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certain point during firing, they become low temperature clay meaning the clay will <br /> melt at the fired temperatures used to manufacture brick. At this point the clay is of <br /> no value. This low temperature clay will mark the edge of the mine and will be <br /> within the proposed east affected area boundary. <br /> Existing Conditions <br /> As previously stated, the Golden Mine has provided clay for brick <br /> manufacturing for over 160 years. The mine operated for many decades as an <br /> underground mine. Historic stopes are present and noted on Exhibit C: Existing <br /> Conditions Map. Due to natural weathering of the hogback, stopes open into the <br /> historic mine through the ground surface. This subsidence is outside the current <br /> permit boundary and will continue to erode without appropriate reclamation. <br /> The proposed permit boundary will encompass the historic subsidence areas. <br /> This will make available backfill material and equipment to reclaim the stope when <br /> one is encountered during mining. As a safety service to the community, upon <br /> approval of the extended permit area, existing stopes will be backfilled or otherwise <br /> secured to prevent entry by trespassers. <br /> Minino Operation <br /> The variety of clays in the permit boundary is not only a unique resource but <br /> also an interesting mining challenge. During mining, each clay and/or sandstone <br /> layer described above is segregated and stockpiled separately. Since each brick mix <br /> is a proprietary blend of clays, sandstone and other ingredients, the specific clay <br /> needed for a brick batch is hauled to the brick factory as market demands. <br /> Mining will begin on the east side of the deposit and will proceed towards the <br /> west in one to two benches depending on the depth desired. The depth of mining is <br /> determined by the thickness of the clay between the sandstone layer and the desired <br /> quantity of clay product stockpile for brick manufacturing. The mine develops as a <br /> north to south ramp where the south ramp area is at a higher elevation than the <br /> north ramp area. The ramp surface provides space to blend the various clays and <br /> sandstone as identified in the previous geologic description in order to produce <br /> consistent clay blends to the brick plant. Mining is proposed to a ground elevation of <br /> 6050 ft., safely above the ceiling of the historic underground clay mines. <br /> Between 600 and 800 linear feet of the mine face is blasted (if necessary), <br /> mined, segregated and stockpiled. Using an excavator and off road trucks, the <br /> sandstone beds and claystone beds are sorted bed by bed as either waste (called <br /> interburden and is often sandstone) or clay. Blasting may be required for the thick <br /> sandstone layer in the middle of the deposit due to the hardness of the sandstone <br /> layer and other layers if encountered. The interburden will be placed in a mined out <br /> face of the mine as contemporaneous reclamation. Excess interburden will be <br /> stockpiled for use in final reclamation. The final clay blends are stockpiled by blend. <br /> As market demands, a clay blend is loaded onto a highway truck utilizing a front-end <br /> loader and hauled to the brick plant. The loader may use a grizzly, separating the <br /> large sandstone rubble from clay/sandstone and stockpile the boulders on the waste <br /> stockpile. <br /> The proposed affected area will be bonded and mined as one operational unit. <br /> The north 5.3 acres, in the southwest corner of the northwest 1/4 of Section 16, will <br /> serve as the stockpile area. The processing area will be established adjacent to the <br /> stockpile area to the south, away from the active mine area at the toe of the mine <br />