Arturo 25 Sites Cultural Resources Mitigation

SWCA conducted data recovery at 25 prehistoric archaeological sites for cultural resource mitigation purposes under the jurisdiction of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. SWCA also prepared the treatment plan, which was approved by the Bureau of Land Management with Nevada State Historic Preservation Office concurrence. For Barrick’s Dee Arturo joint venture, SWCA conducted data recovery mitigation activities for 29 archaeological sites in Elko and Eureka Counties, Nevada.

SWCA completed excavations at 25 of these sites in 2011, drawing on our considerable staffing and logistical capabilities to finish this very large project within a single field season. Excavation of these 25 sites required a large team of archaeologists working 4 months in the field, with only 2 weeks of preparation time required before fieldwork began. Following excavation, over 28,000 artifacts were analyzed, the 76,000 artifacts collected were processed for curation, and a complete draft report (totaling several hundred pages) was submitted to the Elko BLM within only 9 months after the completion of fieldwork. Fieldwork at the remaining four sites, which were more recently added to the project, was completed in 2012.

In support of this fieldwork, SWCA prepared the required treatment plans, completed the large-scale laboratory and report effort, and has submitted a complete final report to the BLM. In previous years, SWCA has also conducted several smaller-scale excavation and survey projects on the Arturo property and has performed BLM file searches in support of the Arturo EIS.