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III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII <br />999 <br />Q; vt ~f o2/.~s ~F5 <br />Board-puts- off-decision <br />on Costilla gold mine. <br /> <br /> ittes'to municipal water and it's <br />ey DEBORAH FRAZIER ~.;,,,, ,.tisedTor farming sad ranching." <br />.RoekY Mountain News Staff Writer 1 : - A'ayanide spill at site m 1975, <br /> ,before Battle Mountain Resouuces <br />•The Colorado Mined Land Recla- .leased the mine and ]each field ~ <br />motion Board has postponed until from Earth Sciences Ire of Gold- ~ <br />' March 23 a decision on a proposed en, killed fish and other wildlife i <br />gold mine in Costilla County in- for five miles along the creek. <br />volving cyanide leaching. Steve Renner, reclamation spe- <br />I The Houston-hosed Battle Moun- cialist for the mined land reclama- <br />I fain Resources Inc. proposed dig- lion divisio4 said Battle Momtain <br />~ .grog two open pit manes, milling Resources' ponds were mote than <br />the ore and dripping cyanide on the adequate to contain snowmelt, <br />crushed rock to leach the gold. The • rainfall and the cyanide solution <br />45-acre lead heap will sit on top with room to spare <br />of a thick plastic liner. - Battle Mountain plans to operate <br />The gold-hearing liquid will flow -tor seven to.10 years, employ 10 to <br />into a pond through a crollection , r 20 people and produce 390,000 <br />system under the leach heap's '~ouncev of gold- Gold curreafly is <br />plastic liner. Underlying the col-: valued at more than;380 an ounce. <br />]action system and the heap will be ; ': Reiner said the firm bas a coin- ' <br />a 1-foot-thick compacted clay lay- . plate reclamation plan to'remow <br />er. _ .. Y _; ing the cyanide from the solution <br />More than 100 people attended a' ~ at the end of the operation and the <br />hearing Thursday in Alamosa on' y~engineering design on the leach . <br />the proposed mine in south-central : 'field world prevent cyanide from <br />Colorado, including members of .; leaving the 'pad" area. ' . <br />the Costilla Comty Committee for "It's swell-Alarmed operatio4" <br />Envitonmental'Soundness, beaded 6e said "The board has directed ~ <br />by Dona Kach. the company to respond the cron- <br />The postponement will give the cerns the public voiced at the <br />company time to respond to local meeting." <br />residents' concerns. Roth said she and other re~~- <br />Koch and others are rnncelned dents )rave concern about the leak ; <br />about water pollution because the detection system. the lack of as <br />leach heap is 5,000 [eel from the emergency response plan, decor- <br />Rito Sern Creek, which provides taminatioo of the leach heap, pro- ~ <br />San Luis residents with drinking' . tectlon of wetlands, groundwater <br />water and flows into the Rio Gran- protectiaa and other mviromnea- ' <br />de River. tai issues. • <br />"We're not against mhting,. but "What we want to do in the Wert <br />we're real roomed about it," said -30 days is Gave the people of San, <br />Koch. "The whole operation is in Luis negotiate with Battle Mtnrna <br />We watershed. The creek rnntrib- fain- Resources," she said. 1 <br />