …

The permit application must contain a summary document that describes the main elements of the operation and identifies the major environmental issues involved. History: Effective January 1, 2009. General Authority: NDCC 38-12-03 Law Implemented: NDCC 38-12-03

Within ninety days of the hearing, or a reasonable time thereafter, the department will notify the applicant of the commission's decision as to whether the permit is approved or denied. History: Effective January 1, 2009. General Authority: NDCC 38-12-03 Law Implemented: NDCC 38-…

1. Before any person receives a mining permit, the person shall submit to the department and obtain its approval of a surety bond or cash bond. An alternate form of security may be 9 approved by the department. Each such surety bond must be executed by a responsible surety compan…

1. All applications must be submitted in a format satisfactory to the department. The applicant shall provide information that is complete, current, presented clearly and concisely, and supported by appropriate references to technical and other written material. All technical ana…

1. The application must: a. Describe by legal description the land for which a permit is sought. b. Identify all property interests the applicant holds, including options, in the lands for which a permit is sought and in all contiguous land. This identification must cover surface…

1. Baseline water quality and water level data must be submitted with the application. The data must represent at least a one-year period during which data is collected monthly unless the applicant can demonstrate to the department's satisfaction that less frequent sampling or sa…

Applications must include a mining plan, which must include: 1. A narrative description of the mining and milling techniques to be employed, including plan view maps of the proposed mining; 2. A narrative description of the proposed depth and direction of mining including represe…

Applications must include a reclamation plan that contains the following: 1. Discussion and information necessary to demonstrate that ground water restoration will be achieved, including: a. A list of the proposed wellfields; b. A map showing the estimated sequence for restoring …

In deciding whether a sufficient demonstration has been made by the operator under subsection 1 of section 43-02-02.2-18, the department shall consider the premining baseline water quality and geochemistry, including up-gradient and down-gradient aquifers and the direction and ve…

1. Based upon the information submitted under subsection 1 of section 43-02-02.2-18 and the determination under section 43-02-02.2-19, the department shall develop a tabulation of assigned ground water quality restoration values that are the compliance requirements for restoring …

areas. 1. Before mining a new area in a production zone, the operator shall submit a baseline ground water quality sampling plan that includes an adequate number of wells and samples to adequately characterize baseline water quality in production and nonproduction zones in and ad…

The department, through permit conditions, may approve proposed technical revisions to the injection well portion of a permit without requiring a permit amendment. These revisions may include the following: 1. Correcting typographical errors; 2. Modifying monitoring plan reportin…

The department, after notice and hearing, may exempt an aquifer or a portion of an aquifer and designate it as an exempted aquifer for class III underground injection control if it meets the following criteria: 1. It does not currently serve as a source of drinking water; and 2. …

An injection well for mining must comply with this chapter. History: Effective January 1, 2009. General Authority: NDCC 38-12-02 Law Implemented: NDCC 38-12-02

In selecting well locations, protecting wells, and maintaining well covers, the following requirements apply: 1. The top of the casing must end at least twelve inches [30.48 centimeters] above grade. The top of the casing must end at least twenty-four inches [60.96 centimeters] a…

1. Construction requirements listed in this section apply to all wells installed for activities related to mining. 2. The department may grant a deviation from the requirements through a technical revision, if the operator proves that alternative requirements are reliable, ensure…

The following construction requirements apply to injection wells and are in addition to the requirements of section 43-02-02.2-26: 1. Appropriate logs and other tests must be maintained and conducted during the drilling and construction of injection wells. A descriptive report pr…

In determining the number, location, and construction of monitoring wells, and the frequency of sampling from monitoring wells, the following must be considered: 1. Whether any person relies on the underground source of drinking water affected or potentially affected by the injec…

1. The operator may dispose and bury drill cuttings in a pit at the well site, such as the mud pit used to circulate drilling fluids, once the drilling operation is complete, if: a. The drill cuttings are generated from the well at the well site; b. The drill cuttings are not con…

1. Injection and production wells must maintain mechanical integrity until the wells are plugged under the approved plugging and abandonment plan. 2. Before putting a new injection well into service, its mechanical integrity must be tested. A schedule and methods for mechanical i…

