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• Study Ohjcctivcs /Research Design <br />The purposes of the inventory were to conduct an intensive archaeological survey of <br />areas potentially subject to direct impact from road, mine and storage areas; to intuitively <br />sample areas that may suffer secondary impacts; to identify and accurately locate <br />archaeological sites and/or districts and isolated finds; to evaluate these surface finds for <br />inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (NRl IP); to determine the potential <br />effect of the mining activities on all NRIiP-eligible resources; and to make <br />recommendations for the mitigation of the adverse effects on those cultural resources. The <br />presence ol~prehistoric resources was considered likely but low in occurrence because of the <br />steep terrain and the high level of disturbance by Historic GuroAmerican mining and <br />occupation on the narrow valle}' floor. Fistoric resources were previously recorded in the <br />area. These were to be revisited and reevaluated. <br />Field Methods <br />A 100 percent, intensive. pedestrian Class Ill cultural resource survey was conducted <br />~ for those areas that will be directly affected by the mining operations. This includes: the <br />' proposed mine portal local with associated stockpile area, breaker building, cntsher building <br />and pond (I S acres); a new 2.7 mile-long access road (66 acres); a 3000-foot-long downhill <br />i conveyor (14 acres); a loadout silo (S acres); and, a stockpile area (l0acres). These areas <br />4vere inspected by a hvo-person crew who walked N-S or f-W transects along contour <br />intervals for the block areas and 300-foot-wide corridors along the linear routes. A total of <br />( about 115 acres was intensively surveyed for cultural resources. The remaining approximate <br />715 acres were intuitively inspected by walking fife narrow ridge lines that border the small <br />~- drainages on the steep mountain slope. In all cases, the heavy vegetation was a limitation to <br />I , the survey. Also, many of the benches on the slope below the old mine were heavily <br />disturbed by [lie historic mining activities. <br />r~ <br />~, Cultural resources were sought as surface exposures and were characterized as sites <br />or isolated linds. Sites were delned by the presence of six or more artiftcts and/or <br />r1 significant feature(s) indicative of patterned human activity. Isolated finds were defined by <br />~! the presence of a single artifact or several artifacts, which apparently represent a single event <br />(e.g., a single core reduction), and are surficial in nature. Cultural resources encountered <br />1 were to be recorded to standards set by the Colorado Preservation Office (CPO) of the State <br />~ Historical Society. <br />.~ <br />~. <br />II <br />it <br />IT, <br />L: <br />