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estimated gallons of water to be used per year by the mill operation. Based on the values given, <br /> the Division calculates the operation will use a total of 13,988,520 gallons of water per year [50 <br /> tons ore per day x 260 days per year = 13,000 tons ore per year x 4 tons water = 52,000 tons of <br /> water used per year; 1 ton water = 269.01 gallons (US liquid); so 52,000 tons water x 269.01 <br /> gallons = 13,988,520 gallons water used per year]. If this calculation is correct, the proposed <br /> annual water usage for mill operations greatly exceeds the maximum volume of water the <br /> operator can withdraw from Left Hand Creek during irrigation season (by 10,599,670 gallons). <br /> Please explain this discrepancy. <br /> CMC Response: This discrepancy was a mathematical error. The total amount of water that can <br /> be stored in the Times and Wynona Mines is believed to be more than 1,400,000 gallons of <br /> water. The amount of water that can be stored in these two mines' workings is believed to be <br /> sufficient to allow the Gold Hill Mill to process ore during the time when it will not be pumping <br /> water from Left Hand Creek under the conditions of the Water Court Decree. CMC plans to <br /> convert the existing tailings pond into a mill water storage facility to make up for any shortfall in <br /> water available for processing ore in the Gold Hill Mill. <br /> 16) The operator's response to item no. 26 states that water that has been pumped from any of <br /> the mines in this district and stored underground behind bulkheads has remained at a nearly <br /> constant level behind those bulkheads throughout the year. Please provide any available <br /> monitoring data that supports this statement. <br /> CMC Response: Presumably "any" in the Division's adequacy item above is meant to be <br /> "many." The water behind the Hazel A mine bulkhead was monitored on a regular basis when it <br /> was part of Colina Oro Molina's permit, and for a short time before ITEC Environmental <br /> removed it from being connected to the Gold Hill Mill's tailings pond sometime in April of <br /> 1998. A thorough search of the DRMS records has not disclosed any monitoring data, just <br /> general statements that the water level behind the Hazel A bulkhead was staying at a constant <br /> level. <br /> 17) The operator's response to item no. 26 states the quality of the fresh water pumped from Left <br /> Hand Creek behind the Times Mine bulkhead is not anticipated to introduce any adverse impacts <br /> on the quality of the groundwater found in any mine workings in this area. Please describe all <br /> known mine openings connected to the Times Mine or Wynona Mine workings. Does the <br /> operator anticipate any loss of stored water at these openings either directly or via fracture flow? <br /> CMC Response: The only known mine openings connected to the Times and Wynona Mine <br /> workings are the Times Mine adit and the Wynona Mine shaft. The operator does not anticipate <br /> any significant loss of stored water from behind the Times Mine bulkhead, because in more than <br /> thirty years no water has been found leaking from the concrete seal constructed in 1987. The <br /> Wynona Mine shaft has been caved from about ten feet down to about seventy or eighty feet <br /> below the surface for many years, and no water has ever been observed flowing from the collar <br /> of the shaft. The granitic rocks in this area are very competent, and there are no areas around <br /> 9 <br />