Laserfiche WebLink
Reclamation of the Phoenix Mine Site <br /> As stated in the original 1982 permit application, "The mine will be made into a tourist attraction and used as <br /> an educational tool for Colorado mining History." For the last 28 years, since 1988,the Phoenix mine has been <br /> a profitable tourist attraction and is has been toured by people from all over the world. The Mosch Family fully <br /> intends to continue and possibly expand this business. All of the current facilities that have been used for <br /> exploration and mining will be used for the tour business. <br /> Each of the following paragraphs are descriptions of the proposed reclamation of each of the areas within the <br /> permit areas as describe above in and are shown as items"A"through "E" in Figure 1. <br /> The Mine Building(Item A in figure 1) <br /> The Mosch family intends to keep the building and its contained equipment as it currently is after all exploration <br /> and mining is completed. These will be used for tour related purposes. The machine shop and mineral <br /> concentrating plant additions to the building will be used to display the antique equipment and how they <br /> functioned.The office portion addition to the building will be kept as an office for the tour business. Most of the <br /> structure was originally used for loading ore was constructed in the 1920's and must remain for historic <br /> preservation purposes. Reclamation immediately surrounding the building will consist of removing from the <br /> permit area any scrap iron and equipment that is not useful for display purposes. No revegetation is planned <br /> for this area since the area had no vegetation before original permit was obtained. <br /> The Mine Entrances(Item B in figure 1) <br /> All of the entrances to the mine currently have steel doors with locks and grates to prevent people from entering <br /> the mine without the operator's knowledge. All of the mine entrances have been designed so batts and small <br /> animals may use the underground openings for their purposes. For reclamation, no changes will be made to <br /> the access prevention doors and grates of the mine openings. <br /> The Antique Generator and Air Compressor(Item C in figure 1) <br /> Just east of the mine building and along the main county road is an antique tractor trailer containing a 1940's' <br /> vintage Gardner Denver two piston air compressor and a 100 KW Cat generator that is started with a hand <br /> crank. Although this item is not currently visibly appealing, over the years it has drawn the interest of many <br /> special interest groups and is an important display. The display currently needs to be cleaned and restored. <br /> For mine reclamation purposes,this trailer will be painted,and have all non-display type items,that are currently <br /> being stored in and around it, removed. The windows and doors will be repaired to allow safe examination of <br /> the generator and compressor. <br /> The Antique Mining Equipment Storage(Item D in figure 1) <br /> This area already is used strictly for tourist related activities. It contains parking for the guest,fire wood storage <br /> for the fire pits at the nearby panning area and antique exploration and mining equipment. None of this <br /> equipment was ever used or part of the Phoenix mining or exploration activities. All of it was placed in this <br /> area as a display for the guest taking tours. Some of the equipment is labeled for display. <br /> The reclamation plan for this area will consist of re-organizing the equipment and removing any items that are <br /> not truly displayable. <br /> The Air Compressor and fuel Storage Bench(Item E in figure 1) <br /> This area, just outside of the east portal of the mine, will be reclaimed by removing a small wooden shed, <br /> removing any non-tour display related items such as scrap iron and wood. Remaining on this bench for display <br /> will be the air receiving tank, antique battery locomotive, a 1942 air compressor, and the fuel storage tanks. <br /> 4 <br />