All phases of well construction and testing must be done under the supervision of a water well or monitoring well contractor pursuant to chapter 33.1-18-01 and North Dakota Century Code chapter 43-35. History: Effective January 1, 2009; amended effective October 1, 2020. General …

wells. The requirements for plugging drill holes and repairing, converting, and plugging wells are as follows: 1. All drill holes must be plugged under subsection 19 of section 33.1-18-01-06 requirements, as applicable, in a manner that will not allow fluids to move either into o…

1. Improperly sealed, completed, or abandoned wells must be corrected. The operator shall submit a plan, for department approval, that sets forth actions to be taken to prevent movement of fluid between or into water-bearing strata, including underground sources of drinking water…

The department may approve proposed technical revisions under section 43-02-02.2-22 to allow the operator to construct and operate new injection wells within the permit area if: 1. The wells meet the construction requirements; and 2. The cumulative effect of drilling and operatin…

1. The operator shall submit plans and specifications to the department before constructing the following surface facilities: a. Process or recovery plants and satellite facilities; 27 b. Ponds and impoundments; c. Pipelines; d. Well houses or transfer stations; e. Fuel storage a…

1. The operator shall develop, for the department's approval, a construction quality assurance plan that addresses all aspects of constructing surface facilities. The plan must include the following: a. A description of the responsibilities and authorities of key personnel, inclu…

1. Pipeline systems must be constructed with materials that have the strength, thickness, and chemical properties that prevent failure due to pressure gradients, physical contact with the waste or fluids to which the pipes are exposed, climatic conditions, stress of installation,…

construction requirements. Radioactive element mine recovery plants and satellite facilities must be designed and constructed in accordance with United States nuclear regulatory commission requirements. History: Effective January 1, 2009; amended effective October 1, 2020. Genera…

Radioactive solids must be disposed of in accordance with article 33.1-10, United States nuclear regulatory commission source and byproduct material license requirements, and North Dakota Century Code chapters 23.1-02 and 38-23. History: Effective January 1, 2009; amended effecti…

All liquid waste streams must be: 1. Collected and retained in lined evaporation ponds or impoundments constructed in accordance with chapter 33.1-20-08.1; 2. Disposed of in a permitted class I or V underground injection control disposal well under a department of environmental q…

All nonradioactive solid waste must be disposed of offsite at a permitted solid waste facility or may be disposed of onsite if disposal occurs in a solid waste facility permitted according to the North Dakota 29 solid waste rules in article 33.1-20. In addition, the demolition an…

The permit must include maximum injection volume and pressure limits that may not be exceeded, except during well stimulation, to ensure that fractures are not created in the confining zone or zones, injected fluids do not migrate into any unauthorized zone or underground source …

The permit's monitoring plan must describe the procedures for monitoring the quantity and quality of mining solution and ground water in the production area and must include provisions for: 1. The analysis of the physical and chemical characteristics of the injected fluid, with s…

Production area monitoring wells may be located no more than three hundred feet [91.44 meters] from the production area and with spacing no greater than four hundred feet [121.92 meters] between 30 monitoring wells. Alternative monitoring well locations and spacing may be conside…

The majority of monitoring wells in nonproduction zones must be located in the down gradient direction of ground water flow in the aquifer in which the wells are completed. In addition: 1. Nonproduction zone monitoring wells must be completed in any aquifer potentially affected b…

Subsidence must be controlled to ensure that the values and uses of the aquifers and the surface resources will not be degraded. If the injection wells penetrate an aquifer in an area subject to subsidence or catastrophic collapse, an adequate number of monitoring wells must be c…

Recovery fluid must be restricted to those production zones that have been classified by the department as an exempted aquifer within the area of production. If recovery fluids migrate outside the production zone or into aquifers above or below the production zone, the operator s…

The operator shall report any suspected excursion to the department within twenty-four hours of detection and initiate actions required by section 43-02-02.2-49. The operator shall provide monitoring data or other information that indicates any contaminant may cause adverse impac…

1. If a routine sample analysis ("initial sampling") indicates a control parameter is exceeding its upper level value in a monitoring well, the operator shall complete a verifying analysis ("second sampling") of samples taken from the affected well and the monitoring wells adjace…