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(Page 2) <br />MINE ID # OR PROSPECTING ID # M-1978-091 UG <br />INSPECTION DATE 8/31/07 INSPECTOR'S INITIALS RCO.AJW <br />OBSERVATIONS <br />This inspection was performed by the Division as part of its monitoring of Hard Rock/Metals 110d permits. The operatorwas <br />contacted about the scheduled inspection. Lance Barker of Au Mining and Karmen King of Gault Group, Inc. were present <br />during the inspection. Since no features of the 3 Level were inspected at this time, this was a partial inspection. <br />BACKGROUND: The site had received significant precipitation during several weeks in May and June, which in turn caused <br />sustained surface runoff in Deadman Gulch. The precipitation was also suspected to be related to a surface expression of <br />several seeps at the toe of the 6 Level dump. These seeps were observed and sampled during the Division's previous <br />inspection (6/8/07). Measurements made at the time of the inspection as well as sample analyses indicated more than one <br />source of the water seeping from the bottom of the dump. There is no discharge to the surface from the 6 Level mine portal. <br />Since the source(s) of the seeps at the toe of the dump was unknown, but may have included either underground mine wateror <br />the natural gulch surface flow. <br />Also during the Division's 6/8/07 inspection, surface flow had been observed in the gulch above the 6 Level dump pad, flowing <br />along the entire edge of the dump, and continuing as surface flow (and combined with the seep flows) below the mine dump a <br />short distance. The need for preventing upland surface waterfrom further mineralization orcontaminationfvom contact with the <br />dump material and ore was discussed. <br />Due to the unknown origins and known poor quality of the water flowing down the gulch, problems were noted in the 6/8/07 <br />inspection report, requiring the operator to begin investigating and remediating as appropriate. <br />FOLLOW-UP AND OBSERVATIONS: As part of the problem correction, the operator undertook a sampling program of the <br />gulch water and underground mine water, in order to characterize those waters to confirm or eliminate possible sources of the <br />seeps, flows and degradation. Those data have been provided to this office and to other agencies. No dye/tracer study was <br />performed, but the gulch sampling thatwas performed showed background mineralization throughout the length of Deadman <br />Gulch, whose quality seems to vary according to contact with colluyium vs outcrops, ratherthan according to distance from the <br />mine. (There is some evidence that Deadman Gulch formed partly due to the weaker geologic structure of the altered rhyolite <br />that forms the vein material being mined, which could help account forthe high background.) The underground samples do not <br />closely correlate to the gulch water or seeps. The chemical fingerprint and the fluctuating sample parameters seem to <br />contraindicate a direct hydrologic connection with or primary influence from the underground mine water. The analyses appear <br />to indicate that the source of the "western toe seep" water may be shallow groundwater from a minor gulch entering and <br />crossing the site north of the 6 Level pad, and the "eastern toe seep" is hydrologically connected to the main gulch flow that <br />enters the site at the SE end of the pad. <br />The operator is developing a stormwater management plan. As part of the plan, the operator is having a plastic liner installed <br />along the section of the gulch from just above the pad elevation down to below its contact with the edge of the dump. The <br />installation was occurring on the day of the inspection. The lined portion of the gulch was being excavated to a dimension of <br />about 2 ft deep and 2 ft wide, into which the liner was placed, with several feet of the liner edges keyed and anchored into the <br />soil. The lower terminus of the liner was down in the trees, about 20 ft horizontally from the edge of the dump. The upper end <br />of the liner will be keyed into a new cut being made in the colluvium where the upper gulch drainage meets the pad. When the <br />installation is finished, an as-built drawing, photos, liner installation notes and material specs should be provided to this office. <br />Also, any subsequent correspondence from CDPHE concerning the plan or adequacy of the installed structure should be <br />forwarded to this office. <br />The last of the required annual water monitoring sampling will be performed this fall, with results to be sent to this office. <br />Surface flow in Deadman Gulch has practically ceased for the season, and the opportunity to check the effectiveness of the <br />new liner is unlikely to occur during 2007. When surface gulch flows return next year, the liner and water samples will be <br />evaluated. If there appears to be additional work to perform the operator will be notified of such. At this time, the existing <br />problem noted in the prior report is considered to be corrected. <br />The new cut for the upper end of the liner exposed a small seep (which was formerly anear-surface subflow) estimated to be <br />about 0.5 gpm. Additionally, it was observed during this inspection that the,Western toe seep had ceased flowing, and the <br />eastern toe seep continued to flow at an estimated 0.5 gpm, though it went subsurface within 50 ft below the seep. <br />A small amount of clean earthen material was generated from the liner trench. Some may be set aside to build a berm or to <br />plate the outslope at the south end of the pad (along the edge of the gulch). It is suggested that any surplus soil beyond that <br />