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Water Quality Monitoring Plan Climax Molybdenum Company <br /> Version R4 Permit No M-1977-493 <br /> 1.0 PURPOSE <br /> Climax Molybdenum Company—Climax Mine(Climax)prepared this Water Quality Monitoring Plan(WQMP) <br /> pursuant to Rule 3.1.7(5) of the Mineral Rules and Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation <br /> Board for Hard Rock, Metal, and Designated Mining Operations. The WQMP outlines a formal monitoring <br /> program to demonstrate that the Environmental Protection Plan (EPP) requirements are being met. This <br /> plan is being submitted as a Technical Revision to Climax Reclamation Permit No. M-1977-493. <br /> A Water Quality Monitoring Plan for the Climax Mine was previously submitted to the Division of <br /> Reclamation Mining and Safety (DRMS) as TR-18 in December 2011. That plan included existing and <br /> proposed new monitoring locations and a monitoring schedule, which has been followed since that time <br /> and is still being followed. Version R3 of the WQMP, submitted as TR-24, superseded the 2011 WQMP <br /> with updated information on new monitoring locations, including groundwater points of compliance and <br /> internal groundwater monitoring locations between mine facilities and downgradient points of compliance. <br /> This revision (Version R4) to the WQMP contains much of the same information as TR-18 and TR-24 but <br /> with updated information, where applicable, to reflect current conditions. More specifically, the revision to <br /> the WQMP, incorporates the results of baseline monitoring that has been conducted since the water quality <br /> monitoring program began in 2011, and presents an evaluation of this data to develop final indicator <br /> parameter lists to be used for long-term monitoring, subject to the approval of DRMS. <br /> In November 2016 DRMS requested that Climax provide a demonstration that the groundwater monitoring <br /> plan and groundwater conditions comply with Regulation 41, the Colorado Basic Standards for <br /> Groundwater; 5-CCR-1002-41 (CBSG). Climax submitted a Regulation 41 Compliance Demonstration <br /> report to DRMS on December 8, 2016(Tetra Tech, 2016b)to demonstrate that groundwater at the Climax <br /> mine achieved the most stringent criteria in the CBSG Tables with the exception of manganese (Mn), and <br /> possibly pH, at certain POC wells. This WQMP revision is submitted pursuant to consultation with the <br /> DRMS and in response to DRMS letters of October 20,2017 and November 15,2017; DRMS has requested <br /> that Climax submit to DRMS an updated WQMP that adopts CBSG table values as NPLs as provided for <br /> in the Interim Narrative Standard for all POC wells currently identified in the WQMP, with the exception of <br /> manganese in the Arkansas River and Eagle River basins,and pursue discussions with the Colorado Water <br /> Quality Control Division (WQCD) and Colorado Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) to develop <br /> site-specific groundwater classifications and standards for manganese for the Arkansas River and Eagle <br /> River basins. DRMS also requested that Climax submit a plan for modifying its permit to set NPLs and for <br /> pursuing discussions with WQCD and WQCC; Climax's plan was submitted January 18, 2018 (Climax, <br /> 2018). This revision of the WQMP is in accordance with that plan; it specifies NPLs for all indicator <br /> parameters in groundwater with the exception of manganese in the Arkansas and Eagle River Basins. <br /> Additional information and discussion is presented in Section 5 of this WQMP. <br /> The Climax operations are located in three distinct watersheds: the Arkansas River Valley, Eagle River <br /> Valley, and Tenmile Creek Valley. Figure 1 shows the location of the Climax Mine Site, identifies major site <br /> feature,and delineates the three drainage basins. Specific conditions within each watershed are addressed <br /> individually throughout this document. <br /> EPP—Appendix C March 2018 1 <br />