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:r <br />DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866-3567 <br />FAX: (303) 832-8106 <br />January 9, 2004 <br />COLORADO <br />DIVISION OF <br />MINERALS <br />GEOLOGY <br />0.ECLAMATION•NINING <br />EAFETY•SCIENCE <br />Bill Owens <br />Governor <br />Jim Stover <br />J.E. Stover & Associates <br />2768 Compass Drive, Suite 101 <br />Grand Junction, Colorado 81506 <br />RE: McClane and Munger Canyon Mine <br />Permits C-1980-004 (McClane) and C-1981-020 (Munger) <br />2001 and 2002 Annual Hydrology Reports (AHR's) <br />Dear Mr. Stover: <br />The Division has completed review of the referenced AHR's. Our review comments are <br />presented below. <br />2001 Annual Hydrology Report <br />In general, the report format and content was consistent with previous years, and complies <br />with permit requirements. Monitoring data indicates that there is no impact to the local <br />hydrologic balance, as predicted in the Probable Hydrologic Consequences section of the <br />permit application package (PAP). East Salt Creek shows no impact from mining activity. <br />Total dissolved solids (TDS) levels are lower downstream of the mines than upstream, and <br />other dissolved components occur at about the same concentrations above and below. <br />There is no indication of impact to the groundwater system. <br />2002 Annual Hydrology Report <br />Overall, the report demonstrates that there has been very little in the way of impact from <br />mining activity on the groundwater or surface water systems in the mine vicinity. <br />Conductivity of alluvial groundwater (and hence TDS) was higher upstream of the mines <br />than downstream. East Salt Creek TDS analyses is higher than baseline values both <br />upstream and downstream of mining. TDS below the mines was slightly higher than <br />upstream, but this would not appear to be due to mining activity, considering that mine <br />discharge water TDS was lower than East Salt Creek surface water TDS. <br />Requests and Recommendations <br />Greg E. Walther <br />Executive Director <br />Ronald W. Cattany <br />Division Director <br />Natural Resource Trustee <br />1. The permits require twice a year sampling of two ephemeral drainages, McClane <br />Creek and Munger Creek. These drainages exhibit typical flashy flows after intense summer <br />storms, and brief snowmelt runoff in wet years. As such, it is typically the case that the <br />streams are dry when scheduled quarterly sampling is conducted. Permit language states <br />Office of <br />Mined Land Reclamation <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />Office of <br />Active and Inactive Mines <br />Geological Survey <br />