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Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company Cresson Project Amended Amendment 11 1-1 1.0 INTRODUCTION This application is being submitted by Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company (“CC&V”) to amend its application the Mined Land Reclamation Board (“MLRB”) Permit No. M-1980- 244/Amendment 11. The Amendment 11 application was submitted to the Office of Mined Land Reclamation (“OMLR”) on December 16, 2015. Since that time CC&V has resolved land ownership and access for certain lands adjacent to or within the proposed Amendment 11 permit boundary. In a letter dated January 26, 2016 OMLR requested that the Amendment 11 application be amended to reflect incidental boundary adjustments and changes in ownership/access. The total permitted acreage proposed for this amended application is approximately 6068 acres, which is a slight increase of roughly 78 acres from the approximate 5,990 permitted acres that were approved as MLE2/Amendment 10 and a net increase of 149 acres over what was proposed in the December 2015 Amendment 11 application. The financial warranty and the reclamation plan that were submitted in December 2015 will not change as a result of this application amendment. A closure and reclamation financial warranty estimate of $206,903,206 was included in the December 2015 Amendment 11 application. 1.1 Site Background The Cripple Creek Mining District (“District”) has produced over 25 million ounces of gold since its discovery in 1891. Historically, mining was done using underground methods. However, since the 1970s, surface mining and heap leaching for mineral recovery has been the predominant mining method used in the district. Mined Land Reclamation Board Permit M-1980-244 was issued in April 1981. Subsequent amendments to the permit (Amendment Nos. 1 through 10) have modified site activities with the more recent amendments authorizing the current surface gold mining, processing, and recovery operations. An application to amend the M-1980-244 permit was submitted to the OMLR on December 16, 2015 (Amendment 11). This application included a modified permit boundary, which added roughly 124 acres in the Poverty Gulch area to accommodate underground mining activities. Other areas were excluded from the December 2015 Amendment 11 boundary due to land ownership and access. Since December 2015, certain land acquisitions have occurred as well as certain lease agreements, which has resulted in the need to amend the application to make incidental adjustments to the permit boundary.