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October 24, 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: 2 <br /> <br /> Page 2 of 9 <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 />R - Availability of Records <br />N - Backfill & Grading <br />Y - Excess Spoil and Dev. Waste <br />N - Explosives <br />N - Fish & Wildlife <br />R - Hydrologic Balance <br />N - Gen. Compliance With Mine Plan <br />N - Other <br />N - Processing Waste <br /> <br />Y - Roads <br />R - Reclamation Success <br />Y - Revegetation <br />N - Subsidence <br />N - Slides and Other Damage <br />R - Support Facilities On-site <br />R - 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 complete inspection by Leigh Simmons of the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (Division). <br />Doug Smith of Oxbow Mining accompanied the inspection. Dan Mackinnon of the Office of Surface Mining, <br />Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) oversaw the inspection. The weather was clear and dry. The status of the <br />Elk Creek Mine, as far as the Division is concerned, is “Active” however no coal is being mined and all activity at <br />the site is focused on the early stages of reclamation. <br />AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS – Rule 5.02.4(1): <br /> Records were available at the mine office, details are given at the end of this report. <br /> <br />HYDROLOGIC BALANCE - Rule 4.05 <br />Drainage Control 4.05.1, 4.05.2, 4.05.3; Siltation Structures 4.05.5, 4.05.6; Discharge Structures 4.05.7, 4.05.10; <br />Diversions 4.05.4; Effluent Limits 4.05.2; Ground Water Monitoring 4.05.13; Surface Water Monitoring 4.05.13; <br />Drainage – Acid and Toxic Materials 4.05.8; Impoundments 4.05.6, 4.05.9; Stream Buffer Zones 4.05.18: <br /> Only pond B was holding any significant amount of water, as a result of backwash from the water <br />treatment plant. <br /> <br />RECLAMATION SUCCESS - Rule 4.15, Rule 3: <br /> Reclamation of the sites on Coal Bank had been completed earlier in the summer by D&S Underground <br />Inc. of Hotchkiss. The contractors appeared to have completed the task to a high standard: reclaimed areas had <br />been graded to Approximate Original Contour, with topsoil spread across the reclaimed surface, and rocks and <br />previously scrubbed vegetation distributed. The locations of all of the abandoned holes had been marked with <br />survey stakes, and the entire area had been seeded. A segment of 4WD road - on the western edge of the CBM- <br />1/2/3/6/7 pad, leading downhill towards the CBM-4/5 pad - that pre-existed any mine related disturbance <br />according to satellite imagery had not been graded or reclaimed (see pink segment in Fig 1). No bond release <br />application has yet been received for these sites, but in order to achieve Phase I bond release it will be necessary to <br />receive land owner approval (from the BLM in this case).