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III illlllllllllllii 999 3 r ~a.g4 UQ-"- 3/zzjgy - ~okt-mine plans rile Cow: r+esic>~nts By Thomas Gral Denver Posl Environment Writer Costilla County, one of the poor- est sections of Colorado, literally rSits atop a gold mine. But critics of a-plan to remove the gold say Tex- uld reap the profits and Colo- ~M get stuck with poison- ''yountain Resources o[ ton waits to dig two open.pit ^= es in the [oothilis of the Sangre e ,Cristo. Mountains, three miles northeast o[ San Luis. The compa- rny"plans to remove ore and then drip cyanide over the crushed rock `Quieach out the gold. - The resulting cyanide-laden rteach heap would cover 95 acres. The state Mined Land Reclama- _~faa Board has scheduled a hearing on a permit for the project today at 1 p.m. in room 215 at 1313 Sher- man St., Denver. The boazd may render its derision on the permit at today's meeting. Battle Mountain estimates it can remove 3!0,000 ounces o[ gold dur- ing the seven- to 10-year life of [he mine, where ]0 to 20 employees would work. But San Juan-area opponents of the mining plan say very little of the gold would go toward curing the area of its economic malaise. Many residents fear the mine would leave them nothing but a cy- anide-laced eyesore threatening their wa supplies. r~ibility of cyanide in e noise and air pollu- tisti i by the mining activ- hies and the scam of the Sangre de Cristo foothills ID ruin our e[- forts to promote t urism in San Luis; 'said Joe Ga gos president of the Costilla Co y ~ommittee for EnvironmentirJ Soundness, which is fighting th~project. The mine board's s tf has recom- mended approval Ot the permit. They say the mige and Battle Mountain's reclathation plans meet all techn9cal requirements and do not pose an environmeMld >tasard. -r•.r -;}~,