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ON THE GROUND AT THE SAN LUIS PROJECT: What's Been Going On at the Site Fourteen employees-including eight from Costilla County-have been busy over the summer. Site preparation is under way at [he San Luis Project. Summer is construction season, and we have made use of it: building roads, beginning our first buildings and assem- bling equipment. But summer also is a good time for planting. We've been active on that front, too, by replanting areas where we con- (mnrinued from page /1 WHAT WILL CHANGE Under the current permit, we may process 6.5 million tons of ore in a mill and 6.5 million tons of ore in a heap leach, The amendment proposes to eliminate the heap leach and process all the ore through a standard gold processing mill. This has the distinct advantage of removing more of the gold from the ore while keeping the solutions inside steel tanks during processing. SPENT ORE HANDLING Changing the way we process our ore means changing how we handle material which is left over after the gold is re- moved from the ore. Under the current permit, spent ore from the mill would be drained until nearly dry, mixed with overburden (which has been mined in order to reach the ore), and the mixture placed in approved azeas. Under the amendment, we now will manage seen[ ore using a process called thin-layer deposition. Thin-layer deposi- tion produces a layer of spent ore which dries quickly. The spent ore can be covered with topsoil and seeded with grass as soon as the project concludes. When using thin-layer deposition, spent ore is sent to the processed ore disposal area in the form of a half-water story. Water from the slurry evaporates or flows to the center of the disposal area to form a pool. Water in the pool is pumped back to the mill and reused. Spent ore will be deposited in a lined area over a compacted foundation. This design is called a composite liner system. The processed ore disposal area will be located where the heap leach was [o be located. STORM PROTECTION Under the curent permit, the heap leach would be protected by diversion ducted our exploration activities. Here are some details. • Revegetalion. Many exploration drill sites were replanted this summer. We have been reseeding these areas and don't plan to disturb them again. In all, we revegeta[ed approximately 6.6 acres. The process involved leveling and seeding, and i[ cost about $600 an acre. We have used native grass seed applied at the rate of 28 pounds of seed ditches capable of handling a 100-year, 24-hour storm as required by the MLRB. The amendment proposes to protect the disposal area with diversion ditches capable of handling the same, severe rainstorm. In addition, the amendment would add an extra level of protection to the design of the disposal area. The area will be sized to contain a storm called the probaule maximum precipitation event, or PMP. A PMP event is the most severe storm which theoretically could occur but in fact never has in the history of the area. Spent ore will be surrounded and retained by the natural slope of the land except on the west side where we will build an embankment. The embankment will be built up in three stages, and each stage will be planted with vegetation as soon as it is in place. By the way, the storage capacity created for the spent ore also will help protect downslope areas from any Flooding which could occur during major rain storms. RECLAMATION As pan of the changes, Battle Mountain also is submitting a plan for reclaiming [he processed ore disposal area and any drainage stmctures which are used during the life of the San Luis Project. The plan provides for covering the area with topsoil, planting and establishing vegetation, and establishing permanent drainage. This will prevent erosion and restrain Flash Flooding in the valley where the spent ore has been placed. Finally, the reclaimed area will be suitable for range land use again. per acre. (For comparison, a typical alfalfa crop requires 14 to 18 pounds of seed per acre.) • Roads. We have been working on about three mile> of road. This is the haul road for moving ore from the mine site to the plant. So far, our Itrimary concern has been "banking" topsoil. We have removed topsoil and set it aside, saving it for use in connection with ofF-road construction. Grading will fol ow later this fall. The road moves up and away from Rito Seco Creek to [he plant site, which is almost a mile from the creek. In the process, we have installed three culverts, which comply w ith applicable government regulations. • Buildingr;. We have contracted with TIC, a Colorado contractor, and have initiated consw~tion of three buildings. Here again we have been removing and saving topsoil. The lazgest of the buildings is [he maintenance shop at 220-by-50 feet and 40 feet high. Tt is building also will contain a changing room with shower facilities and a v+azehouse. The other buildings will be the office and the lab. Each will be 40 feet by 75 feet. • Equipmt nf. We have taken delivery on a number of items of equip- ment and have teen assembling them on site. The people who have been putting [his equipment together are [he employees who participated in our mechanical training progrart last winter. Here is the equipment line-up: 8 mechanical drive, off-road trucks; 3 robber-tired loafers; 2 mechanics [rucks; and I ball mill, sand-blasted and painted. a~ earn E tnOUrrtnN+ C OlD COMPPM' Published by Battle M~runtain Gold Company P.O. Box 310. San Luis, CO S 1152 1719)672-3362 Gary Dodson General Superintendent, San Luis Project