INSPEC20328

• Permit No: M1980244
• IBM Index Class Name: Inspection
• Doc Date: 10/12/1999
• Doc Name: RESPONSE TO INSPECTIONAL REPORT DATED SEP 10 1999 PHASE II HIGH VOLUME SOLUTIONS COLLECTION SYSTEM
• From: CRIPPLE CREEK & VICTOR GOLD MINING CO
• To: MLR
• Inspection Date: 9/10/1999
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

CC Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company
n ~ T A Joint Venture - ANGLOGOLD (COLORADO) CORP., Manager
X7 V Operations OfTice
VVV~~r++ P.O. Box 191 • 100 North 3rd Street
Victor, Colorado 80860
[phone] • Fax [phone]
Sent Certified Mail
2 217 656 381

October 8, 1999
Mc Berhan Keffelew
Sr. Environmental Protection Specialist
Office of Mined Land Reclamation
Division of Minerals and Geology
1313 Sherman Street, Room 215
Denver, Colorado 80203
RECEIVED
~ CY 12 1999
Division of Minerals & Geology
III IIIIIIIIIIIII III
999
RE: Response to Inspection Report Dated September 10 1999: Phase II High Volume
Solution Collection Svstem
Dear Mr. Keffelew
Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company ("CC&V") received the above referenced
Inspection Report from the Division of Minerals and Geology ("DMG") on September 10, 1999.
In this report, the DMG notes that ponding was observed on the surface of the Phase II High
Volume Solution Collection System ("HVSCS")area during the inspection on September 3,
1999. The DMG has requested that CC&V provide an explanation of the ponding.
CC&V operations and Environmental Affair Department ("EAD") personnel inspect the Phase II
HVSCS at least daily. Measurements of the transducers within the pump caissons and in the Low
Volume Solution Collection System ("LVSCS") are collected during the daily inspections. TI1e
Phase II HVSCS was inspected on September 2id and no ponding was observed. The first
instance of ponding was observed on September 3b.
As you are aware, upon discovery of the ponding, CC&V pumped water from the Phase II
HVSCS to the Phase I HVSCS. Water was directed to drier portions of the Valley Leach Facility
("VLF") to increase absorption. Sprayers were installed iit the vicinity of the Phase I and Phase II
caissons to evaporate water. These actions resulted in the Phase 11 HVSCS water level dropping
by 8.4 feet over seven days. CC&V continues to monitor the water levels in the caissons on a
daily basis and plans to continue the weekly check of the transducers with an electronic
measuring tape through the end of October. CC&V has replaced the transducer in pump No. 6
for Phase 11 of the HVSCS and all three Phase II transducers are working properly.
CC&V believes that the ponding may have resulted from the combined effects of higher than
normal pumping rates from the LVSCS onto the ore over the HVSCS and the heavy precipitation
received in 1999. The heavy precipitation may have resulted in the near surface saturation of the
HVSCS, which severely limited infiltration rates. Pumping rates from the Phase II LVSCS were
as high as 40 gpm in late August, compared to an average pumping rate of 7.5 gpm for the year