The primary aim of the reclamation plan for this project 

 is reforestation. All disturbed areas would be revegetated 

 with tree seedlings and bunch grasses. 



Montana Mining and Timber Company 



The Montana Mining and Timber Company (MMTC) submitted 

 an application for a gold placer operation on Gold Creek to 

 the Department of State Lands and the U.S. Forest Service in 

 February 1988. A mine permit was issued by DSL in August 

 1988. 



The mine area is located along the upper reaches of 

 Gold Creek on both patented land and land administered by the 

 Deer Lodge National Forest. The mine area includes the 

 Pineau and Master mines, both of which are previously 

 disturbed, unreclaimed placer mines (Montana Mining and 

 Timber Company 1988) . 



The total mine area for the proposed Gold Creek project 

 is about 244 acres, with a disturbance area of 109 acres. 

 Approximately 1.2 million to 1.5 million tons of gravel will 

 be processed at a rate of 3,000 to 4,000 tons/day. The life 

 of the mine is expected to be two years, with year-round 

 operations requiring a work force of 39 people. 



The company will use standard hydraulic/gravity 

 separation methods for processing at the Master Mine Camp. 

 Separators and a thickener tank system will be used to remove 

 suspended sediment from the tail water. The sediment will be 

 slurried to a sediment burial site in the Master Mine area, 

 dewatered, and buried. Runoff catchment ditches and sediment 

 control ponds will be constructed downgradient of each mine 

 block for erosion control. Mining will be restricted to 

 within 100 to 200 feet of the south and middle forks of Gold 

 Creek, and all settling ponds will be located out of the 100- 

 year floodplains. Channel diversion or dewatering are not 

 expected to occur (Montana Mining and Timber Company 1988) . 



Water requirements for the project will be about 50 gpm, 

 which will be supplied by two wells currently in use on the 

 site. If needed, additional water can be obtained from the 

 Middle Fork of Gold Creek under an existing water right. 



Baseline surface water, vegetation, soils, and meteoro- 

 logical data collected for this project are included in the 

 application. The mine site will be reclaimed to provide 

 erosion control and stabilization and to return the disturbed 

 areas to wildlife habitat. Trees and shrubs will be planted 

 for cover diversity. 



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