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October 28, 2015 C-1981-022/Elk Creek Mine LDS <br />Inspection Topic Summary <br />NOTE: Y=Inspected N=Not Inspected R=Comments Noted V=Violation Issued NA=Not Applicable <br />N - Air Resource Protection <br />N - Availability of Records <br />R - Backfill & Grading <br />R - Excess Spoil and Dev. Waste <br />N - Explosives <br />N - Fish & Wildlife <br />N - Hydrologic Balance <br />R - Gen. Compliance With Mine Plan <br />N - Other <br />NA - Processing Waste <br />R - Roads <br />R - Reclamation Success <br />N - Revegetation <br />N - Subsidence <br />N - Slides and Other Damage <br />N - Support Facilities On-site <br />Y - Signs and Markers <br />NA - Support Facilities Not On-site <br />N - Special Categories Of Mining <br />N -Topsoil <br />COMMENTS <br />This was a partial inspection by Leigh Simmons of the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />(Division). Jim Kiger of Oxbow Mining accompanied the inspection throughout. The weather was fine and the <br />ground was dry. The North Fork of the Gunnison River was flowing slightly above the seasonal average (-180 cfs, <br />per the USGS streamflow measuring site upstream of Somerset). <br />The status of the Elk Creek Mine is "active" however no coal is being mined and the activity is centered <br />on preparations to reclaim the site. <br />BACKFILL and GRADING — Rule 4.14 <br />Contemporaneous Reclamation 4.14.1; Approximate Original Contour 4.14.2; Highwall Elimination 4.14.1(2)(f); <br />Steep Slopes 4.14.2, 4.27; Handling of Acid and Toxic Materials 4.14.3; Stabilization of Rills and Gullies 4.14.6: <br />Thin lifts (-1 foot) of material had been excavated from parts of the facilities area and stockpiled in <br />various places. For example: gravel had been excavated from facilities pads in the Elk Creek and Bear Creek <br />drainages and stockpiled for road maintenance; and fill dirt had been staged near the Bear Creek vent shafts. <br />EXCESS SPOIL and DEVELOPMENT WASTE — Rule 4.09 <br />Placement; Drainage Control; Surface Stabilization: <br />In the October inspection report the hotspot was erroneously described as being in the II West refuse pile; <br />in fact it was in the West Valley Fill refuse pile. Rundle Construction of Hotchkiss had been contracted to <br />remediate the problem. Two trenches were dug to expose the hot material and water was used to quench it. Doug <br />Smith of Oxbow used a Fluke Ti25 Thermal Imaging camera to measure temperatures before the trenches were <br />backfilled. Photos 1-3 were taken by Oxbow while work was in progress. By the time of the inspection the fill had <br />been restored to final contour, compacted, topsoiled and seeded. There was no evidence of any further problem, <br />although the area will continue to be monitored. <br />Number of Partial Inspection this Fiscal Year: 3 <br />Number of Complete Inspections this Fiscal Year: 1 <br />Page 2 of 12 <br />