The study area comprises the Humboldt River Basin and adjacent areas,
with emphasis on mining areas relatively close to the Humboldt River. The basin comprises about 16,840 mi2 or 10,800,000 acres. The mineral resources of the Humboldt Basin have been investigated by many scientists over the past 100 years, but only recently has our knowledge
of regional geology and mine geology been applied to the understanding and
evaluation of mining effects on water and environmental quality. The investigations
reported here apply some of the techniques and perspectives developed in the
Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative (AMLI) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),
a program of integrated geological-hydrological-biological-chemical studies
underway in the Upper Animas River watershed in Colorado and the Boulder River
watershed in, Montana. The goal of my studies of sites and districts is to determine the character
of mining-related contamination that is actively or potentially a threat to
water quality and to estimate the potential for natural attenuation of that
contamination. These geology-based studies and recommendations differ in matters of emphasis and data collection from the biology-based assessments that are the cornerstone of environmental regulations.
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