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P.O. Box 154 <br />Golden, CO 80402-0154 <br />May 6, 1992 <br />Ms. Catherine Kraeger-Rovey <br />~~~ <br />ti~~ 1 ~L 199. <br />Min ~;..• <br />F16o12ma~~o~ <br />Chairwoman <br />Mined Land Reclamation Board <br />1313 Sherman Street St., Rm. #215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Dear Ms. Kraeger-Rovey: <br />sss <br />RE: Cash Mine and Mill <br />Permit No. M-83-141 <br />Violations by Operators <br />As a friend of the town of Gold Hill, Colorado, I have made a preliminary study of <br />the violations by the Cash Mine and Mill. There are several points expanded on below. <br />I. ORE CONCENTRATES: The analysis of the ore concentrates left in the parking <br />lot was high. A low grade ore cut off between .05 to .5 ounces of gold per ton can be <br />assumed. This material was concentrated between 10 and 100 times to reach 4.85 <br />ounces of gold per ton. <br />In Mr. Wayne Tatmans letter dated December 17, 1991, he states there were no <br />toxic chemicals in the concentrate. There were, however, 4 toxic metals; Cadmium (Cd) <br />95 ppm, Arsenic (As) .255 ppm, Lead (Pb) 2 ppm and Mercury (Hg) 9.1 ppm. Three of <br />these metals occur naturally in this area. Mercury, however, does not. <br />One of the reasons for prohibiting offsite milling is to prevent toxic material from <br />being brought in. If only the precious metals are extracted from the concentrate, then all <br />the toxins wind up in the tailings. <br />II. WATER DISCHARGE: The original water permit set levels for releasing water <br />back into the environment. Those levels were as low as levels for drinking water. <br />Rainwater wouldn't always pass. <br />The figures below are taken from the mine and mill permit application (page 7). <br />The water in the Cash Mine and in Cash Gulch have probably stayed the same for many <br />years. In addition to the low levels approved for released water, certain levels were set for <br />the mine water. The two old water samples exceed the mine water standards. The mine <br />water standards are far above the released water limits. <br />Element APPROVED LEVELS PERMIT SAMPLES <br /> I Daily Daily Treated to I I Cash Cash I <br /> Max Avg. Release Mine Gulch <br />Copper CU mg/L .3 .15 .Ol .17 .38 <br />Zinc ZN mg/L 1.5 .75 .01 37.4 22.4 <br />Lead Pb mg/L .6 .3 .01 .24 .1 <br />Mercury Hg mg/L .002 .001 .0001 <.0001 <.0001 <br />Acidity ph 9 ?6 6.9 3.8 4.3 <br />Solids Suspended 30 20 <10 <10 <10 <br />