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1.0 OVERVIEW AND PURPOSE <br /> This report documents the "Corrective Action" activities carried out at the Hukill Gulch <br /> Millsite to address the requirements imposed upon Venture Resources, Inc. ("VRI") <br /> through the March 3, 2016 (DRMS) Board Order with respect to Notice of Violation No. <br /> MV-2016-007 and all subsequent correspondence of record (e.g., Technical Revisions <br /> No. 3 and 4, respectively, as approved) related thereto. <br /> More specifically, the report provides summary discussion and re-certification of the <br /> composite liner system repair activities recently completed at the Hukill Gulch Millsite, a <br /> precious metals recovery facility that is owned and operated by Venture Resources, Inc. <br /> VRI's Hukill Gulch Millsite is located in Section 26; Township 3 South; Range 73 West of <br /> the 6th Principal Meridian, and approximately two miles north of the City of Idaho Springs, <br /> in Clear Creek County, Colorado. The VRI Hukill Gulch Millsite comprises an 8.76-acre <br /> gold and silver milling operation that is permitted to operate as a Limited Impact 110(d) <br /> facility by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety ("DRMS" or "the <br /> Division") under the terms and conditions of DRMS Permit No. M-2009-076. The facility <br /> is classified as a Designated Mining Facility ("DMO") due to the handling, processing, and <br /> disposing of acid-forming materials (historic waste rock materials), wherein tailing from the <br /> waste rock milling process is placed into a recently-constructed (2011) lined tailing <br /> impoundment equipped with a composite liner system consisting of a (lowermost) <br /> geosynthetic clay liner, a (middle) 60-mil high density polyethylene ("HDPE") liner, and a <br /> (topmost) non-woven geotextile drainage layer. <br /> The lined tailing impoundment is considered to be an Environmental Protection Facility <br /> ("EPF") per the Mineral Rules and Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Board for Hard <br /> Rock, Metal, and Designated Mining Operations, and as such, it is required to be <br /> designed, engineered, and certified (by a Colorado Registered Professional Engineer) to <br /> permanently contain the mill tailing materials. The Hukill Gulch tailing impoundment was <br /> initially so-certified (and accepted) by DRMS on September 27, 2011. <br /> On September 17, 2015, DRMS conducted an inspection of the Hukill Gulch tailing <br /> impoundment facility and observed that the Operator ("VRI") had placed mine dump <br /> materials on the tailing impoundment liner system in order to protect the liner system from <br /> the deleterious effects of weathering. DRMS noted that materials utilized to cover the liner <br /> included "country rock, waste rock, and soil", to include "large angular pieces of rock up <br /> to twenty-four inches in diameter and pieces of timber from two to six feet in length". <br /> Noting that the composite liner system "was not designed for unprocessed waste rock", <br /> DRMS determined that liner system integrity was potentially compromised and therefore <br /> uncertain. <br /> Subsequent to this, the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board ("the Board") issued an <br /> Order on March 3, 2016, wherein the EPF certification of the tailing impoundment was <br /> 1 <br />