Laserfiche WebLink
lower than 4.0 feet in thickness, the operation would likely not be profitable since the overburden to <br />gold bearing ratio would be too high. Therefore, in these areas, no mining would occur. In the very <br />unlikely case that 4' to 6' of gold bearing material is profitable over a large area, there may be a <br />slight surplus of material. Using 5' of material, the remaining overburden of 55' would swell at 20 %, <br />resulting in a thickness of 66 feet. This increase of 6' is not significant and would be handled by <br />simply having slightly greater amounts of slope areas instead of flat areas in the reclamation plan. <br />Also, over time, the 20% swell would likely shrink to 15 %, keeping the volumes the same after re- <br />moving the 5' of gold bearing material. <br />e) The permittee will closely monitor the amount of gold bearing material sent to the plant and the <br />amount of aggregate sold to anticipate any problems early in the operation life to allow planning of <br />the alternatives described above. The owner /permittee has a keen economic interest in making sure <br />that the post- mining topography is suitable for the uses shown in the reclamation plan. <br />Most of the gold bearing gravel is expected to be located below water table, therefore, a pump will <br />be located below the working area in each cut to dewater the pit prior to mining. It is expected that <br />inflows to the pump will be approximately 1000 gpm. This amount will be pumped from the pit to <br />the sediment pond system. <br />The following operation parameters are forecast: <br />- 6 -9 month per year operation <br />- active operation will be maximum 6 days per week, 12 hours per day <br />- move an average of 2000 cy of overburden per day <br />- process a maximum of 3000 cy per day of gold bearing gravel through the prep plant <br />- a 5" rock grizzly will be located in the active pit to avoid transporting large rock to the prep plant <br />- strip an average of 4" of topsoil on virgin areas and either directly respread on previously mined <br />and regraded areas or place in a stockpile for use in reclamation. <br />It is expected that the swell of the virgin gravel material when mined will be 20 %, however, since <br />the lower 5 -15' zone of gold bearing gravel will be processed and then sold as road base and other <br />construction material, the net gain/loss in mining virgin areas is zero. <br />Alma Placer 1/15 15 <br />