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Mr. Wallace H. Erickson <br />Response to Sixth Adequacy <br />October 11, 2011 <br />Page 15 <br />The Applicant has requested to resolve the issue of design specifications for all <br />Environmental Protection Facilities through a follow -up Technical Revision and/or <br />Amendment process subsequent to the conditional approval of CN -01. <br />Response to Adequacy Issue No. 9. <br />Wildcat determined the containment capacity for the Zircon units by calculating <br />the, volume of the containment basin and subtracting a volume to account for <br />displacement of the zircon unit itself as a worst case, although unlikely, scenario. <br />Wildcat is providing drawings of smaller scale and greater detail to support its <br />determination of containment capacity. See Ex. 6. <br />Adequacy Issue No. 10. <br />In a correspondence dated September 16, 2011, the Water Quality Control <br />Division (WQCD) of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment <br />verified the mine drainage from the Idaho No. 1 Adit did not comply with the receiving <br />stream standards for total recoverable arsenic. According to the application, the mine <br />drainage from the Idaho No. 1 Adit is the water source for the Augmentation Pond. <br />Therefore, the Augmentation Pond is an Environmental Protection Facility and subject to <br />the requirements of Rules 6.4.21(10), (7) and (13). Please delete any and all statements <br />from the application alleging the proposed operation is exempt from the requirements of <br />Rule 6.4.21(13). Please address the requirements of Rules 6.4.21(10), (7) and (13) for the <br />Augmentation Pond. <br />Response to Adequacy Issue No. 10. <br />Wildcat is in the process of applying for a CDPS Permit for the Idaho Spring. <br />The Idaho Spring was previously permitted under a CDPS Permit. As a result, during <br />the current permitting process CDPHE will review historic arsenic discharge levels and <br />examine other factors to establish the arsenic standard for Wildcat's new CDPS Permit. <br />This arsenic standard may be higher than the receiving stream standard for total <br />recoverable arsenic. As a result, it is not yet appropriate or even possible to determine <br />whether any discharge from the Idaho Spring contains arsenic at levels which exceed <br />relevant and appropriate water quality standards. <br />Wildcat does not presently have the data necessary to complete an Environmental <br />Protection Facility design for the Augmentation Pond. Importantly, Wildcat does not yet <br />know what arsenic standard CDPHE will assign to its discharge from the Augmentation <br />Pond, and may need to collect additional data to enable CDPHE to develop this standard. <br />Wildcat will continue to work through the permitting process with CDPHE, and will to <br />collect water quality samples and other data necessary to complete this permitting <br />DEN 97,629,117v1 10 -11 -11 <br />GREENBERG TRAURIG, LLP m ATTORNEYS AT LAW ® WWW.GTLAW.COM <br />