DRMS Comment Objection Intake 8/17/2021 2:07:22 PM

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Alternate Phone Number Used only to follow up. Alternate Phone Extension Connection to Operation Select all that apply Land Owner of affected land Structure Owner within 200' of affected land Mineral Owner Nearby Resident Adjacent Land Owner Concerned Citizen Government Agency Other DESCRIPTION OF COMMENT OR OBJECTION (Please be as specific as possible) Comment/Objection Narrative To whom it may concern, I am a concerned citizen of Fremont County and a property owner near the site of the proposed gold mine referenced in my comment below. I would like to have my voice heard and let it be known that I stand firmly against the proposed mining operation. The organization submitting the mining permit application is Zephyr Minerals.Zephyr is a Canadian public company based in Nova Scotia.While they do rent some space in Canon City,they have no roots or facilities in Colorado or anywhere in the USA.Any money they might ultimately make will be returned to Canada.They were formed in 2012 for the sole purpose of exploring minerals in our area(so most of the homes in the area were built before Zephyr Minerals even existed).The two Zephyr principals have had an interest in claims in the area dating back to the 1980's. My primary concerns are environmental but I also am dubious on the ROI of this permit for the actual residents and municipalities of Fremont County. Zephyr's worked hard to avoid any environmental impact assessments,and done exploration in the Grape Creek area which is"two protective federal designations,the Grape Creek Area of Critical Environmental Concern(ACEC), identified in the BLM's 1996 Royal Gorge Field Office Resource Management Plan(RMP), and the Lower Grape Creek Wilderness Study Area(WSA)."Clearly they are avoiding thorough evaluation of their operations. The location of the proposed mine is approximately: •4 miles southwest of downtown Canon City • 1.5 miles from Carson City Limits • 1.3 miles from Grape Creek Water risks: The mine site at 6,500 feet elevation is 1,000 feet higher elevation than Grape Creek and the Arkansas river. It is upstream from the water plant intake for Fremont County.Any discharge from mining operations will find its way to the aquifers underground and/or the water flows.The mining operation would use approximately 65,000,000 gallons of water per year and an unspecified amount of chemicals.With the site just 1,000 feet above the Grape Creek and Arkansas River area,this creates the potential for pollution of the water for present and future generations. For a county that relies heavily on tourism dollars,the idea of permitting something that could and likely will cause negative impact on those dollars with little, if any,tangible benefits to the localities involved seems irresponsible.According to the Fremont County Tourism Council, in 2019, Fremont County saw an ROI of$219 to every$1 spent on tourism and a positive economic impact in the tens of millions. I do not believe a gold mine owned by a foreign entity would produce that type of return.> https://royaIgorgeregion.com/wp-content/uploads/FCTC-2019-EOY-Report.pdf Furthermore,the demand on underground aquifers has been estimated in the permit as"insignificant"but there is no monitoring or measures to be sure that the demand is having an"insignificant"impact.