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Gold Hill Mill DMO <br />September 2022 i-1 <br /> <br />Introduction <br />Colorado Milling Company, LLC is applying for a conversion application to their approved Limited <br />Impact 110 permit for the Gold Hill Mill (M-1994-117). This conversion will change the Gold Hill Mill <br />permit from a standard Limited Impact 110 to a Limited Impact Designated Mining Operation (DMO) <br />110D. The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety has determined that the Gold Hill Mill <br />is a DMO based on the storage and usage of floatation reagents in the mill that can produce acid or <br />toxic chemicals. No toxic or acid producing material has been identified from any other source at the <br />Gold Hill Mill. <br />Gold Hill Mill is gold -silver mineral mill located roughly one -half mile east of the town of Gold Hill, CO. <br />Mining has long taken place in the Gold Hill area due to the strong presence of gold and silver bearing <br />telluride ores.Gold Hill Mill was constructed and originally permitted in the 1980s as part of the Cash <br />Mine permits and operations. In 1994, a separate permit was approved for the Gold Hill Mill, allowing it <br />to operate independently of the mines in the area. From 1994 to 20 13 , the Gold Hill Mill was operated <br />by various entities processing or attempting to process telluride ores in the area. In 2013, the Gold Hill <br />Mill entered Temporary Cessation of operations. In 2015 the permit was transferred to Colorado Milling <br />Company, LLC, the current permittee. <br />The permitting and operational history of the Gold Hill Mill has seen partial operations under different <br />entities over the years. Full scale milling operations last took place in 1986/7. Since then the numerous <br />permittees and operators have conducted partial or improper operations at the mill in an effort to be <br />profitable. This has led to permit violations such as unpermitted tailings disposal. Colorado Milling <br />Company has worked diligently to rectify and clean up these issues and develop plans to ensure that <br />the mill can operate properly going forward. <br />In 2017, CDRMS determined that land outside of the approved permit boundary had been disturbed as <br />part of permittee efforts to rehabilitate infrastructure for the waterline from Lefthand Creek. This <br />rehabilitation work involved repairs to the Times Mine entrance north of Sunshine Canyon Road. Some <br />subsidence of Sunshine Canyon Road was caused by the rehabilitation work and then subsequently <br />repaired. work and then subsequently repaired. In order to address the disturbance outside of the <br />permit boundary, Colorado Milling Company submitted an amendment to the approved 110 Limited <br />Impact permit for the Gold Hill Mill to integrate the waterline corridor into the permit area. <br />Following a lengthy permit review process, Amendment 01 was approved, with a condition, in <br />September 2019. The conditions is: <br />Prior to commencing with operations at the site, a mine pool drawdown plan [as described in Item No. <br />1(a) of the Division's Adequacy Review No. 4 letter, dated May 21, 2019] must be submitted in the form <br />of a Technical Revision for Division review and approval. <br />This condition is carried forward into this conversion. A preliminary draw down plan and a new <br />bulkhead design have been submitted to CDRMS and are under review. They will be incorporated into <br />the new DMO permit upon approval. <br />