Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1876
The Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety has conducted an inspection of the mining operation
noted below This report documents observations concerning compliance with the terms of the permit
and applicable rules and regulations of the Mined Land Reclamation Board
MINE NAME
MINE PROSPECTING ID
MINERAL
COUNTY
M 2015 007
NA
Clear Creek
INSPECTION TYPE
INSPECTOR S
INSP DATE
INSP TIME
Monitoring
Michael A Cunningham
February 12 2015
09 30
OPERATOR
OPERATOR REPRESENTATIVE
TYPE OF OPERATION
NA
None
IM
Is it Mining
BOND AMOUNT
None
NA
DATE OF COMPLAINT
NA
Local Government
None
WEATHER
IN
SI
ATURE
SIGNATURE DATE
February 26 2015
Clear
or possible violations were noted during the inspection The mine operation was found to be in full compliance with Mineral
Rules and Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for the Extraction of Construction Materials and or
for Hard Rock Metal and Designated Mining Operations Any person engaged in any mining operation shall notify the office
of any failure or imminent failure as soon as reasonably practicable after such person has knowledge of such condition or of
any impoundment embankment or slope that poses a reasonable potential for danger to any persons or property or to the
environment or any environmental protection facility designed to contain or control chemicals or waste which are acid or
toxic forming as identified in the permit
RD ROADS
EX EXPLOSIVES
SF PROCESSING FACILITIES
TS TOPSOIL
FW FISH
RV REVEGETATION
SB COMPLETE INSP
SC
OD
ST STIPULATIONS
RECORDS
FN FINANCIAL WARRANTY
HYDROLOGIC BALANCE
BG BACKFILL
Not inspected
NA
GRADING
WILDLIFE
EROSION SEDIMENTATION
PB
Problem cited
PV
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PERMIT
M 2015 007
OBSERVATIONS
The inspection was conducted by Michael Cunningham of the Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety
Division On February 12 2015 the Division received notification of unauthorized entry into a mine resulting
in a release of acid mine drainage into Little Bear Creek in Clear Creek County The notification was received
through the Emergency Preparedness and Response Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment According to the report the discharge from the mine was first noticed on the evening of
February 11 2015 Clear Creek County and the Environmental Protection Agency EPA responded to the
incident on February 11 2015 and made initial site observations According to the EPA s observations the
discharge from the mine was approximately 2 3 gallons per minute on the evening of February 11 2015 and
orange staining was observed around the adit and along the banks of Little Bear Creek
The Division met with Duc Nguyen EPA Trent Hyatt Clear Creek County James Ford City of Black Hawk
and David Holm Clear Creek Water Shed Foundation at the mine site on the morning of February 12 2015
The mine was identified as the International Lode Claim and is located 1 5 miles south of Idaho Springs and is
situated approximately 30 feet above Little Bear Creek The mine is located on U S Forest Service USFS
property in the Arapaho National Forest No one else was present at the mine site at the time of the
inspection The Division observed a tent adjacent to the access road leading to the mine the tent contained
hand tools and clothing In addition the Division observed several screens and plastic buckets outside of the
tent The hillside below the adit was stained orange and deposits of iron oxide precipitate could be seen along
the flow path of the discharging mine water The mine was discharging water at a rate of approximately 2
gallons per minute and the water was reporting directly to Little Bear Creek
The adit had a locked steel door across the entrance The Division identified a brass cap monument
immediately above the door which indicated the closure was installed by the Division s Inactive Mine Program
The Division observed several shovels immediately inside of the mine It appeared the shovels had been used
to excavate the iron oxide precipitate which had been naturally deposited near the mine entrance The iron
oxide precipitate had been placed along one side of the portal and was piled approximately 3 feet high Two
steel pipes were located on either side of the steel door the pipes appeared to have been installed as part of
the closure of the mine and were most likely installed to allow the mine to drain The Division observed a 3
foot section of PVC pipe which had been inserted into the end of one of the steel pipes water was discharging
through the PVC pipe at the time of the inspection Two wooden stakes were located near the mine entrance
which contained location information about the claim as well a business card from Gold Rush Expeditions Inc
GRE
a Utah based company that files and sells unpatented claims online
During the inspection the EPA collected water samples for total and dissolved metals In addition pH
measurements were taken from the mine discharge as well as points along Little Bear Creek The water from
Little Bear Creek reports to Clear Creek which is the source of drinking water for nearby municipalities The
immediate concern was to determine if the mine discharge resulted in an imminent threat to public health
and safety According to the USFS and Clear Creek County the mine has discharged iron oxide precipitate into
Little Bear Creek in the past Typically discharges of this nature occur in the spring during periods of snow melt
and run off As the sulfide minerals present in the mine precipitate out of solution a yellow orange solid is
deposited The precipitates build up over time and create a natural dam which causes the mine water to form
a pool behind the dam As noted above an increase in water flowing through the mine can result in
precipitates being flushed from the mine This can also occur when the equilibrium of the discharge is
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PERMIT
M 2015 007
disrupted by way of excavating the precipitates which are acting as a natural dam Based on the observations
made during the inspection the Division has concluded the discharge from the International Lode Claim mine
was the result of excavating the precipitates near the mine entrance
Following the inspection Division confirmed that neither a Reclamation Permit nor a Notice of Intent to
Conduct Prospecting had been issued for the International Lode Claim mine The Division was able to confirm
a lode claim CMC286754 for 20 66 acres had been filed by GRE in 2014 The Division contacted GRE and they
confirmed they were the claimant for the International Lode Claim However they were unable to provide any
information relating to the activity within the mine On February 17 2015 the EPA provided the Division with
the results of the water sampling as well as the pH values collected in the field Based on the analytical results
the EPA concluded that there was no threat to human health or safety and that no further sampling was
required On February 18 2015 Clear Creek County informed the Division the tent and equipment had been
removed from the site
The Division was unable to identify the individual s who were in the mine and as a result a determination of
whether prospecting or mining was occurring illegally could not be made This concluded the inspection
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PERMIT
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View
of
the
adit
view of
the
adit
from
access
entrance
and
road
steel
door
Page 4
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PERMIT
M 2015 007
Looking downhill
Hand
tools
on
the
inside
of
the
mine
Page 5
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PERMIT
M 2015 007
Precipitates
Claim
stockpiled
on
the
side
of
the
portal
marker
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