2014-11-28_HYDROLOGY - M1977342 - Laserfiche WebLink

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COLORADO OPERATIONS ,® Climax Molybdenum Henderson Mill A Freeport- McMoRan Company 19302 County Road 3 Parshall, CO 80468 Phone (303) 569 -3221 REr';=11'r-"n November 25, 2014 nV 2 8 2014 Via Email and Certified Mail #: 7006 2150 0001 8831 6567 DIVISION OF RECLAMATION MINING AND SAFETY Mr. Peter Hays ®� I G IlNA L Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety 1313 Sherman St., Rm. 215 Denver, CO 80203 v' Re: Follow -up Notice for Mill Tailing Delivery Line, Droptower Number 12 Overflow, Permit No. P,,M- 1977 -342 Mr. Hays: Henderson Mill is providing this written follow -up notice to a phone call made to you on November 21, 2014 pursuant to Rule 8.1 and 8.2 of the DRMS Rules and Regulations. This notice is regarding process water which escaped from the open top of the Number 12 Droptower. The Tailing Delivery Line (hereafter referred to as the TDL) is designated as an Environmental Protection Facility in Henderson's Environmental Protection Plan. The overflow is believed to have begun at 5:00 AM the morning of November 21, 2014 and to have lasted a very short period of time (3 -5 minutes). It is unclear how much process water was released from the top of the droptower because the milling process was transitioning into a scheduled shutdown and therefore the waters contributing to this overflow were primarily process water remaining in flotation cells and the cyclone feed sumps in the mills, following the curtailment of ore feed. It is also our understanding that there was continued flow through the TDL, while the release was occurring, so the full volume of waters leaving the mill building was not released from the top of the droptower. All water released from the line flowed along the alignment of the tailing delivery line to the Number 1 Cutout structure, below the Number 12 Droptower, where it flowed through a culvert and comingled with process waters impounded in its intended location. (a) After discovering the issue, Henderson employees immediately stopped flow to the TDL and diverted to the Emergency Cutout Line. The overtopping was short - lived, but the flow path was diverted pending an investigation. (b) Mill process water flow did not adversely impact human health, property or the environment. The entirety of the process water flowed along the TDL alignment and access road. Any drainage from this area flows along a private Mill access road to a culvert, where it comingles with other process waters flowing into the tailing impoundment. (c) The contact person for this event is Tim Haynes 19302 County Road 3,