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i r flowing from this area moat progress a distance of at least 3,300 feet to reach the drainage culvert. Because of the crystalline nature of the Boulder L`reek granite, the ground water that is found in the bedrock is only present where the granite has been fractured. Generally, the openingx of these fractures (joints and faults) de- crease 1a size with increasing depth, sad the chances of obtaining water are significantly reduced below a depth of 300 feet. This crystalline bedrock has a very limited water storage capacity, and most of the remA~n~*+g water that fella ae precipitation is returned to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration. 'Ilse ground water that is present in these racks probably migrates downward and laterally through a nor~theaet-southwest trending fracture system towards the area above Caeh Gulch. The presence of a small spring several hundred feet below the Hazel A edit tends to support this observation. 'The flow fiom this spring varies considerably with the time of the year. It usually decreased throughout the summer and fall as the amount of water atoned in the fracture system also decreases. The U.S. Bureau of Mines drilled five test holes 200 feet south of the proposed tailings impoundment area, and monitored the amount of ground water that flowed into these drill holes. 'These testa established that the ground water level dropped from 53 feet to 86 feet below the surface during the period between September and December. Since it is situated 30 to 65 feet higher than the elevation of the U.S. Bureau of Mines' test area, the ground water level under the White Cloud and Wynona mines, and the proposed millsite and tailings impoundment area is somewhat lower than 53 feet below the surface. A similar decline in the ground water level undoubtedly occurs beneath these areas during these same months. Vegetation Information No rare, threatened, or endangered plant species have been identified in the Gold Hill area, or on the mill sites. The previously submitted Cash Mine Permit Application included descriptions and lists of the trees, grasses, forbe, and shrubs that have been identified in this area. The present vegetation on the land surface that were affected by the construc- tion of the mill and tailings retention structure, varied from scattered to moderately vegetated. Because of their acidic nature and poorly developed Boil profile, the mine dumps have a vegetation cover that conaixte of a few small stands of Ponderosa Pine and low shrubs on their eastern and southern faces. The percentage of ground covered by vegetation can be directly attributed to the date or period of the let mining activity on the property. Since the White Cloud mine was last worked during 1905, it has a thicker stand of small pon- derosa pine growing on its mine dump than on the Wynona mine dump, which was worked during the 1940'x. Approximately 50 percent of the White Cloud mine dump is covered by vegetation, the nearby Wynona mine dump has only about 35 percent of its surface covered by small pine trees and shrubs. The vegetation at the Who Do mine is estimated tp rnver approximately 15 percent