2014-04-29_INSPECTION - C1981012

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April 21, 2014 C- 1981- 012/New Elk Mine LDS South of the river and west of the facilities area: The SAE between the highway and the river was in good condition. The clean water channel at the west end had been improved to remove the large "dam" structure. The entire length of the channel from C30 to the river was armored. Pond 4 was holding a little water, but not enough to discharge. Both spillways were clear of vegetation. The outlet of the culvert to the west of the old train shop (C2) had previously been re- routed so that the channel would curve to drain into the wetland to the west rather than simply back up in the willows directly to the north. This area was teeming with wildlife and appeared to be wonderful habitat. The re- seeded areas that had been disturbed during the project were already showing plenty of new growth. The west end of the mine site was inspected, including the water monitoring sites. The diversion ditch below the water tanks was inspected. It had been seeded, but not much seed had germinated on the timbered, steep, north facing slope. Around the facilities area: Pond 1 was inspected. A small amount of water was discharging from the pond, but this was the result of precipitation rather than pumped mine water - the mine had not been pumped since the last inspection. Culvert CI I had previously been constructed in accordance with map 13, and outlets into a concrete structure which also holds the inlet to C12 (maybe 12' below the surface). A white PVC culvert was recently discovered flowing into this same concrete structure which drains the area in front of the west side of the building. Culvert C17 had been flushed and a small sump excavated at its inlet. The C 16 system of culverts is still slated to be replaced, but the plan is still at the conceptual stage. A new culvert will be installed across the haul road from near to the outlet of C9 to the D 15 ditch line, and will convey the runoff from the west end of the site. The C16 system will be left in place to drain just the small area north and east of pond 1. In the meantime, the C 16 system had been flushed. No problems were observed with the embankments or spillways of ponds 6 and 7, both of which were holding water. Pond 7 had apparently been discharged since the last inspection, but following the recent precipitation the level of water in the pond was almost to the top of the primary riser. Mine staff had tested the water for settleable solids using an Imhoff Cone on Monday April 21st, but found that it would not meet discharge standards. NECC is still waiting on approval of the proposed flocculant from the Water Quality Control Division. If and when approval is received, Mr Masarotti said that the pond could be treated in one hour and then be discharged. GENERAL MINE PLAN COMPLIANCE: Mr Head and Mr Johnson described candidly their hopes of a sales contract being finalized. The deal under discussion would see coal being produced with a minimal hiring of extra staff. A single continuous mining machine would be operating in the Blue seam. It would send material through a feeder - breaker, to the conveyor out of the Bates portal. Once above the surface, the mined material would be manually separated. Rock (i.e. development waste) would be diverted down a short chute to be loaded onto trucks for disposal or further use; coal would be dropped onto a short conveyor, then again onto a longer conveyor for transport to the raw coal stockpile. Raw coal would be loaded by NECC staff onto the customer's haul trucks ready for transportation. Although no contract had been officially agreed at the time of the inspection, preparations were clearly underway with mining equipment being brought to the portal area. Number of Partial Inspection this Fiscal Year: 6 Number of Complete Inspections this Fiscal Year: 4 Page 5 of 23