PERMFILE54436

• Permit No: M1994117
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Name: APPLICATION FOR A MILLING AND RECLAMATION PERMIT GOLD HILL MILL LIMITED IMPACT PERMIT
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

of the land surface on the previously disturbed ground. Approximately 70 per-
cent of the ground where the milling complex is located is covered by vegeta-
tion. Several small, scattered stands of Ponderosa pine and individual Blue
Spruce and Rocky Mountain juniper trees are growing here in a meadow com-
posed of native greases and small shrubs. Perhaps 20 percent of this area is
covered by these trees, while 40 percent of the ground has a mixture of Slender
Wheat-grass, Mountain Muhly, Parry Oat-grass, and 'Thurber Fescue growing
on the land surface. Coimm~n Juniper and Kinikinnik are the most abundant
small shrubs that are found in this location; and they cover about 10 percent of
the ground. The rent of the ground surface is composed of either small outcrops
of Boulder Creek granite, or waste dump material from the numerous prospect
pits and trenches that were dug along the Oscar and Hercules veins.
Soils Information
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service has mapped
this area as the Juget-Rock Outcrop Complex. Small areas of Peyton soils
near drainage ways and a few small areas of Aliens Pazk soils are included in
this soil series and rock outcrop complex. A detailed description of the Juget-
Rock Complex and the Peyton and Aliens Park soils was contained within the
previously submitted application for a limited impact permit for the Caeh mine
operation.
A large portion of the affected land surface subject to this application for a
milling permit is composed of waste dump material from previous minlIIg oper-
ations dating back to the 1870'a. None of the ]and surface disturbed by these
earlier operations was reclaimed. No soil has developed on the steep faces of
the Who Do, White Cloud, and Wynona mine dumps. The areas surrounding
the margins of the mine dumps have a soil cover that varies from zero to a
maximum of four or five inches in and among numerous outcrops of Boulder
Creek granite. the rest of the affected land surface contained within the
boundaries of this permit application consists of Juget-Rock Outcrop Complex
on gentle to steep mountain elopes. The milling facility was constructed on a
site that has a typical Juget-Rock Outcrop Complex soil profile. Afield exam-
ination disclosed a shallow, sandy residuum derived fiom weathering of the
underlying Boulder Creek granite. This sandy residuum is between 3 and 6
inches thick, and is composed of a surface layer of dark gray, gravelly, sandy
loam that grades into an underlying layer of light gray, very gravelly, loamy
sand.
The native vegetation found in the Juge~Rock Outcrop Complex is mainly
Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, Blue spruce, and Rocky Mountain juniper trees,
which are growing along with scattered shrubs and a sparse understory of
grasses. Juget soils have a rapid permeability, a low available water capacity,
and a shallow effective rotting depth. Because of these soil characteristics,
and the granite rock outcrops, the Soil Conservation Service has classified the
vegetation growing on the Juget-Rock Outcrop Complex as being native
woodlands suitable for range land and wildlife habitat.