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September 27, 2017 C-1981-022/Elk Creek Mine LDS <br /> <br /> <br />Number of Partial Inspection this Fiscal Year: 2 <br />Number of Complete Inspections this Fiscal Year: 1 <br /> <br /> Page 2 of 8 <br /> <br /> <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 />N - Backfill & Grading <br />N - Excess Spoil and Dev. Waste <br />N - Explosives <br />N - Fish & Wildlife <br />N - Hydrologic Balance <br />N - Gen. Compliance With Mine Plan <br />N - Other <br />N - Processing Waste <br /> <br />N - Roads <br />R - Reclamation Success <br />Y - Revegetation <br />N - Subsidence <br />N - Slides and Other Damage <br />R - Support Facilities On-site <br />N - Signs and Markers <br />N - Support Facilities Not On-site <br />N - Special Categories Of Mining <br />N - Topsoil <br /> <br /> <br />COMMENTS <br /> <br />This was a partial inspection by Leigh Simmons of the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety <br />(Division). Doug Smith of Oxbow Mining accompanied the inspection. The weather was dry. The status of the Elk <br />Creek Mine, as far as the Division is concerned, is “Active” however no coal is being mined and all activity at the <br />site is focused on the early stages of reclamation. <br /> <br />RECLAMATION SUCCESS - Rule 4.15, Rule 3: <br /> Oxbow had successfully completed all the planned reclamation work on the roads and pads situated away <br />from the main facilities area. The contractors had fulfilled their contracts, demobilized their equipment and left the <br />site ahead of schedule. <br /> <br />SUPPORT FACILITIES - Rule 4.04: <br /> Several locations in the Bear Creek drainage were inspected. The thermal oxidizer at the Bear Creek fan <br />site was not running. <br />Two pads adjacent to Bear Creek road had been reclaimed, GVB-LW7-04 and GVB-LW8-04, and the <br />locations of the plugged holes marked with survey stakes. The GVB-LW8-04 pad had not been regraded exactly to <br />Approximate Original Contour, which would have been difficult to achieve without compromising the road. The <br />grading appeared appropriate to the physical context, however it will be necessary to receive explicit landowner <br />approval (from the BLM) before the site will be eligible for phase I bond release. <br />The road from Bear Creek road to as the GVB-LW9-05 pad was inspected. Comments on pads roads and <br />holes in this section follow: <br /> The road as far as the GVB-LW10-05 pad had not been reclaimed, apparently in accordance with <br />the wishes of the landowner (Hotchkiss Ranch); again, explicit landowner approval will be needed <br />before the reclamation bond can be released. <br /> Half of the GVB-LW10-05 pad had been left flat (up to the property boundary with BLM land), <br />and the other half regraded and seeded.