1994-02-24_ENFORCEMENT - M1977378

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• IIIIIIIIIIIIII 999 SSVNNYSIDE GOLD CORPORATION AM EC310 13"COMPANY P.O. Box 177 .Silverton, CO 81433 Phone (303) 387-5533 .Telecopy (303) 387-5310 February 23, 1994 in,I eI 7 7- 376 Amelia S. Whiting, Assistant Attorney General -9, 4 Natural Resources Section ��94 Office of the Attorney General . }, State of Colorado 1525 Sherman Street Denver, CO 80203 Dear Ms. Whiting: Thank you for agreeing to meet with us on March 10, 1994 to discuss certain le= issues implicated in the closure of the Sunnyside Mine in Silverton. The questions presented for discussion are legal rather than technical, and it is therefore necessary that your office consider and state its position on them. Sunnyside Gold Corporation ("SGC") owns the Sunnyside Mine near Silverton, Colorado. SGC holds permits issued by the Division of Minerals and Geology of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources ("DMG") and the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Health ("WQCD"), regulating reclamation activities and discharges of treated water from the mine respectively. SGC has not mined gold from the Sunnyside Mine since 1991, and intends to effect a final closure of the mine as required by its DMG permit. The company is currently reclaiming nonessential surface facilities, including historic tailings ponds, the former mill, and the Lake Emma area. These facilities are not needed to maintain the water treatment facilities or support the final closure of the mine. Still to be reclaimed are the portal areas, surface facilities, and water treatment ponds. At the present time, there is a discharge of approximately 1700 gallons per minute from the American Tunnel (an access tunnel not owned by SGC or any affiliate), which is the primary access to the Sunnyside mine. That flow is captured and treated by SGC, according to the terms of the Colorado Discharge Permit System ("CDPS") permit issued by WQCD, before being discharged to Cement Creek. There is also a flow of approximately 200 gallons per minute from the Terry Tunnel, the original mine access tunnel. That flow is treated during the seven months per year that the Terry Tunnel portal is accessible, also according to the terms of the WQCD permit, before being discharged to Eureka Creek. SGC intends to effect a final closure of the mine by placing concrete plugs in the access tunnels and two lateral tunnels. This will prevent any further access to the mine, and will shut off water flows from the mine into the American Tunnel and from