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locally intruded by dikes classified as amphibolites, and granodiorites. The veining is more <br />recent and can cut all of these units. Foliation generally follows bedding planes, and the veining <br />is generally concordant, or semi - concordant with the major bedding and foliation direction. <br />Mapping has shown the bedding to strike in a northwest direction ranging from north 30 <br />degrees west to north 60 degrees west. Disruption by metamorphic events had increased <br />variation of the strikes somewhat within localized areas. <br />The rock units have minimal porosity, thus no true aquifer exists within or in the near vicinity of <br />the permit area. Instead, whatever groundwater does exist, it is confined to fractures within <br />the bedrock, and any significant water production is related to the size of the fractures, the <br />number of fractures intercepted, and the connectivity between those fractures. The Lucky <br />Strike Mine has been developed along a northwest trending structure in which a vein also <br />occupies. Thus that structure, because of its later geologic disruption, contains groundwater <br />and has the capability of producing at small quantities. Based on historic mapping, there are no <br />known significant structures in the vicinity of the mine that cut across the general strike of the <br />rock units. As a result, based on this information, it is concluded that groundwater flow <br />direction is dominated by the northwest direction and its flow will be primarily to the northeast <br />or southwest along it depending on surface topography. Thus, groundwater, at and near the <br />permit area, will flow to the northwest along the bedding planes of the metasedimentary rocks <br />and along any secondary structures that parallel them. <br />The amphibolite dyke on which the Lucky Strike mine has been developed, trends on an <br />average of north 45 degrees west. The dyke, and its contact with the adjacent country rock <br />shows it to contain fracturing within the mine, and thus it can be reasoned that the dyke and <br />the interface between the dyke and the adjacent metasediments will also contain fracturing <br />along extensions. A spring, the Lucky Strike Mill Spring, is located about 1,500 feet west of the <br />mine site where the dyke crosses a small gulch. A historic connectivity between the mine and <br />that spring has been demonstrated, and it has been observed that when water has been <br />pumped from the mine, the output of the spring has had a corresponding decrease in flows. <br />This observation is reasonable, due to the location of the spring with respect to the northwest - <br />trending structure, the proximity of the spring to the mine, and the elevation difference <br />between the Lucky Strike Mine collar and discharge elevation of approximately 200 feet. <br />Thus, with connectivity of the spring with the mine having been established, the next issue is <br />the relationship of the Lucky Strike surface facilities with respect to the geologic structure that <br />is the major contributing source of the spring. Physiographically, the reason the mill and pond <br />were placed at their current locations was because of the relatively gentle nature of the land <br />surface. That gentleness is the result of the underlying less resistant amphibolite unit <br />