CHAPTER TWO

                                   AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT

The following terms are used to refer to the study areas relative to the
orebody.

    Project Site - area within a two mile radius of the orebody; and
    Environmental Study Area - area within a five mile radius of the orebody.

The actual study areas for groundwater, wetlands, archeological sites, air
quality, and the other
disciplines generally fall within the environmental study area. Two exceptions
include surface water
monitoring of the Wolf River and small portions of the groundwater study
area near Pickerel Lake.
The socioeconomic study area (see Figure 2-13) and the corridors for the
natural gas and electric
transmission line are outside the environmental study area. In addition,
Exxon consultants examined
potential tailings disposal sites up to 25 miles from the orebody.

                          PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT
TOPOGRAPHY

Introduction
The landforms and topographic patterns in the environmental study area are
influenced by the
bedrock and glacial materials (Figure 2-1). The irregular surface of the
bedrock and the variable
thickness of the glacial deposits results in moderate to low relief. Dominant
surface features are
drumlins, moraines, outwash plains, kettle holes and glacial lakebeds. The
landscape is characterized
by forested rolling hills and a mosaic of wetlands and lakes.

At the project site, elevations vary between 1,540 and 1,750 feet above mean
sea level (MSL). The
higher areas are drumlins located adjacent to Hemlock Creek near the MWDF
and southwest of the
mine/mill site between Oak Lake and Little Sand Lake. The lowest area, an
old glacial lakebed, lies
between the mine/mill site and Oak Lake. Overall relief is greater than 200
feet but individual
landforms do not exceed 120 feet in height. The landscape appears as a series
of southwest-northeast
trending ridges and valleys.

Mine/Mill
The mine/mill site lies between 1,620 feet in the northeast and 1,695 feet
in the south central part.
The ground surface is variable with slopes ranging from nearly level to 25%.
About half the area has
less than six percent slopes. A topographic divide runs through the site
with surface water on the
north draining to Swamp Creek and on the south draining to Little Sand Lake
and eventually to
Pickerel Creek.

MWDF
The MWDF site lies between 1,620 feet in the southwest and 1,750 feet in
the northeast. Ground
features are variable, ranging from depressional to features with slopes
greater than 25%. More than
two-thirds of the area has less than six percent slopes. Slope direction
is variable but surface water
primarily drains into Duck Lake and Deep Hole Lake.

SOILS

Mineral soils cover about 85% of the project site. The most common mineral
soil series are the Iron
River Stony Loam and the Monico Stony Loam soil with smaller areas of Worchester
Loam, Cable
Stony Silt Loam, and Padus Loam. These soils also are found along the proposed
electric transmission
line corridor. The soils range from well drained to poorly drained and are
formed in silt loams and
loams over sandy loam till or sand and gravel. Slopes range from nearly level
(1% to 3%) to steep
(25% to 45%). These soils are commonly covered by tree species such as sugar
maple, aspen, yellow



birch, red maple, white ash, and American basswood. There are no prime agricultural
lands located
at the project site or along the access road, rail spur or electric transmission
line corridor.



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