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The Mines are located along the Purgatoire River in an area known as the <br /> Picketwire Valley. The headwaters of the Purgatoire are located on the eastern slope of <br /> the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range a few miles west of the mines. The River consists <br /> of three branches which converge in the mine area. The New Elk mine is located on the <br /> Middle Fork, about 1.5 miles upstream of the confluence of the North and Middle Forks. <br /> The confluence of the South Fork is at Weston, approximately four miles downstream of <br /> the Golden Eagle Mine (Figure 0. The United State Geological Survey has monitored the <br /> flow of the Purgatoire at Stonewall (approximately four miles upstream from the New Elk <br /> Mine) since May of 1978 and at Madrid (approximately 15 miles downstream of the Golden <br /> Eagle Mine) since 1972. <br /> Annual runoff in the Purgatoire is dominated by snowmelt, with peak flows <br /> occurring in May and June. Summer and fall thunderstorms also produce smaller peaks of <br /> short duration. Analysis of the 550 square mile drainage basin at the Madrid station <br /> indicates a low-yield water shed with the mean annual runoff volume measured at 28,980 <br /> acre-feet. Figure 2 presents an annual hydrograph of flow for the station. <br /> Three stations (PRS-1, PRS-2 and PRS-3, Figure 1) were monitored on the <br /> Purgatoire River during the 1985 water year. Monthly data for the stations is presented <br /> in Tables 1-1, 1-2 and 1-3 in Appendix 1. <br /> Station PRS-1 is located on the Middle Fork above the New Elk Mine and acts as a <br /> control station without influence of mining. Table 1 presents a summary of the data <br /> collected during the 1985 water year. Flow at the station ranged from 5.47 to 81.7 with a <br /> mean of 25.26 cfs. Figure 3 and Table 2 present historic stream data recorded at the <br /> Stonewall gaging station as presented in the 1981 permit application. Flows measured <br /> during 1985 correspond to the historic flows with exception of a higher winter base flow <br /> measured at PRS-1. Water quality measured during 1985 also corresponds with the <br /> historic data. <br /> Chemical analysis indicates that the water sampled at Station PRS-1 is a calcium- <br /> bicarbonate type (Figure 4) with 7.00 me/1 total ions measured. Analysis of metals <br /> contained in the water indicates all parameters to be near or below detection limits with <br /> the exception of iron and manganese which are expected to be found in these waters. <br /> -10- <br />