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• . <br />Page 2 <br />Annual ReportlCross Mioe Permit <br />November 15, 1996 <br />the environment with our near pristitte~ high alkaline mine water. The brooW. trout <br />population below the mine is thriving, the insect, bug and reptile population is <br />thriving, the floral habitat is vibrant and healthy. The water is always crystal clean <br />in appearance. The trace amount of zinc we discharge, average .1 to .2 mg/I coo-mixes <br />with the Caribou Mine water .02 mg/I and the creek flow and meets all standards. <br />However, every biologist I've met with indicates the reroaioiog trace zinc is <br />consumed by the natural habitat as a vital mineral nutrient, thus the excellent health <br />of the eco-system we see year in and year out. <br />On the other hand, wrongful actions, bad science, ignorance of all the facts and <br />data, proposed treats, astronomical foes, punitive charges and malicious slander of <br />my good Dame by the State Health Department have helped drive away Echo Bay <br />Mines and my Canadian parent company. Their impression of Colorado, is that the <br />state is officially closed to responsible, modern day small mining. These wrongful <br />actions by CDH have crippled my model, small scale eco- operation. This comies at a <br />time when my partners and 1 have spent some $9 million dollars over the past 25 <br />years on; 1. property acquisitions, 2. environmental systems improvements, 3. core <br />drilling -some 100,000 feet or more, 4. mine exploration and development work, 5. <br />surface plant construction and equipment procurement, 6. advanced geologic <br />surveys and studies. To-date this extensive work has left us with a well defined, high <br />grade ore body at the Cross Mine of some +250,000 ounces gold in the next 800'. All <br />indications show the potential for+300,1100 ounces under Idaho Hill and 250,000 to <br />500,000 ounces gold io the Caribou Mine. My current business plan calls for Full <br />underground development of this resource through a 250 ton per day operati~~n that <br />would bean environmental master piece. However, it has become virtually <br />impossible to attract new flnaociog with this CDH cloud hanging over my company. <br />I've been forced to pay the monthly overhead here which includes, environmental <br />costs, land payments, utilities, etc. which total $10,000 to 512,000 per month.l'm <br />down to my last tiny bit of available credit on my home equity credit line to keep <br />these bills paid. You can see the affect the CDH is having on me. The whole mutter is <br />crippling our S9 million investment, a $+200 million dollar high grade ore body, my <br />25 year mining career. The CDH is also hurting my excellent reputation as an <br />environmentalist, an educator and a person heavily involved in the local com~ouoity. <br />The CDH has to come to their senses quickly, apologize to me for the huge financial <br />impact and begin to use accurate science in their permit work, or the financial <br />impact to the $~ate could be astronomic! <br />Thomas S. Hen ricks ate <br />