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Gold Hill Mill DMO <br />September 2022 B-4 <br /> <br />The Gold Hill Mill is a processing facility only, and no subsurface development is proposed. The <br />detailed geology of the Gold Hill Mill surroundings is more applicable to the gold mines of the area and <br />is covered in greater detail in permits such as the Cash Mine’s (M-1983-141). It is included here for <br />general reference. <br />Two mine shafts and one set of old workings can be found within the Gold Hill Mill affected area. The <br />shafts are the Times Drillhole and Wynona Shaft, which have been used historically to reach the Times- <br />Wynona Mine. The Times-Wynona Mine has not been active in many decades and has been used as a <br />water storage for the entire life of the Gold Hill Mill permit. Details on this water storage can be found in <br />Exhibit C. <br />No mining is proposed as part of this 110D permit. <br />2. Vegetative Cover and Soils Description <br /> <br /> Vegetation <br />The native vegetation found in the area is mainly Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, Blue spruce, and <br />Rocky Mountain juniper trees, which are growing along with scattered scrubs and a sparse <br />understory of grasses. Area soils have a rapid permeability, a low available water capacity, and a <br />shallow effective rooting depth. <br />No rare, threatened, or endangered plant species have been identified on or near to any of the <br />Permit Area(s) or in the Gold Hill area in general. The existing vegetation has been classified as a <br />coniferous forest consisting of mixed cone-bearing trees of the pine family, including various <br />species of pines (pinus), and Douglas fir (pseudotsuga). These trees are resinous evergreens, <br />with a straight axis and a narrow crown, and are characteristically present in acidic soils, often <br />sprouting after fire. The coniferous forest is widespread and extensive throughout the general <br />area, and can be found throughout the general area, and can be found at elevations between <br />6,000 and 10,000 feet. It encompasses the lower and upper montane zones, and includes <br />Lodgepole and Ponderosa pine. Engelmann and Blue spruce, Douglas fir, and thickets of broad- <br />leaved trees (i.e., aspen, alder, and maple) and shrubs along stream banks. These zones are <br />often referred to as the transitional zone between the foothill and sub-alpine zones. These zones <br />overlap and telescope into each other, and one zone may be present on a south slope while <br />another will be found across the valley on the opposite (north) slope at the same elevation. Plants <br />that are characteristically found in one zone can sometimes be found in favorable areas in the <br />neighboring zone above or below their usual habitat. <br />Douglas fir, Lodgepole pine, and Engelmann spruce are found at higher elevations, while <br />Ponderosa pine are generally found at lower elevations scattered stands of pure and mixed trees. <br />Douglas fir is considered the climax or original forest type present in this area before the boom <br />days of mining in the 1870s, when the trees were either extensively cut or destroyed by forest <br />fire. The present stands of Ponderosa and Lodgepole pine as well as the Engelmann and Blue <br />spruce generally came in after 1900. The pine trees in this area are greatly overgrown, with as