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Page 2 of 3 <br />> Mr. Reimer, <br />> My name is Jim Van Ella. My wife and I own 161 acres, 8 miles west of Granite on <br />county road 398 on the Chaffee and Lake county line at the very top of Lost Canyon. We <br />are at 12,200 feet elevation. Township 12S, Range 80W, Section 5, this property is in the <br />hope Mining District. Our 161 acres contain three patented mining claims, June, July and <br />Gold Basin. It has a mineral patented number survey, 1130423. <br />> We presently have a mining and reclamation permit with the DMG that we purchased in <br />1992. At that time it was Mined Land Reclamation, a Colorado State operation. We were <br />given a permit number M-1992-045 15 years ago to placer mine and for reclamation of the <br />property. The permit with the state was to be for the life of the mine. We really didn't want <br />a mining permit, we were after just a reclamation permit but there wasn't one available. <br />> This property has been mined for 140 years and it was badly abused. We thought we could <br />do the reclamation on the land and make a difference, we have. We did some contouring <br />with stone and grass seed on the steep dug away slopes. We have stopped all winter and <br />spring erosion. We have built a 30 vehicle parking lot for 3,500+ visitors and prospecting <br />clubs that visit us every season. We have built a helicopter pad for flight forlife if ever <br />needed. A lot of our visitors are elderly and at 12,200 feet elevation the thin air can be <br />dangerous. Our visitors come from all over the US and many foreign countries. <br />> We recently received an opportunity to amend our permit with the DMG from 3 acres to <br />9.9 acres at NO CHARGE! This is very much appreciated because it gives us a saving of <br />almost $1,000.00 to put to additional reclamation on the new 6 acres. We have no intention <br />of mining it. The additional acres was pre disturbed many years ago and needs a lot of <br />work. And that brings this letter to you, Don Reimer. <br />> I received a letter from DMG, Carl Mount telling us that you are not allowing the <br />amendment permit to be approved by the county board of commissioners. I <br />don't understand why! This has always been a mining district and when we purchased it in <br />1990 it was a mining property then. We have pain the county thousand of dollars in <br />property tax and we have improved this property ten times over for the next generation to <br />enjoy. Chaffee County has a banded county road 398, 7, miles down from our property and <br />turned it over to the forest service cutting the property access time in the spring. What more <br />do you expect from us? <br />> We own the land fee-simple absolute, we own I S cubic feet of water per second, we have a <br />reclamation permit with DMG, a permit with the Division of Wildlife,a storm water permit <br />with the state of Colorado, a permit with soil conversation and a performance bond set aside <br />with DMG. <br />> We are running out of time, my wife and I will be 70 shortly and we wanted to finish this <br />project because it will be our last. <br />>If you will please notify Carl Mount at the DMG before January 11, 2006 and give us your <br />approval as that is the date they plan on discussing the amendment. <br />1/5/2006 <br />