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All surface disturbances will occur on leased patented mining claims. No Federal lands will be <br />disturbed. New ground disturbance will be restricted to within the historic open pit and on the <br />adjacent historic waste dump. Current planning indicates approximately 9.7 acres will <br />eventually be disturbed, 6.5 acres in the open pit and 3.2 acres on the existing waste dump. <br />Mining and Processing <br />The ore at Crystal Hill occurs in a cone shaped, mineralized and altered breccia pipe. The <br />breccia pipe is exposed in the bottom and east sides of the existing open pit. The country rock <br />surrounding the breccia pipe ranges from coarsely jointed, unaltered quartz latite on the <br />eastern side to weakly consolidated, broken, flat -lying agglomerates on the western side. The <br />more erosion resistant quartz latite forms the mass of Crystal Hill and much of the high wall of <br />the open pit. <br />The breccia pipe will be mined from its present surface exposures, approximately 9,000 feet <br />elevation, to approximately 8,900 feet elevation by conventional open pit methods. It is <br />estimated that'd -tons of material will be mined per year and that mining will be occurring <br />less than 180 days per year. Crawler type tractors will be used to break and move the ore. The <br />fragmented ore will be screened on -site, the fines loaded with a front -end loader into trucks <br />and transported to an off -site mill. All mining should be completed within five years. <br />However, this projected time frame is tentative and based only on projections from historic <br />resource estimates. Due to the geologic character of the Crystal Hill ore body, additional <br />precious metal bearing rock may be found below and adjacent to the planned pit floor. <br />The historic open pit has been engineered with slopes consistent with modern safe mining <br />practices. No subsurface water was encountered by previous operators while enlarging the <br />open pit. The western side of the pit is day lighted and has topographic closure. This condition <br />will continue to exist as the pit is deepened. No acid mine drainage exists, or emanates from <br />the open pit inasmuch as the sulfide minerals and water necessary to produce acid effluent do <br />not exist in the present ore zone at Crystal Hill. <br />It is anticipated that the amount of mine waste will be minimal. Any mine waste, overburden <br />and below ore -grade mineralized rock, generated during mining operations, will be placed on <br />the adjacent mine waste disposal area. Waste material will be stacked at the angle of repose. <br />The broken and angular nature of the rock will provide for maximum permeability providing <br />good drainage of the waste dumps and minimum water retention. Elimination of water from <br />the dump should provide for maximum stabilization. The waste disposal area will be <br />maintained in accordance with good engineering practices and State laws. <br />No buildings or storage facilities are planned. Fuel will not be stored at the mine. All fuel will <br />be transported to the mine daily. No additional roads will be constructed. No water will be <br />used in the mining or screening of the ore. Drilling by the previous operator found no <br />