2014-06-20_REVISION - M1981207 (10)

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Blue Pit 112 Permit Amendment Exhibit D - Mining Plan General Mining Plan The existing site consists of an active gravel mining operation with approximately 7 to 9 years of reserves remaining under the existing permit. Map C -i shows the current operation as of November 2009. The pre mining land use of the expansion area is irrigated pasture. The expansion area is bordered on the south by a south facing slope that descends to Highway 82, on the west by irrigated pasture owned by Cerise, Clifford Ranch Company, on the north by irrigated pasture and rangeland that has been put into a conservation easement and on the east by a landfill owned by Harold L. Blue. Adjacent landowners to the land where the Blue pit expansion is located are shown in Exhibit G. The Basin and Spring Ditches cross the property and will continue to do so throughout mining and reclamation of the Blue Pit. There is a concrete plant on site which has a separate special use permit through Garfield County. This concrete plant is owned by Casey Concrete. Access to the mining area will be from an access road starting at Highway 82. The existing access to Highway 82 has an access permit from CDOT. Map C -1 shows the current status of the site where considerable mining has taken place under the approved permit. The map also shows the extent of the mining approved in the existing permit, which is now shown as Mining Areas i and 3. This is the entire area of the 1981 approval, which includes all of the existing disturbance and additional area west of the Basin Ditch that has not yet been disturbed. The total area in the existing permit is 82.7o acres. The current approved plan allows 2H:1V final slopes in all areas. As described in the Reclamation Plan, these slopes will be restored to a milder grade. Mining Area 2 is the proposed area of new mining under the expansion plan. The estimated volume of gravel to be produced after 2009 from this mine is 9.1 million cubic yards, which is approximately 13.6 million tons. The annual production is estimated to average 450,000 tons per year. The estimated time to mine 13.6 million tons of gravel at an approximate rate of 450,000 tons per year is about 30 years. Since mining has been occurring since 2009, the 30 years would be estimated to end around 2039. Demand plays a huge role in the exact time it will take to mine out the reserve. The gravel deposit is greater than loo feet deep in the area of the Blue Pit Expansion. The groundwater level ranges from approximately 6o feet below the surface in the current mining area and increases to 90 feet to 125 feet in the expansion area. Since this operation will not intercept groundwater, the operation will stay at least 2 feet above the groundwater level at all times. Excavation will be conducted with a dozer pushing the raw material to a loader, which will then load the material to the crushing plant. As the mining face moves further from the existing crushing /screening plant location, a haul truck may be used to transport the material from the Blue Pit May 2014 D -1