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EXHIBIT D <br /> MINING PLAN <br /> This operation will commence in 2018 and continue until 2038 as an Intermittent <br /> Status (IS) operation. It will be active but will not be mined more than 180 days <br /> per year. The county will use dozers to push material northward into the area in <br /> the existing Gaede Pit where loaders will be used to load sand and gravel into <br /> trucks to take onto county roads for maintenance of said roads. The mining in the <br /> expansion area will be no lower than the current affected area, where a shale <br /> layer is expected and water to drain and infiltrate as it has been in the current <br /> mining operation. As the mining operation moves toward the south, the loading <br /> operation may also move southward followed by reclamation. This southern <br /> movement will be gradual. No more than three acres is estimated to be mined <br /> within a twelve month timeframe. The northern third of the expansion area will <br /> be mined in the first phase of the operation. After approximately five years, the <br /> mining operation will move into the center of the expansion area for phase 2, <br /> most of the affected area from phase 1 as well as the area currently affected in <br /> the original Gaede Pit, will be reclaimed with the exception of a haul road. The <br /> same will occur after another five years during phase 3 when the southern part of <br /> the expansion area is being mined and the center of the area being reclaimed. <br /> Phase 4 will consist of final reclamation of the phase 3 mining area, access roads, <br /> and any BMPs necessary. Along with the southward movement of the mining <br /> operation, reclamation will follow suit as a particular area is no longer being <br /> mined with the exception of haul roads to access the current mining area. There is <br /> not any expected overburden, so the only stockpiles will be for topsoil and <br /> material to be loaded. If any overburden is encountered, it will also be stockpiled <br /> for final grading and reclamation. <br /> The area is currently rangeland, Loamy Plains Ecological Site with Bouteloua <br /> gracilis (blue grama) and Poscopyrum smithii (western wheatgrass) as the most <br /> dominant plant species. Reclamation will reclaim the area to a productive <br /> rangeland state with similar vegetation composition. <br />