From: Brent Leslie <info@midasgoldcomments.com>

Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2020 7:28 PM

To: Support Stibnite; jay.natoli@gmail.com; natalie

Subject: Benefits of Midas Gold Idaho

Dear Payette National Forest Staff,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the Stibnite Gold Project as part of Midas Gold Idaho's Comment Period. I have been closely following Midas Gold Idaho's plans since they first came into our state, in large part because much of the proposed project will take place on public land. The more I have learned about the project, the more excited I am about the possibilities it will bring into our state.

After reviewing the DEIS, I hope the U.S. Forest Service will select Alternative 2, as it seems to be the best option for the site. Under this alternative, Midas Gold designed a very safe Tailings Storage Facility, with 90 percent surrounded by granite mountains and the rest retained by a dam buttressed by 65 million tons of course rockfill. To date, the company has a stellar safety record. They have a nearly decade-long record of transporting hazardous materials without incident; since 2011, they've conducted over 195 successful fuel hauls involving 279 fuel trucks and have gone several years without a significant spill. If the other alternatives are selected, it could slow down the environmental and economic benefits of the project in the case of Alternative 5, it could even mean the site receives no attention and the problems we are experiencing today would simply remain.

I encourage the USFS to move the Stibnite Gold Project forward and permit Midas Gold Idaho's project as outlined in their Modified Plan of Restoration and Operations, alternative 2 in the DEIS. The USFS has provided meaningful time to submit comments and already extended the comment period once, there should be no further delays.

Thanks for your time,


Name: Brent Leslie
Email: brent@cmhgv.com
City: Donnelly
State: ID