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111CJbayC. vvC aIC auVIJCU Uy%Nul lJCl 11 laL yl VCII UIC IIII CaL ul P"A IU II Iy ICyal al.Uull aya II lJL LCFA IyI IVI II ICIaIJ <br /> Ltd.("Zephyr"or the"Company'),that the Company will not be hosting any further information sessions other <br /> than those specific to the requirements of any permit applications".Apparently they decided it is best to work <br /> through formal channels and not the public.One can only speculate as to their rationale. It is true that a suit <br /> was being considered.Why would Zephyr not want to share information as a good neighbor? <br /> Zephyr's worked hard to avoid any environmental impact assessments,and done exploration in the Grape <br /> Creek area which is"two protective federal designations,the Grape Creek Area of Critical Environmental <br /> Concern(ACEC),identified in the BLM's 1996 Royal Gorge Field Office Resource Management Plan(RMP), <br /> and the Lower Grape Creek Wilderness Study Area(WSA)."Clearly they are avoiding thorough evaluation of <br /> their operations. <br /> The location of the proposed mine is approximately: <br /> •4 miles southwest of downtown Canon City <br /> • 1.5 miles from Canon City Limits <br /> • 1.3 miles from Grape Creek <br /> Growth: <br /> Zephyr has expanded their holdings,changed the minerals being investigated,and changed their proposed <br /> mining techniques since being formed.While change is typical, no one knows what the next revision will be. <br /> And no one local is being involved or educated.Change just happens regardless of how the community sees <br /> the growth. For example,on February 21,2020 Zephyr announced:"Zephyr Minerals Ltd.continues to advance <br /> its 100%owned high grade Dawson-Green Mountain Project in Colorado, USA.After expanding its land <br /> package to 1,385 hectares(3,430 acres)the Company plans to explore the entire 12.2 km(7.5 mi)mineralized <br /> trend using the Broken Hill Type deposit as an exploration model."Change is likely to occur again.Will it be in <br /> favor of Zephyr or will the community and area be a primary concern? <br /> Water risks: <br /> The mine site at 6,500 feet elevation is 1,000 feet higher elevation than Grape Creek and the Arkansas river. It <br /> is upstream from the water plant intake for Fremont County.Any discharge from mining operations will find its <br /> way to the aquifers underground and/or the water flows.The mining operation would use approximately <br /> 65,000,000 gallons of water per year and an unspecified amount of chemicals.With the site just 1,000 feet <br /> above the Grape Creek and Arkansas River area,this creates the potential for pollution of the water for present <br /> 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: <br /> The permit is non-specific in the amount of water reserved for fire mitigation. It states"sufficient."There is no <br /> Fire Protection plan associated with the current application. How could government entities approve the permit <br /> without an assurance of being able to mitigate a fire before it becomes a wild fire?The mine location is in a <br /> 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: <br /> 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 />