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The mine area will be backfilled so that the final elevation of the pit bottom <br /> will allow drainage into the historic drainage that exits in the southwest corner of <br /> the property. A water pond is not part of the final reclamation plan. An area-by- <br /> area analysis of available soils was prepared by Mark Heifner. The following two <br /> paragraphs are excerpts from his report (see Exhibit I, for the full report). <br /> There is about 74,000 cubic yards (plus or minus 10 percent) of soil available. <br /> Examination of the mining and reclamation maps shows an area of about 636,500 <br /> (plus or minus 10 percent) square yards of land to be reclaimed. About 62 percent <br /> of that area consists of slopes and the remainder is relatively level. A choice must <br /> be made as to where the available soil should be applied. The choice is between <br /> placing 4 to 5 inches of soil over the entire area or placing about 9 inches of soil <br /> on the slopes and using other plant growth media on the bottom of the pit (the <br /> more level areas). It is well known that difficulties in revegetation increase with <br /> increasing slope according to almost an exponential function (assuming aspect and <br /> other factors are kept constant). It is also known that west- and south-facing slopes <br /> are more difficult to revegetate than are east - and north-facing slopes. None of the <br /> slopes are severely steep, but they do face primarily west and south, with only <br /> some east - and north-facing slopes. <br /> The operator proposes to place 8 to 10 inches of soil on the slopes. If any soil is <br /> left over after placement on the slopes, the soil will be spread on the pit bottom. In <br /> the event insufficient soil exists to resoil the pit bottom areas (and this appears <br /> likely), the operator proposes that overburden material be used for a plant growth <br /> 17 Revised October 2017 <br />