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Alternate Phone Number <br /> Used only to follow up. <br /> Alternate Phone Extension <br /> Connection to Operation <br /> Select all that apply <br /> Land Owner of affected land Structure Owner within 200' of affected land <br /> Mineral Owner Nearby Resident <br /> Adjacent Land Owner Concerned Citizen <br /> Government Agency Other <br /> DESCRIPTION OF COMMENT OR OBJECTION <br /> (Please be as specific as possible) <br /> Comment/Objection Narrative <br /> Dear Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety decision makers, <br /> PLEASE do not approve the Zephyr Gold USA Ltd mining permit application(mining permit No: M2021046)! <br /> The application does not include sufficient provisions to address short-or long-term risks and reclamation, lacks <br /> adequate environmental impact assessments,and does not make sense in terms of public risk versus public <br /> benefit. I ask you to please consider the information below for each of these three points as part of your <br /> decision-making. <br /> 1)Risks and Reclamation <br /> Water risks-The mine site at 6,500 feet elevation is 1,000 feet higher elevation than Grape Creek and the <br /> Arkansas river. It is upstream from the water plant intake for Fremont County.Any discharge from mining <br /> operations will find its way to the aquifers underground and/or the water flows.The mining operation would use <br /> approximately 65,000,000 gallons of water per year and an unspecified amount of chemicals.With the site just <br /> 1,000 feet above the Grape Creek and Arkansas River area,this creates the potential for pollution of the water <br /> for present and future generations. <br /> The demand on underground aquifers has been estimated in the permit as"insignificant"but there is no <br /> monitoring or measures to be sure that the demand is having an"insignificant"impact. <br /> Zephyr claims:"Not a single forest fire in the USA has been traced back to or been attributed to a modern <br /> mining operation."and"The mine operation will manage process water and storm water.The mill process water <br /> will flow through a closed recycling system with very little discharge if any."How many unexpected disasters <br /> have resulted from mining?It is certainly possible that the proposed Dawson Gold Mine could be yet another <br /> disaster in the making. <br /> Fire risks-The permit is non-specific in the amount of water reserved for fire mitigation. It states"sufficient." <br /> There is no Fire Protection plan associated with the current application. How could government entities approve <br /> the permit without an assurance of being able to mitigate a fire before it becomes a wild fire?The mine location <br /> is in a juniper forest,semi-arid climate which is essentially a tinder box. <br /> There would be"approximately 13,000 pounds of explosives onsite for up to a week of blasting activity... <br /> replenished weekly".Adding explosives to an area already a tinder box for a wild fire could create a wild fire <br /> that wipes out the entire region particularly without an established fire protection plan.Why incur this risk? <br /> Chemical risks-Chemicals that will be used in specified processing include: <br /> -Potassium Amyl Xanthate-2,250 Ibs onsite <br /> -Methyl IsoButyl Carbinol-900 Ibs <br /> -Generic anionic emulsion flocculent-450 Ibs <br /> That's 3,600 pounds of chemicals to be stored onsite and refreshed as needed. No one knows how these <br /> chemicals will interact with the ore taken from the mine and whether they will become toxic or not. Mix <br /> chemicals and ore of unknown reaction with 65,000,000 gallons of water annually and a potential disaster could <br />