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1. Many all old gravel piles will be mined and removed from the site. These piles have steep slopes in <br />many cases and make a relatively unusable landform. Their removal will make a flatter and more <br />easily reclaimed surface. <br />2. The piles would never revegetate, since there are no fines for plants to take root in. The gravel mining <br />and gold mining will produce fines that will be salvaged and stockpiled to reclaim old areas after they <br />are mined. New mine areas will salvage all existing topsoil. <br />The geology of the site is best described as the upper reach of the South Platte River in Pliestocene glacial <br />moraine gravels mixed with some Quaternary gravels of recent age. Sand beds and clay beds are also <br />interspersed with the alluvium. Depths of this material range from 10' to 60' within the permit area. These <br />gravels overlay a bedrock of pre - Cambrian schist, gneiss and intrusive granite, which are also present in <br />the mountains on both sides of the permit area. Only minor stratification has been seen in the gravels <br />since boulders of 10 " -15" size are found in some sand beds, probably from glacial meltwater. The gold <br />veins in igneous rock on the south side of Hoosier Pass and in the upper basin of the South Platte drainage <br />are the origin of the placers through thousands of years of glacial activity during the last ice age and <br />subsequent erosion. Due to the fineness of the gold at the site (0.833 fine), the gold placer has been traced <br />to gold from North Star Mountain in the Montgomery Deadwood area in the upper reach of the basin. <br />Gold placer mining and sand & gravel mining will be addressed separately although they will be part of <br />the same permit. <br />Alma Place Mine 01/15 9 <br />